List available news categories for get_category_feed.
AI agents call list_categories to retrieve information from Google News MCP without modifying anything — typically the context-gathering step in research, monitoring, and reporting workflows, before the agent takes action elsewhere.
This tool retrieves metadata about available news categories to inform subsequent feed queries. It performs a pure read operation with no capability to modify, delete, or execute arbitrary actions. The blast radius of misuse is minimal—an agent could only enumerate categories, which is already public information. Severity is low because exposure of category metadata poses no security, privacy, or operational risk.
From the tool's definition Tool name 'list_categories' and description 'List available news categories' indicate a query/retrieval operation with no data modification or side effects.
Attacks that exploit this kind of access
List available news categories for get_category_feed. It is categorised as a Read tool in the Google News MCP MCP Server, which means it retrieves data without modifying state.
Register the Google News MCP server in PolicyLayer and add a rule for list_categories: allow, deny, rate-limit, or require approval. Point your MCP client at the PolicyLayer proxy URL and the rule is enforced on every call, before it reaches Google News MCP. Nothing to install.
list_categories is a Read tool with low risk. Read-only tools are generally safe to allow by default.
Yes. Add a rate_limit block to the list_categories rule in your PolicyLayer policy. For example, setting max: 10 and window: 60 limits the tool to 10 calls per minute. Rate limits are tracked per agent session and reset automatically.
Set action: deny in the PolicyLayer policy for list_categories. The AI agent will receive a policy violation error and cannot call the tool. You can also include a reason field to explain why the tool is blocked.
list_categories is provided by the Google News MCP server (moltrus/google-news-mcp). PolicyLayer sits as a proxy in front of this server to enforce policies before tool calls reach the server.
Every MCP server has a record like this.
Type a name, get the same breakdown: verified identity, auth posture, risk grade, capabilities, recommended policy.
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