enhance_prompt

THE RISK

Low Risk

Why enhance_prompt needs a policy

This is a read-only operation that retrieves and assembles codebase context information to improve search quality. It has no side effects—it does not create, modify, delete, or execute code. The tool simply returns an enhanced query object for use by downstream search tools. No blast radius from misuse beyond potentially receiving irrelevant or verbose context.

From the tool's definition Tool performs query enhancement by adding context and technical details to search queries. Described as preprocessing step 'before searching' with no mention of modifying, deleting, or executing operations.

Documented attack patterns abuse exactly the kind of access enhance_prompt gives an agent:

POLICY

How to control enhance_prompt

PolicyLayer is an MCP gateway — it sits between your AI agents and MCP Codebase Index, and nothing reaches the server without passing your rules. This is the rule we recommend for enhance_prompt:

policy.json

{
  "version": "1",
  "default": "deny",
  "tools": {
    "enhance_prompt": {}
  }
}

enhance_prompt is read-only, so it stays allowed — but everything else on the server is denied unless you say otherwise.

Create a free account and register MCP Codebase Index — nothing to install.
Add this policy — paste it, or build it visually.
Point your MCP client (Claude, Cursor, anything) at your gateway URL.

CAP THIS TOOL →

Free to start. No card required.

EXPLORE

Related tools and policies

More MCP Codebase Index tools

Write repair_index Repair detected index issues by re-indexing missing files and removing orphaned vectors. Write export_visualization_html Export the vector visualization as a standalone HTML file with modern UI. Automatically sa Read check_index Verify index health and detect issues like missing files, orphaned vectors, and dimension Read enhancement_telemetry Get telemetry data for prompt enhancement (success rate, cache hits, latency) Read indexing_status Check the current indexing status and progress. Read search_codebase Search your codebase using natural language queries. Returns relevant code snippets with f Read visualize_collection Visualize the entire vector database in 2D or 3D space using UMAP dimensionality reduction Read visualize_query Visualize a search query and its retrieved documents in the vector space. USE CASES: - Sh

All 9 MCP Codebase Index tools →

Read tools on other servers

M-Team MCP Server get_torrent_detail YouTube MCP Server search_channel Android Forensics ADB MCP Server parse_browser_history 0xarchive web3_challenge

Go deeper

The MCP Attack Database → Documented attack patterns against MCP deployments — and the policies that stop them.
Data exfiltration → How read access becomes an exfiltration channel when chained with untrusted content.
MCP token cost → What connecting this server costs in context-window tokens on every request.
Rate Limiting MCP Tool Calls: A Practical Guide →
MCP Security: Why Prompt Guardrails Aren't Enough →

FAQ

Questions about enhance_prompt

What does the enhance_prompt tool do? +

Enhance a search query by adding codebase context and technical details. Use this before searching to improve query quality for vague or short queries. It is categorised as a Read tool in the MCP Codebase Index MCP Server, which means it retrieves data without modifying state.

How do I enforce a policy on enhance_prompt? +

Register the MCP Codebase Index MCP server in PolicyLayer and add a rule for enhance_prompt: 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 MCP Codebase Index. Nothing to install.

What risk level is enhance_prompt? +

enhance_prompt is a Read tool with low risk. Read-only tools are generally safe to allow by default.

Can I rate-limit enhance_prompt? +

Yes. Add a rate_limit block to the enhance_prompt 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.

How do I block enhance_prompt completely? +

Set action: deny in the PolicyLayer policy for enhance_prompt. 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.

What MCP server provides enhance_prompt? +

enhance_prompt is provided by the MCP Codebase Index MCP server (ngotaico/mcp-codebase-index). PolicyLayer sits as a proxy in front of this server to enforce policies before tool calls reach the server.

Enforce policy on every MCP Codebase Index tool call.

Start from MCP Codebase Index, add the rest of your stack, and see everything your agents can call. Then put policy on all of it.

CHECK YOUR STACK →