Git blame-based symbol ownership: who wrote which lines of a specific symbol. Requires git. Use for fine-grained ownership of a specific function/class. For file-level ownership use get_code_owners instead. Read-only. Returns JSON: { symbol_id, owners: [{ author, lines, percentage }] }.
AI agents call get_symbol_owners to retrieve information from Trace without modifying anything — typically the context-gathering step in research, monitoring, and reporting workflows, before the agent takes action elsewhere.
This tool retrieves and queries version control metadata (git blame) to determine code ownership. It has no side effects—it only reads and returns historical authorship data. The explicit 'Read-only' designation confirms it performs information retrieval without creating, modifying, deleting, or executing anything.
From the tool's definition Tool description explicitly states 'Read-only' and 'Git blame-based symbol ownership: who wrote which lines of a specific symbol'. Returns JSON data without modifying any code or configuration. Uses git blame to retrieve historical authorship information.
Documented attack patterns abuse exactly the kind of access get_symbol_owners gives an agent:
PolicyLayer is an MCP gateway — it sits between your AI agents and Trace, and nothing reaches the server without passing your rules. This is the rule we recommend for get_symbol_owners:
{
"version": "1",
"default": "deny",
"tools": {
"get_symbol_owners": {}
}
}get_symbol_owners is read-only, so it stays allowed — but everything else on the server is denied unless you say otherwise.
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Git blame-based symbol ownership: who wrote which lines of a specific symbol. Requires git. Use for fine-grained ownership of a specific function/class. For file-level ownership use get_code_owners instead. Read-only. Returns JSON: { symbol_id, owners: [{ author, lines, percentage }] }. It is categorised as a Read tool in the Trace MCP Server, which means it retrieves data without modifying state.
Register the Trace MCP server in PolicyLayer and add a rule for get_symbol_owners: 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 Trace. Nothing to install.
get_symbol_owners 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 get_symbol_owners 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 get_symbol_owners. 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.
get_symbol_owners is provided by the Trace MCP server (nikolai-vysotskyi/trace-mcp). PolicyLayer sits as a proxy in front of this server to enforce policies before tool calls reach the server.
Deterministic rules across all 178 Trace tools. Per-identity grants. Full audit log. Live in minutes. Nothing to install.
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178 Trace tools catalogued and risk-classified — across an index of 42,500+ MCP servers.