Map a business question to domain taxonomy → returns domain ownership and relevance scores (no source code). Use when you need to know WHICH DOMAIN owns specific functionality. For actual source code use get_feature_context instead. Read-only. Returns JSON: { symbols: [{ symbol_id, domain, releva...
AI agents call query_by_intent 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 metadata about domain ownership and taxonomy—pure information lookup with no ability to modify, execute, or delete data. The explicit 'Read-only' designation and JSON-only response confirm it as a Read category tool with minimal severity risk (low impact if misused, returns only organizational metadata).
From the tool's definition Tool description explicitly states 'Read-only' and 'no source code'; returns domain taxonomy and ownership metadata via JSON response with symbols and relevance scores. Maps business questions to domain information without side effects.
Documented attack patterns abuse exactly the kind of access query_by_intent 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 query_by_intent:
{
"version": "1",
"default": "deny",
"tools": {
"query_by_intent": {}
}
}query_by_intent is read-only, so it stays allowed — but everything else on the server is denied unless you say otherwise.
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Map a business question to domain taxonomy → returns domain ownership and relevance scores (no source code). Use when you need to know WHICH DOMAIN owns specific functionality. For actual source code use get_feature_context instead. Read-only. Returns JSON: { symbols: [{ symbol_id, domain, relevance }] }. 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 query_by_intent: 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.
query_by_intent 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 query_by_intent 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 query_by_intent. 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.
query_by_intent 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.