query_corpus
Answer a natural-language question against a saved corpus. Loads the corpus body, primes the configured AI provider with it as system context, and returns the response. When mode=
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What query_corpus does on Trace
AI agents call query_corpus to retrieve information from Trace without modifying anything. It is typically the context-gathering step in research, monitoring, and reporting workflows, before the agent takes action elsewhere.
Why query_corpus is rated Low
The tool is fundamentally a read operation—it loads and queries a corpus to answer questions. However, confidence is not higher due to incomplete description ("When mode=" is cut off, suggesting undocumented parameters or modes that could alter behavior).
From the tool's definition "Answer a natural-language question against a saved corpus. Loads the corpus body, primes the configured AI provider with it as system context, and returns the response." The tool retrieves and queries data from a corpus without modifying it.
Attacks that exploit this kind of access
The rule that runs query_corpus safely
PolicyLayer is an MCP gateway: it sits between your AI agents and Trace, and checks every tool call against a rule you set before the call runs. Nothing changes on the server itself. For query_corpus, this is the rule to start with:
query_corpus is read-only, so it stays allowed. Everything else on the server is denied unless you say otherwise.
The button opens the PolicyLayer dashboard: create your workspace, connect Trace, apply this rule, and every query_corpus call is checked against it from then on.
Questions about query_corpus
Answer a natural-language question against a saved corpus. Loads the corpus body, primes the configured AI provider with it as system context, and returns the response. When mode=. 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_corpus: 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_corpus 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_corpus 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_corpus. 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_corpus 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.
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