search_sessions

Search across all past session conversations. Finds what was discussed, decided, or debugged in previous sessions. Full-text search with porter stemming — e.g.,

SERVERTrace SOURCEnikolai-vysotskyi/trace-mcp

Low RISK CLASS

Category Read

Parameters 00 required

Recommended Allowedsee the rule below

Registry record Grade F, identity unverified Pull the record →

This record as markdown: /tools/nikolai-vysotskyi-trace-mcp/search-sessions.md

WHAT IT DOES

What search_sessions does on Trace

AI agents call search_sessions 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.

RISK

Why search_sessions is rated Low

This is a query/search operation that retrieves historical session data without side effects. It does not create, modify, delete, or execute anything — it only surfaces existing conversation records. The low severity reflects minimal blast radius: an AI agent misusing this tool could at worst read past decisions or debug context, but cannot alter state or trigger external operations.

From the tool's definition Tool description explicitly states it "search[es] across all past session conversations" using "full-text search"; no modification, deletion, or execution capabilities mentioned. The verb "search" and "finds" indicate retrieval only.

Attacks that exploit this kind of access

RECOMMENDED RULE

The rule that runs search_sessions 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 search_sessions, this is the rule to start with:

search_sessions Allowed

search_sessions is read-only, so it stays allowed. Everything else on the server is denied unless you say otherwise.

View as policy code

policy.json

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

ALLOW ONLY THIS TOOL → Instant setup, no code required.

The button opens the PolicyLayer dashboard: create your workspace, connect Trace, apply this rule, and every search_sessions call is checked against it from then on.

FAQ

Questions about search_sessions

What does the search_sessions tool do? +

Search across all past session conversations. Finds what was discussed, decided, or debugged in previous sessions. Full-text search with porter stemming — e.g.,. It is categorised as a Read tool in the Trace MCP Server, which means it retrieves data without modifying state.

How do I enforce a policy on search_sessions? +

Register the Trace MCP server in PolicyLayer and add a rule for search_sessions: 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.

What risk level is search_sessions? +

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

Can I rate-limit search_sessions? +

Yes. Add a rate_limit block to the search_sessions 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 search_sessions completely? +

Set action: deny in the PolicyLayer policy for search_sessions. 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 search_sessions? +

search_sessions 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.

KEEP EXPLORING

More on Trace, and thousands of servers like it.

This server

All 191 Trace tools →

Across the catalogue

binary_search on 010 Editor →evaluate_search_quality on ACE-MCP →search_torrents on M-Team MCP Server →aiva_search_customers on AIVA MCP Server → The MCP Attack Database →

Guides

Roll out MCP under one policy →Data exfiltration →MCP token cost →