List all tools available through the gateway (filtered by caller permissions).
AI agents call list_tools to retrieve information from MCP Gateway without modifying anything — typically the context-gathering step in research, monitoring, and reporting workflows, before the agent takes action elsewhere.
This tool retrieves and displays information about available tools filtered by the caller's RBAC permissions. It has no side effects, does not modify data, and does not execute operations. It is a read-only informational query typical of discovery/introspection endpoints in API gateways. The filtering by permissions is a security feature, not a capability that elevates the risk category.
From the tool's definition Tool name 'list_tools' and description 'List all tools available through the gateway (filtered by caller permissions)' indicate a pure query operation that retrieves metadata about available tools without modifying state or triggering external actions.
Attacks that exploit this kind of access
List all tools available through the gateway (filtered by caller permissions). It is categorised as a Read tool in the MCP Gateway MCP Server, which means it retrieves data without modifying state.
Register the MCP Gateway MCP server in PolicyLayer and add a rule for list_tools: 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 Gateway. Nothing to install.
list_tools 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 list_tools 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 list_tools. 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.
list_tools is provided by the MCP Gateway MCP server (petrefiedthunder/mcp-gateway). PolicyLayer sits as a proxy in front of this server to enforce policies before tool calls reach the server.
Every MCP server has a record like this.
Type a name, get the same breakdown: verified identity, auth posture, risk grade, capabilities, recommended policy.
Teams ship this data inside their own products. See what a licence covers →