Return a formatted citation for a PMID. Styles: AMA, APA, Vancouver.
AI agents call get_citations to retrieve information from Pubmed Search without modifying anything — typically the context-gathering step in research, monitoring, and reporting workflows, before the agent takes action elsewhere.
The tool retrieves and formats citation information for a given PubMed ID. It has no side effects, creates no new data, executes no code, and makes no modifications to any system. It is a straightforward read-only operation fitting the Read category. Severity is low because misuse would only expose publicly available bibliographic formatting, with no blast radius to data integrity, external systems, or user assets.
From the tool's definition Tool description states 'Return a formatted citation for a PMID' with style options (AMA, APA, Vancouver). This is a retrieval operation that formats existing bibliographic data without modifying, executing, or destroying anything.
Attacks that exploit this kind of access
Return a formatted citation for a PMID. Styles: AMA, APA, Vancouver. It is categorised as a Read tool in the Pubmed Search MCP Server, which means it retrieves data without modifying state.
Register the Pubmed Search MCP server in PolicyLayer and add a rule for get_citations: 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 Pubmed Search. Nothing to install.
get_citations 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_citations 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_citations. 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_citations is provided by the Pubmed Search MCP server (pubspro/pubmed-search). 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.
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