List tasks that have been moved to the dead-letter queue (attempt budget exhausted via lease expiry). Use requeue_dead_task to revive.
AI agents call list_dead_tasks to retrieve information from State Trace without modifying anything — typically the context-gathering step in research, monitoring, and reporting workflows, before the agent takes action elsewhere.
This tool performs a read-only query operation that retrieves information about exhausted tasks. It has no side effects on the system state—it merely lists existing data. The worst-case misuse by an agent would be information exposure, which is low-impact compared to modification, deletion, or execution risks. No destructive, financial, or code-execution capabilities are present.
From the tool's definition The tool 'list_dead_tasks' retrieves and queries data about tasks in a dead-letter queue. The description explicitly states it 'List[s] tasks' with no modification, deletion, or execution capabilities.
Attacks that exploit this kind of access
List tasks that have been moved to the dead-letter queue (attempt budget exhausted via lease expiry). Use requeue_dead_task to revive. It is categorised as a Read tool in the State Trace MCP Server, which means it retrieves data without modifying state.
Register the State Trace MCP server in PolicyLayer and add a rule for list_dead_tasks: 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 State Trace. Nothing to install.
list_dead_tasks 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_dead_tasks 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_dead_tasks. 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_dead_tasks is provided by the State Trace MCP server (agent-pattern-labs/state-trace). 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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