# http_fetch

ADR-164 §5.1.8 — HTTP probe primitive for business-pod ops benches (synthetic 200/500 endpoint checks, third-party status pages). Default-secure: blocks file://, ftp://, RFC-1918 / loopback / link-local hosts unless CLAUDE_FLOW_HTTP_FETCH_ALLOW_PRIVATE=1, and rejects Authorization / Cookie / X-Auth-* headers unless CLAUDE_FLOW_HTTP_FETCH_ALLOW_AUTH=1. Hard 30s timeout (60s ceiling), response truncated to 256 KB (1 MB ceiling), default User-Agent ruflo-http-fetch/1.0. Use when a pod or smoke contract needs a guarded HTTP probe — calling Node fetch() directly is wrong because it skips the URL allowlist and header sanitization that ADR-164 mandates for autopilot mode. Pair with the ops-pod bench in plugins/ruflo-business-pods/templates/ops.json (the §4.4 synthetic-endpoint test).

Agent View of the PolicyLayer registry record for `http_fetch`. HTML page: https://policylayer.com/tools/ruflo/http-fetch

## Facts

- Tool: `http_fetch`
- Server: Ruflo (`ruvnet/ruflo`) — https://policylayer.com/tools/ruflo.md
- Homepage: https://github.com/ruvnet/ruflo
- Risk category: Read (Low risk)
- Registry record: grade F, identity unverified
- Server rate-limited: no
- Parameters: 0
- Recommended policy verdict: Allowed

## Example call (MCP tools/call, JSON-RPC 2.0)

```json
{
  "jsonrpc": "2.0",
  "id": 1,
  "method": "tools/call",
  "params": {
    "name": "http_fetch",
    "arguments": {}
  }
}
```

## Why http_fetch is rated Low

http_fetch retrieves data from HTTP endpoints and checks their status with no side effects on the retrieved resource. This is fundamentally a Read operation. Severity is medium rather than low because: (1) an agent could be manipulated to probe internal/sensitive endpoints if security controls (environment variables CLAUDE_FLOW_HTTP_FETCH_ALLOW_PRIVATE, CLAUDE_FLOW_HTTP_FETCH_ALLOW_AUTH) are misconfigured, (2)…

From the tool's own definition: "Tool is described as 'HTTP probe primitive' for 'synthetic 200/500 endpoint checks, third-party status pages' — core functionality is retrieving HTTP responses without modification."

## Use case

AI agents call http_fetch to retrieve information from Ruflo without modifying anything. It is typically the context-gathering step in research, monitoring, and reporting workflows, before the agent takes action elsewhere.

## Recommended policy (PolicyLayer)

Verdict: **Allowed**. Enforced by the PolicyLayer MCP gateway (https://policylayer.com/mcp-gateway) before a call reaches Ruflo:

```json
{
  "version": "1",
  "default": "deny",
  "tools": {
    "http_fetch": {}
  }
}
```

## Other tools on Ruflo (495)

- `agent_terminate` — Destructive — https://policylayer.com/tools/ruflo/agent-terminate.md
- `agentdb_batch` — Destructive — https://policylayer.com/tools/ruflo/agentdb-batch.md
- `agentdb_causal-edge-delete` — Destructive — https://policylayer.com/tools/ruflo/agentdb-causal-edge-delete.md
- `agentdb_causal-node-delete` — Destructive — https://policylayer.com/tools/ruflo/agentdb-causal-node-delete.md
- `agentdb_hierarchical-delete` — Destructive — https://policylayer.com/tools/ruflo/agentdb-hierarchical-delete.md
- `autopilot_reset` — Destructive — https://policylayer.com/tools/ruflo/autopilot-reset.md
- `config_reset` — Destructive — https://policylayer.com/tools/ruflo/config-reset.md
- `federation_wg_keyrotate` — Destructive — https://policylayer.com/tools/ruflo/federation-wg-keyrotate.md
- `hooks_intelligence-reset` — Destructive — https://policylayer.com/tools/ruflo/hooks-intelligence-reset.md
- `hooks_worker-cancel` — Destructive — https://policylayer.com/tools/ruflo/hooks-worker-cancel.md
- `iot_device_remove` — Destructive — https://policylayer.com/tools/ruflo/iot-device-remove.md
- `iot_device_unpair` — Destructive — https://policylayer.com/tools/ruflo/iot-device-unpair.md
- `iot_firmware_rollout_rollback` — Destructive — https://policylayer.com/tools/ruflo/iot-firmware-rollout-rollback.md
- `iot_fleet_delete` — Destructive — https://policylayer.com/tools/ruflo/iot-fleet-delete.md
- `iot_fleet_remove_device` — Destructive — https://policylayer.com/tools/ruflo/iot-fleet-remove-device.md
- `managed_agent_terminate` — Destructive — https://policylayer.com/tools/ruflo/managed-agent-terminate.md
- `memory_delete` — Destructive — https://policylayer.com/tools/ruflo/memory-delete.md
- `policy_revoke` — Destructive — https://policylayer.com/tools/ruflo/policy-revoke.md
- `ruvector_delete` — Destructive — https://policylayer.com/tools/ruflo/ruvector-delete.md
- `session_delete` — Destructive — https://policylayer.com/tools/ruflo/session-delete.md
- `system_reset` — Destructive — https://policylayer.com/tools/ruflo/system-reset.md
- `task_cancel` — Destructive — https://policylayer.com/tools/ruflo/task-cancel.md
- `wasm_agent_reset` — Destructive — https://policylayer.com/tools/ruflo/wasm-agent-reset.md
- `wasm_gallery_remove_custom` — Destructive — https://policylayer.com/tools/ruflo/wasm-gallery-remove-custom.md
- `workflow_cancel` — Destructive — https://policylayer.com/tools/ruflo/workflow-cancel.md
- `workflow_delete` — Destructive — https://policylayer.com/tools/ruflo/workflow-delete.md
- `agent_pool` — Execute — https://policylayer.com/tools/ruflo/agent-pool.md
- `agent_spawn` — Execute — https://policylayer.com/tools/ruflo/agent-spawn.md
- `agentdb_consolidate` — Execute — https://policylayer.com/tools/ruflo/agentdb-consolidate.md
- `agentdb_route` — Execute — https://policylayer.com/tools/ruflo/agentdb-route.md
- …and 465 more: https://policylayer.com/tools/ruflo.md

## For agents

This record is a snapshot. Live verdicts and the full registry:

- Check every server in your MCP config at once: `npx -y policylayer stack`
- Vet a server before you add it: install the mcp-precheck skill — `npx skills add https://policylayer.com` (skill text: https://policylayer.com/skill.md)
- Query the registry over MCP: endpoint `https://api.policylayer.com/mcp` — tools `check_mcp_server`, `check_mcp_stack`, `check_tool`, `search_registry`, `get_change_events`

---

Source: the PolicyLayer MCP registry — one continuously verified record per MCP server. Full record: https://policylayer.com/registry?q=ruflo · API: https://policylayer.com/registry/api · Policy library: https://policylayer.com/policies/ruflo