Search for companies by name or ticker to find their CIK (Central Index Key). Returns matching companies with CIK, ticker, and name.
AI agents call search_companies to retrieve information from SEC EDGAR MCP Server without modifying anything — typically the context-gathering step in research, monitoring, and reporting workflows, before the agent takes action elsewhere.
This tool retrieves public company reference data (CIK, ticker, name) from the SEC EDGAR database. It is a query/search function with no side effects, no data modification capability, and no ability to execute operations or access sensitive information beyond what is publicly available.
From the tool's definition Tool performs a search operation that 'returns matching companies with CIK, ticker, and name' — a pure data retrieval with no modification, creation, deletion, or execution of any operations.
Attacks that exploit this kind of access
Search for companies by name or ticker to find their CIK (Central Index Key). Returns matching companies with CIK, ticker, and name. It is categorised as a Read tool in the SEC EDGAR MCP Server MCP Server, which means it retrieves data without modifying state.
Register the SEC EDGAR MCP Server MCP server in PolicyLayer and add a rule for search_companies: 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 SEC EDGAR MCP Server. Nothing to install.
search_companies 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 search_companies 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 search_companies. 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.
search_companies is provided by the SEC EDGAR MCP Server MCP server (shawndrake2/mcp-sec-edgar). 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 →