List all Yelp business categories. Useful for finding category aliases for search.
AI agents call list_categories to retrieve information from Yelp Fusion 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 static reference information (business categories) from Yelp's database. It performs a read-only query with no ability to modify, delete, execute external code, or trigger financial transactions. The blast radius of misuse is minimal—an agent could only retrieve category data that is already publicly available.
From the tool's definition Tool description states 'List all Yelp business categories' — a query operation that retrieves reference data. The verb 'list' and the purpose of 'finding category aliases' are characteristic Read operations with no side effects.
Attacks that exploit this kind of access
List all Yelp business categories. Useful for finding category aliases for search. It is categorised as a Read tool in the Yelp Fusion MCP Server MCP Server, which means it retrieves data without modifying state.
Register the Yelp Fusion MCP Server MCP server in PolicyLayer and add a rule for list_categories: 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 Yelp Fusion MCP Server. Nothing to install.
list_categories 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_categories 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_categories. 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_categories is provided by the Yelp Fusion MCP Server MCP server (shawndrake2/mcp-yelp). PolicyLayer sits as a proxy in front of this server to enforce policies before tool calls reach the server.
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