Search for UK companies by name using Companies House API.
AI agents call search_companies to retrieve information from GovUK 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 company information from a public UK government database. It performs no write, deletion, execution, or financial operations. The blast radius of misuse is minimal — an agent querying company data poses no risk of data modification, code execution, or financial harm. Confidence is high because the description clearly indicates a read-only search operation.
From the tool's definition Tool name contains 'search' and description states 'Search for UK companies by name' — a query operation that retrieves data without modification. The Companies House API is a public lookup service.
Attacks that exploit this kind of access
Search for UK companies by name using Companies House API. It is categorised as a Read tool in the GovUK MCP Server MCP Server, which means it retrieves data without modifying state.
Register the GovUK 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 GovUK 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 GovUK MCP Server MCP server (stealth-labs-ltd/govuk-mcp). 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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