scan_openalex
AI agents call scan_openalex to retrieve information from Metis Public Health without modifying anything — typically the context-gathering step in research, monitoring, and reporting workflows, before the agent takes action elsewhere.
The tool appears to query OpenAlex (a scholarly article database) for research metadata—a read operation. Severity is marked 'high' rather than 'low' because an agent could enumerate large datasets, perform reconnaissance on researchers/institutions, or generate excessive API requests that consume quota or cause denial-of-service.
From the tool's definition Tool name 'scan_openalex' indicates querying OpenAlex, a public academic metadata API. The 'scan' verb suggests retrieval/search rather than modification. No description provided to confirm scope.
Attacks that exploit this kind of access
scan_openalex. It is categorised as a Read tool in the Metis Public Health MCP Server, which means it retrieves data without modifying state.
Register the Metis Public Health MCP server in PolicyLayer and add a rule for scan_openalex: 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 Metis Public Health. Nothing to install.
scan_openalex 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 scan_openalex 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 scan_openalex. 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.
scan_openalex is provided by the Metis Public Health MCP server (sveritg/metis_ph). 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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