AI agents call search_candidates to retrieve information from MCP Ashby Connector without modifying anything — typically the context-gathering step in research, monitoring, and reporting workflows, before the agent takes action elsewhere.
This tool retrieves candidate information based on search criteria (email and/or name) without creating, modifying, deleting, or executing any actions. It is a straightforward read operation that queries the ATS database. The low severity reflects minimal blast radius — even if misused, searching returns only existing candidate records with no side effects or data mutations.
From the tool's definition Tool description explicitly states 'Search for candidates by email and/or name' — a query operation with no modification capability.
Documented attack patterns abuse exactly the kind of access search_candidates gives an agent:
PolicyLayer is an MCP gateway — it sits between your AI agents and MCP Ashby Connector, and nothing reaches the server without passing your rules. This is the rule we recommend for search_candidates:
{
"version": "1",
"default": "deny",
"tools": {
"search_candidates": {}
}
}search_candidates is read-only, so it stays allowed — but everything else on the server is denied unless you say otherwise.
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Search for candidates by email and/or name. It is categorised as a Read tool in the MCP Ashby Connector MCP Server, which means it retrieves data without modifying state.
Register the MCP Ashby Connector MCP server in PolicyLayer and add a rule for search_candidates: 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 MCP Ashby Connector. Nothing to install.
search_candidates 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_candidates 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_candidates. 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_candidates is provided by the MCP Ashby Connector MCP server (thnico/mcp-ashby). PolicyLayer sits as a proxy in front of this server to enforce policies before tool calls reach the server.
Start from MCP Ashby Connector, add the rest of your stack, and see everything your agents can call. Then put policy on all of it.
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13 MCP Ashby Connector tools catalogued and risk-classified — across an index of 43,000+ MCP servers.