Get full metadata and children for a single item.
AI agents call get_item to retrieve information from Zotero Assistant without modifying anything — typically the context-gathering step in research, monitoring, and reporting workflows, before the agent takes action elsewhere.
This tool retrieves and queries metadata for a library item without creating, modifying, deleting, or executing operations. It is a straightforward read operation consistent with the Read category, which encompasses search, list, get, and fetch operations. The severity is low because retrieving metadata poses minimal risk—an AI agent cannot cause harm through read-only access to library item information.
From the tool's definition Tool name 'get_item' and description 'Get full metadata and children for a single item' indicate a retrieval operation with no modification or deletion of data.
Attacks that exploit this kind of access
Get full metadata and children for a single item. It is categorised as a Read tool in the Zotero Assistant MCP Server, which means it retrieves data without modifying state.
Register the Zotero Assistant MCP server in PolicyLayer and add a rule for get_item: 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 Zotero Assistant. Nothing to install.
get_item 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 get_item 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 get_item. 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.
get_item is provided by the Zotero Assistant MCP server (upascal/zotero-assistant-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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