Get a comprehensive overview of the entire Home Assistant system Returns: A dictionary containing: - total_entities: Total count of all entities - domains: Dictionary of domains with their entity counts and state distributions - domain_samples: Representative sample entities for each domain (2-3 ...
AI agents call system_overview to retrieve information from Hass-MCP without modifying anything — typically the context-gathering step in research, monitoring, and reporting workflows, before the agent takes action elsewhere.
system_overview is a query-only tool that gathers and presents information about the Home Assistant system state without modifying any entities, executing commands, or triggering actions. The returned data (counts, distributions, samples, attributes) has no side effects. This is consistent with other Read-category tools on the server like get_entity, get_history, and get_statistics.
From the tool's definition Tool retrieves and returns system overview data including entity counts, domain distributions, samples, attributes, and area grouping. Uses verbs 'Get', 'Returns', 'retrieves' indicating data retrieval with no modification or execution.
Risk signalsBulk/mass operation — affects multiple targets · Admin/system-level operation
Documented attack patterns abuse exactly the kind of access system_overview gives an agent:
PolicyLayer is an MCP gateway — it sits between your AI agents and Hass-MCP, and nothing reaches the server without passing your rules. This is the rule we recommend for system_overview:
{
"version": "1",
"default": "deny",
"tools": {
"system_overview": {}
}
}system_overview is read-only, so it stays allowed — but everything else on the server is denied unless you say otherwise.
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Get a comprehensive overview of the entire Home Assistant system Returns: A dictionary containing: - total_entities: Total count of all entities - domains: Dictionary of domains with their entity counts and state distributions - domain_samples: Representative sample entities for each domain (2-3 per domain) - domain_attributes: Common attributes for each domain - area_distribution: Entities grouped by area (if available) Examples: Returns domain counts, sample entities, and common attributes Best Practices: - Use this as the first call when exploring an unfamiliar Home Assistant instance - Perfect for building context about the structure of the smart home - After getting an overview, use domain_summary_tool to dig deeper into specific domains. It is categorised as a Read tool in the Hass-MCP MCP Server, which means it retrieves data without modifying state.
Register the Hass- MCP server in PolicyLayer and add a rule for system_overview: 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 Hass-MCP. Nothing to install.
system_overview 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 system_overview 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 system_overview. 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.
system_overview is provided by the Hass- MCP server (voska/hass-mcp). PolicyLayer sits as a proxy in front of this server to enforce policies before tool calls reach the server.
Deterministic rules across all 16 Hass-MCP tools. Per-identity grants. Full audit log. Live in minutes. Nothing to install.
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16 Hass-MCP tools catalogued and risk-classified — across an index of 42,500+ MCP servers.