Get Gene Ontology (GO) terms for a gene including molecular function, biological process, and cellular component annotations.
AI agents call get_ontology to retrieve information from WormBase MCP Server without modifying anything — typically the context-gathering step in research, monitoring, and reporting workflows, before the agent takes action elsewhere.
This tool queries and retrieves pre-existing Gene Ontology data associated with genes. It performs a read-only lookup operation with no side effects, state changes, or irreversible actions. The blast radius of misuse is minimal—an agent could only retrieve ontology data it should not have access to, not modify or delete it. This is a standard data retrieval operation typical of genomics databases.
From the tool's definition Tool name 'get_ontology' and description indicate retrieval of existing Gene Ontology annotations ('Get Gene Ontology (GO) terms for a gene'). No modification, deletion, code execution, or financial operations are described.
Attacks that exploit this kind of access
Get Gene Ontology (GO) terms for a gene including molecular function, biological process, and cellular component annotations. It is categorised as a Read tool in the WormBase MCP Server MCP Server, which means it retrieves data without modifying state.
Register the WormBase MCP Server MCP server in PolicyLayer and add a rule for get_ontology: 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 WormBase MCP Server. Nothing to install.
get_ontology 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_ontology 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_ontology. 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_ontology is provided by the WormBase MCP Server MCP server (wormbase/wormbase-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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