Search for papers on arXiv with advanced filtering
AI agents call search_papers to retrieve information from ArXiv MCP Server 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 paper metadata from arXiv without modifying, deleting, or executing any operations. Search operations are informational and produce no side effects beyond returning results. The blast radius of misuse is minimal—an agent could perform excessive searches but cannot damage data, execute code, or incur financial costs.
From the tool's definition Tool description states 'Search for papers on arXiv with advanced filtering'. The name 'search_papers' and the verb 'search' combined with the context of an academic paper repository indicate a read-only query operation.
Attacks that exploit this kind of access
Search for papers on arXiv with advanced filtering. It is categorised as a Read tool in the ArXiv MCP Server MCP Server, which means it retrieves data without modifying state.
Register the ArXiv MCP Server MCP server in PolicyLayer and add a rule for search_papers: 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 ArXiv MCP Server. Nothing to install.
search_papers 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_papers 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_papers. 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_papers is provided by the ArXiv MCP Server MCP server (wr-web/apr). PolicyLayer sits as a proxy in front of this server to enforce policies before tool calls reach the server.
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