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Retrieve governed guidance

retrieve_guidance

Retrieve reviewed tacit guidance for the current work situation before acting on equipment, processes, or products, including any use constraints reviewers attached.

Instructions

Retrieve the reviewed tacit guidance that applies to the current work situation, with the use constraints reviewers attached. Call it before acting on equipment, a process, or a product. For a whole task's procedures, reference facts, and past cases as well, use agent_memory_context; to see what memory exists without its text, use list_tacit_memory. A context field left out never matches a condition, so give every field you know. role is the role you act for: a fragment restricted to other roles is withheld as not authorised, while context.role is matched like any other condition. When required_human_actions lists anything, stop and hand the decision to a person: high and critical risk and near misses (the same equipment in a different situation) always need one, and the handover opens an escalation task (escalation_task_id). Each call records the decision on the workspace's evidence chain and changes no fragment.

Input Schema

TableJSON Schema

Name	Required	Description	Default
`role`	No	The role you act for, for example operator. A fragment whose conditions name other roles is withheld with reason role_not_authorised. Omit it to skip that check.
`context`	Yes	The current work situation, with risk_class.

Output Schema

TableJSON Schema

Name	Required	Description
`note`	Yes	How to use the guidance.
`guidance`	Yes	Guidance whose recorded conditions match the context. Empty when none applies.
`withheld`	Yes	Fragments about this situation that were withheld, with the reason.
`recorded_at_seq`	Yes	The evidence-chain sequence number of the recorded decision.
`escalation_task_id`	Yes	The escalation opened for a person, when the gate handed anything over.
`not_yet_authorised`	Yes	How many unreviewed or unauthorised fragments were left out. They stay unnamed until reviewers promote them.
`required_human_actions`	Yes	Decisions a person must make before you act. When any is listed, stop and hand the decision to a person.

Schema Changelog

Changes observed during successful MCP inspections.

First observedv0.1.6Oct 5, 2026

TDQS

A4.8/5.0

Behavior5/5

Does the description disclose side effects, auth requirements, rate limits, or destructive behavior?

Adds substantial context beyond the annotations: each call writes to the workspace's evidence chain (explaining readOnlyHint=false and non-idempotency), does not alter fragments, withholds fragments for other roles as role_not_authorised, and opens an escalation task on handover. This clarifies rather than contradicts the annotation profile.

Agents need to know what a tool does to the world before calling it. Descriptions should go beyond structured annotations to explain consequences.

Conciseness4/5

Is the description appropriately sized, front-loaded, and free of redundancy?

Front-loads the core purpose and the pre-action trigger, then layers alternatives and constraints. Dense but every sentence carries operational information; only the role/context.role clarification could be tightened.

Shorter descriptions cost fewer tokens and are easier for agents to parse. Every sentence should earn its place.

Completeness5/5

Given the tool's complexity, does the description cover enough for an agent to succeed on first attempt?

An output schema exists so return values need no explanation, yet the description still covers the consequential behaviors an agent must plan around: withholding, human handover, escalation_task_id, and evidence-chain recording. Complete for a governance-gated retrieval tool.

Complex tools with many parameters or behaviors need more documentation. Simple tools need less. This dimension scales expectations accordingly.

Parameters4/5

Does the description clarify parameter syntax, constraints, interactions, or defaults beyond what the schema provides?

Schema coverage is 100%, so the baseline is 3, but the description adds real semantics: omitted context fields never match a condition, so every known field should be supplied, and top-level role is an authorization filter while context.role is matched like an ordinary condition. It does not restate the size/entry limits already documented in the schema.

Input schemas describe structure but not intent. Descriptions should explain non-obvious parameter relationships and valid value ranges.

Purpose5/5

Does the description clearly state what the tool does and how it differs from similar tools?

States a specific verb+resource and scope: 'Retrieve the reviewed tacit guidance that applies to the current work situation, with the use constraints reviewers attached.' It also distinguishes itself from siblings by name (agent_memory_context for full task context, list_tacit_memory for memory without text), so an agent can route without opening schemas.

Agents choose between tools based on descriptions. A clear purpose with a specific verb and resource helps agents select the right tool.

Usage Guidelines5/5

Does the description explain when to use this tool, when not to, or what alternatives exist?

Explicit trigger: 'Call it before acting on equipment, a process, or a product.' It names two alternatives with the exact conditions that select them, and gives a stop-and-escalate rule when required_human_actions is populated (high/critical risk, near misses). Nothing is left to inference.

Agents often have multiple tools that could apply. Explicit usage guidance like "use X instead of Y when Z" prevents misuse.

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