# Explore

> Eleven read-only MCP tools handle inventory: listing connected cloud accounts, searching resources, reading one resource in detail, checking whether discovery data is current, and tracing blast radius. All are tier 0, so an assistant can map an entire estate with no write access enabled.

Source: https://zop.dev/integrations/mcp-server/tools/explore
Updated: 2026-08-20

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## Common questions

### Can an assistant map my whole estate with writes disabled?

Yes. All eleven tools here read, so inventory, per-resource detail, discovery freshness and blast radius are fully reachable at the default read-only setting.

### Why did list_resources come back empty?

Possibly because of an invented filter value. Call get_resource_filters first for the valid values, since a bad provider or region string returns an empty set that looks identical to genuinely having none.

### How does an assistant know the inventory is current?

get_discovery_status and get_discovery_summary. Discovery runs on a cycle, so a confident instance count means little without knowing whether the data is an hour or a day old.

## Where to start

`get_resource_overview` and `get_cost_overview` are the two entry points across the whole tool
set. For inventory questions, `get_resource_overview` returns the shape of one resource (what
it is, what it costs, what fires on it) in a single call rather than three.

For breadth: `list_resources` with `get_resource_filters` to discover valid filter values first,
`get_resource_count` for totals, `get_resource_summary` for a grouped picture.

## Knowing whether the data is current

`get_discovery_status` and `get_discovery_summary` matter more than they look. Discovery runs on
a cycle, so an assistant answering "how many instances do we have" should know whether the
inventory is an hour old or a day old. Without these, a confident answer can be quietly stale.

`list_cloud_accounts` and `get_cloud_account` cover which accounts are connected and how.

## Blast radius

`get_blast_radius` is the one to reach for before any change. It returns what depends on a
resource, a severity class and a risk score: the same analysis the UI shows before you stop
something. An assistant that calls it before proposing a stop is doing the thing a careful
engineer would do.

## Everything here is read-only

No tool in this category mutates. That is why an estate can be fully explored, mapped and
reasoned about at the default org setting, with writes left off entirely.

## Filters before queries

`get_resource_filters` returns the valid values for a given filter before you use it. Calling
`list_resources` with an invented provider or region string returns an empty set that looks
identical to "you have none". Asking for the filter values first is what makes the difference
between an honest empty answer and a wrong one.