diff --git a/CHANGELOG.md b/CHANGELOG.md
index 50a71e3..ca0be1c 100644
--- a/CHANGELOG.md
+++ b/CHANGELOG.md
@@ -6,6 +6,20 @@ and this project follows [Semantic Versioning](https://semver.org/spec/v2.0.0.ht
 
 ## [Unreleased]
 
+### Added
+- MCP proxy: operator-side tool filtering at the perimeter.
+  `python -m vaara.integrations.mcp_proxy` now accepts repeatable
+  `--allow-tool NAME` and `--deny-tool NAME` flags. Filtered tools are
+  dropped from `tools/list` responses before the client sees them, and
+  any `tools/call` to a filtered tool is rejected at the proxy with an
+  MCP `isError: true` payload (`decision: "FILTERED"`,
+  `reason: "Tool filtered by operator policy"`) without forwarding
+  upstream or invoking the risk pipeline. Denylist wins on overlap with
+  allowlist. Backward compatible: no flags = current passthrough
+  behavior. Use case: hide write/delete tools (e.g. `delete_repository`,
+  `create_branch`) from an MCP client when the upstream server exposes
+  more capability than the deployment policy allows.
+
 ## [0.21.0] - 2026-05-19
 
 **Theme: MCP-aware proxy.** Adds
diff --git a/src/vaara/integrations/mcp_proxy.py b/src/vaara/integrations/mcp_proxy.py
index a511abf..71288f0 100644
--- a/src/vaara/integrations/mcp_proxy.py
+++ b/src/vaara/integrations/mcp_proxy.py
@@ -40,6 +40,8 @@ def __init__(
         pipeline: Optional[InterceptionPipeline] = None,
         db_path: Optional[Path] = None,
         agent_id_default: str = "mcp-proxy-client",
+        allowlist: Optional[set[str]] = None,
+        denylist: Optional[set[str]] = None,
     ) -> None:
         if pipeline is not None:
             self._pipeline = pipeline
@@ -50,12 +52,24 @@ def __init__(
             trail = AuditTrail(on_record=self._backend.write_record)
             self._pipeline = InterceptionPipeline(trail=trail)
         self._agent_id_default = agent_id_default
+        # An empty allowlist means "no restriction" (None and empty set are equivalent
+        # here); a non-empty allowlist restricts to exactly those names. Denylist
+        # always subtracts. When both are set, denylist wins on overlap.
+        self._allowlist: Optional[set[str]] = set(allowlist) if allowlist else None
+        self._denylist: set[str] = set(denylist) if denylist else set()
         self._stdout_lock = threading.Lock()
         self._upstream = UpstreamMCPClient(
             command=upstream_command,
             on_notification=self._forward_notification_to_client,
         )
 
+    def _tool_filtered(self, name: str) -> bool:
+        if name in self._denylist:
+            return True
+        if self._allowlist is not None and name not in self._allowlist:
+            return True
+        return False
+
     def run(self) -> None:
         """Read JSON-RPC from stdin, write to stdout, route through upstream."""
         logger.info("Vaara MCP proxy starting on stdio (%s)", self.PROXY_NAME)
@@ -90,11 +104,38 @@ def _handle_request(self, request: Any) -> dict:
             except Exception:
                 logger.exception("Error in tools/call interception")
                 return self._error_response(req_id, -32603, "Internal proxy error")
+        if method == "tools/list":
+            try:
+                return self._handle_tools_list(request)
+            except ProxyError as e:
+                return self._error_response(req_id, -32603, f"Upstream unavailable: {e}")
         try:
             return self._upstream.request(request)
         except ProxyError as e:
             return self._error_response(req_id, -32603, f"Upstream unavailable: {e}")
 
+    def _handle_tools_list(self, request: dict) -> dict:
+        response = self._upstream.request(request)
+        if not (self._denylist or self._allowlist is not None):
+            return response
+        if not isinstance(response, dict) or "result" not in response:
+            return response
+        result = response.get("result")
+        if not isinstance(result, dict):
+            return response
+        tools = result.get("tools")
+        if not isinstance(tools, list):
+            return response
+        filtered = [
+            t for t in tools
+            if isinstance(t, dict) and not self._tool_filtered(t.get("name", ""))
+        ]
+        # Mutate a shallow copy so the upstream response object the reader
+        # parked is not aliased into the client-facing payload.
+        new_result = dict(result)
+        new_result["tools"] = filtered
+        return {**response, "result": new_result}
+
     def _handle_tools_call(self, request: dict) -> dict:
         params = request.get("params") or {}
         if not isinstance(params, dict):
@@ -103,6 +144,23 @@ def _handle_tools_call(self, request: dict) -> dict:
         arguments = params.get("arguments", {}) or {}
         if not isinstance(arguments, dict):
             arguments = {}
+        if self._tool_filtered(tool_name):
+            logger.warning(
+                "tools/call rejected at perimeter (operator filter): %s", tool_name,
+            )
+            block_payload = {
+                "vaara_blocked": True,
+                "reason": "Tool filtered by operator policy",
+                "decision": "FILTERED",
+                "tool": tool_name,
+            }
+            return {
+                "jsonrpc": "2.0", "id": request.get("id"),
+                "result": {
+                    "content": [{"type": "text", "text": strict_json_dumps(block_payload, indent=2)}],
+                    "isError": True,
+                },
+            }
         # _vaara_agent_id is a proxy-side override for audit attribution;
         # strip before forwarding so the upstream never sees Vaara metadata.
         agent_id = arguments.pop("_vaara_agent_id", self._agent_id_default)
@@ -178,6 +236,13 @@ def main(argv: Optional[list[str]] = None) -> None:
                         help="Audit database path (default: $VAARA_DB or ./vaara_audit.db)")
     parser.add_argument("--agent-id", default="mcp-proxy-client",
                         help="Default agent_id for the audit trail")
+    parser.add_argument("--allow-tool", action="append", default=[], dest="allow_tools",
+                        help="Only expose this tool name (repeatable). If any --allow-tool "
+                             "is given, all other upstream tools are filtered from tools/list "
+                             "and rejected at tools/call.")
+    parser.add_argument("--deny-tool", action="append", default=[], dest="deny_tools",
+                        help="Filter this tool name from tools/list and reject any tools/call "
+                             "to it (repeatable). Denylist wins on overlap with --allow-tool.")
     args = parser.parse_args(argv)
     logging.basicConfig(level=logging.INFO,
                         format="%(asctime)s %(name)s %(levelname)s %(message)s",
@@ -185,6 +250,8 @@ def main(argv: Optional[list[str]] = None) -> None:
     proxy = VaaraMCPProxy(
         upstream_command=[args.upstream, *args.upstream_args],
         db_path=args.db, agent_id_default=args.agent_id,
+        allowlist=set(args.allow_tools) if args.allow_tools else None,
+        denylist=set(args.deny_tools) if args.deny_tools else None,
     )
     try:
         proxy.run()
diff --git a/tests/test_integrations_mcp_proxy.py b/tests/test_integrations_mcp_proxy.py
index 54e9f89..d934d51 100644
--- a/tests/test_integrations_mcp_proxy.py
+++ b/tests/test_integrations_mcp_proxy.py
@@ -42,6 +42,16 @@ def proxy(monkeypatch):
     return p, pipeline
 
 
+def _make_proxy(monkeypatch, **kwargs):
+    from vaara.integrations import mcp_proxy
+
+    monkeypatch.setattr(mcp_proxy, "UpstreamMCPClient", MagicMock())
+    pipeline = MagicMock()
+    p = mcp_proxy.VaaraMCPProxy(upstream_command=["echo"], pipeline=pipeline, **kwargs)
+    p._upstream = MagicMock()
+    return p, pipeline
+
+
 def test_blocked_tool_call_returns_mcp_tool_error(proxy):
     p, pipeline = proxy
     pipeline.intercept.return_value = _StubInterceptResult(
@@ -119,16 +129,17 @@ def test_vaara_agent_id_override_is_stripped_before_forward(proxy):
     assert "_vaara_agent_id" not in forwarded["params"]["arguments"]
 
 
-def test_non_tools_call_forwards_verbatim(proxy):
+def test_non_intercepted_method_forwards_verbatim(proxy):
     p, pipeline = proxy
-    p._upstream.request.return_value = {
-        "jsonrpc": "2.0", "id": 3, "result": {"tools": [{"name": "sap.adt.read"}]},
+    upstream_response = {
+        "jsonrpc": "2.0", "id": 3, "result": {"resources": []},
     }
-    request = {"jsonrpc": "2.0", "id": 3, "method": "tools/list"}
+    p._upstream.request.return_value = upstream_response
+    request = {"jsonrpc": "2.0", "id": 3, "method": "resources/list"}
     response = p._handle_request(request)
     p._upstream.request.assert_called_once_with(request)
     pipeline.intercept.assert_not_called()
-    assert response["result"]["tools"][0]["name"] == "sap.adt.read"
+    assert response is upstream_response
 
 
 def test_invalid_request_returns_minus_32600(proxy):
@@ -137,6 +148,108 @@ def test_invalid_request_returns_minus_32600(proxy):
     assert response["error"]["code"] == -32600
 
 
+def test_tools_list_denylist_drops_named_tools(monkeypatch):
+    p, pipeline = _make_proxy(monkeypatch, denylist={"delete_repository", "create_branch"})
+    p._upstream.request.return_value = {
+        "jsonrpc": "2.0", "id": 11,
+        "result": {"tools": [
+            {"name": "search_repositories"},
+            {"name": "create_branch"},
+            {"name": "get_pull_request"},
+            {"name": "delete_repository"},
+        ]},
+    }
+    response = p._handle_request({"jsonrpc": "2.0", "id": 11, "method": "tools/list"})
+    names = [t["name"] for t in response["result"]["tools"]]
+    assert names == ["search_repositories", "get_pull_request"]
+    pipeline.intercept.assert_not_called()
+
+
+def test_tools_list_allowlist_restricts_to_listed_tools(monkeypatch):
+    p, _ = _make_proxy(monkeypatch, allowlist={"search_repositories", "get_pull_request"})
+    p._upstream.request.return_value = {
+        "jsonrpc": "2.0", "id": 12,
+        "result": {"tools": [
+            {"name": "search_repositories"},
+            {"name": "create_branch"},
+            {"name": "get_pull_request"},
+        ]},
+    }
+    response = p._handle_request({"jsonrpc": "2.0", "id": 12, "method": "tools/list"})
+    names = sorted(t["name"] for t in response["result"]["tools"])
+    assert names == ["get_pull_request", "search_repositories"]
+
+
+def test_tools_list_denylist_wins_when_overlapping_with_allowlist(monkeypatch):
+    p, _ = _make_proxy(
+        monkeypatch,
+        allowlist={"search_repositories", "create_branch"},
+        denylist={"create_branch"},
+    )
+    p._upstream.request.return_value = {
+        "jsonrpc": "2.0", "id": 13,
+        "result": {"tools": [
+            {"name": "search_repositories"},
+            {"name": "create_branch"},
+        ]},
+    }
+    response = p._handle_request({"jsonrpc": "2.0", "id": 13, "method": "tools/list"})
+    names = [t["name"] for t in response["result"]["tools"]]
+    assert names == ["search_repositories"]
+
+
+def test_tools_list_no_policy_returns_upstream_response_unchanged(monkeypatch):
+    p, _ = _make_proxy(monkeypatch)
+    upstream_response = {
+        "jsonrpc": "2.0", "id": 14,
+        "result": {"tools": [{"name": "a"}, {"name": "b"}]},
+    }
+    p._upstream.request.return_value = upstream_response
+    response = p._handle_request({"jsonrpc": "2.0", "id": 14, "method": "tools/list"})
+    assert response is upstream_response
+
+
+def test_tools_call_on_denylisted_tool_returns_filter_block(monkeypatch):
+    p, pipeline = _make_proxy(monkeypatch, denylist={"delete_repository"})
+    request = {
+        "jsonrpc": "2.0", "id": 15, "method": "tools/call",
+        "params": {"name": "delete_repository", "arguments": {"owner": "vaaraio", "repo": "vaara"}},
+    }
+    response = p._handle_tools_call(request)
+    assert response["result"]["isError"] is True
+    text = response["result"]["content"][0]["text"]
+    assert "Tool filtered by operator policy" in text
+    assert "FILTERED" in text
+    p._upstream.request.assert_not_called()
+    pipeline.intercept.assert_not_called()
+    pipeline.report_outcome.assert_not_called()
+
+
+def test_tools_call_outside_allowlist_returns_filter_block(monkeypatch):
+    p, pipeline = _make_proxy(monkeypatch, allowlist={"search_repositories"})
+    request = {
+        "jsonrpc": "2.0", "id": 16, "method": "tools/call",
+        "params": {"name": "create_branch", "arguments": {}},
+    }
+    response = p._handle_tools_call(request)
+    assert response["result"]["isError"] is True
+    assert "Tool filtered by operator policy" in response["result"]["content"][0]["text"]
+    pipeline.intercept.assert_not_called()
+
+
+def test_tools_call_inside_allowlist_still_runs_pipeline(monkeypatch):
+    p, pipeline = _make_proxy(monkeypatch, allowlist={"search_repositories"})
+    pipeline.intercept.return_value = _StubInterceptResult(allowed=True, action_id="allow-1")
+    p._upstream.request.return_value = {"jsonrpc": "2.0", "id": 17, "result": {}}
+    request = {
+        "jsonrpc": "2.0", "id": 17, "method": "tools/call",
+        "params": {"name": "search_repositories", "arguments": {"q": "vaara"}},
+    }
+    p._handle_tools_call(request)
+    pipeline.intercept.assert_called_once()
+    p._upstream.request.assert_called_once_with(request)
+
+
 def test_upstream_request_raises_proxy_error_when_reader_exits_without_response(monkeypatch):
     """Regression: reader-thread exit during request must raise ProxyError, not AssertionError.