# Small AI database questions can become big scans > Source: > Published: 2026-05-23 00:16:51+00:00 A small question can become a big database scan when an AI agent writes the query. “Show me customers at risk” sounds harmless. But depending on schema context, the agent might join: Then it may retry when the first query does not answer the question. For production MCP database servers, row limits should be treated as a safety boundary, not a UI preference. Useful defaults: Longer version: Row limits for AI database agents The model should never summarize 50 preview rows as if it saw the whole database.