This record as markdown: /tools/a11y-agent-skills/browser-navigate.md
What browser_navigate does on A11y Agent Skills
AI agents invoke browser_navigate to trigger actions in A11y Agent Skills. What it does depends on the arguments the agent supplies, and its effects often reach beyond the immediate call: builds kicked off, notifications sent, workflows started.
Why browser_navigate is rated High
Navigation to arbitrary URLs constitutes execution of external operations. The tool's effects depend entirely on the argument (the URL), which could load malicious sites, trigger redirects, or interact with third-party services. This is Execute rather than Read because it actively triggers navigation and its side effects are not merely informational retrieval.
From the tool's definition Tool name 'browser_navigate' and description 'Navigate to a URL' indicate it executes browser navigation actions.
Attacks that exploit this kind of access
The rule that runs browser_navigate safely
PolicyLayer is an MCP gateway: it sits between your AI agents and A11y Agent Skills, and checks every tool call against a rule you set before the call runs. Nothing changes on the server itself. For browser_navigate, this is the rule to start with:
browser_navigate stays usable, but rate-capped: a runaway agent can't fire it dozens of times a minute. Everything else on the server is denied unless you say otherwise.
The button opens the PolicyLayer dashboard: create your workspace, connect A11y Agent Skills, apply this rule, and every browser_navigate call is checked against it from then on.
Questions about browser_navigate
Navigate to a URL. It is categorised as a Execute tool in the A11y Agent Skills MCP Server, which means it can trigger actions or run processes. Use rate limits and argument validation.
Register the A11y Agent Skills MCP server in PolicyLayer and add a rule for browser_navigate: 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 A11y Agent Skills. Nothing to install.
browser_navigate is a Execute tool with high risk. Execute tools should be rate-limited and have argument validation enabled.
Yes. Add a rate_limit block to the browser_navigate 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 browser_navigate. 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.
browser_navigate is provided by the A11y Agent Skills MCP server (smukh/a11y-agent-skills). PolicyLayer sits as a proxy in front of this server to enforce policies before tool calls reach the server.
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