log_heartbeat
Append a lightweight in-flight progress ping for a ticket a sub-agent is actively working: a phase/milestone
This record as markdown: /tools/ai-featureboard-featureboard/log-heartbeat.md
What log_heartbeat does on FeatureBoard
AI agents use log_heartbeat to create or update resources in FeatureBoard, usually the action step of a workflow, after the agent has gathered context. Every call changes real data in your FeatureBoard environment.
Why log_heartbeat is rated Medium
This tool writes progress metadata (phase/milestone information) to a ticket, modifying its state reversibly. It does not retrieve data (Read), execute external code (Execute), permanently delete anything (Destructive), move money (Financial), or trigger external operations with unpredictable effects. The blast radius of misuse is minimal—a wrongly-appended heartbeat ping can be corrected or removed.
From the tool's definition Tool appends (creates/modifies) a lightweight progress ping entry to a ticket. The description states "Append a lightweight in-flight progress ping" which indicates adding data to an existing ticket's state.
Attacks that exploit this kind of access
The rule that runs log_heartbeat safely
PolicyLayer is an MCP gateway: it sits between your AI agents and FeatureBoard, and checks every tool call against a rule you set before the call runs. Nothing changes on the server itself. For log_heartbeat, this is the rule to start with:
log_heartbeat stays usable, but capped: an agent stuck in a loop can't make hundreds of changes a minute. Everything else on the server is denied unless you say otherwise.
The button opens the PolicyLayer dashboard: create your workspace, connect FeatureBoard, apply this rule, and every log_heartbeat call is checked against it from then on.
Questions about log_heartbeat
Append a lightweight in-flight progress ping for a ticket a sub-agent is actively working: a phase/milestone. It is categorised as a Write tool in the FeatureBoard MCP Server, which means it can create or modify data. Consider rate limits to prevent runaway writes.
Register the FeatureBoard MCP server in PolicyLayer and add a rule for log_heartbeat: 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 FeatureBoard. Nothing to install.
log_heartbeat is a Write tool with medium risk. Write tools should be rate-limited to prevent accidental bulk modifications.
Yes. Add a rate_limit block to the log_heartbeat 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 log_heartbeat. 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.
log_heartbeat is provided by the FeatureBoard MCP server (https://github.com/valentil/featureboard-mcp/releases/download/v0.7/featureboard.plugin). PolicyLayer sits as a proxy in front of this server to enforce policies before tool calls reach the server.
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