This record as markdown: /tools/cowork-bench/check-connection.md
What check_connection does on Cowork Bench
AI agents call check_connection to retrieve information from Cowork Bench without modifying anything. It is typically the context-gathering step in research, monitoring, and reporting workflows, before the agent takes action elsewhere.
Why check_connection is rated Low
This tool performs a status check of an email server connection, which is a read-only operation. It queries the state of a connection without creating, modifying, deleting, or executing any commands. The only potential side effect would be network traffic from the check itself, which is minimal and reversible. This falls clearly into the Read category.
From the tool's definition Tool name 'check_connection' and description 'Check email server connection status' indicate a diagnostic query operation that retrieves connection status without modifying any data or triggering side effects.
Attacks that exploit this kind of access
The rule that runs check_connection safely
PolicyLayer is an MCP gateway: it sits between your AI agents and Cowork Bench, and checks every tool call against a rule you set before the call runs. Nothing changes on the server itself. For check_connection, this is the rule to start with:
check_connection is read-only, so it stays allowed. Everything else on the server is denied unless you say otherwise.
The button opens the PolicyLayer dashboard: create your workspace, connect Cowork Bench, apply this rule, and every check_connection call is checked against it from then on.
Questions about check_connection
Check email server connection status. It is categorised as a Read tool in the Cowork Bench MCP Server, which means it retrieves data without modifying state.
Register the Cowork Bench MCP server in PolicyLayer and add a rule for check_connection: 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 Cowork Bench. Nothing to install.
check_connection is a Read tool with low risk. Read-only tools are generally safe to allow by default.
Yes. Add a rate_limit block to the check_connection 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 check_connection. 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.
check_connection is provided by the Cowork Bench MCP server (0717376/cowork_bench). PolicyLayer sits as a proxy in front of this server to enforce policies before tool calls reach the server.
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