validate_excel_range
Validate if a range exists and is properly formatted.
This record as markdown: /tools/cowork-bench/validate-excel-range.md
What validate_excel_range does on Cowork Bench
AI agents call validate_excel_range 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 validate_excel_range is rated Low
This tool performs validation—a read-only check of whether an Excel range exists and meets formatting requirements. It retrieves or inspects data without side effects, matching the Read category. The severity is low because misuse poses minimal risk; an agent could at worst waste cycles validating non-existent ranges, with no data loss or unauthorized access.
From the tool's definition Tool name 'validate_excel_range' and description 'Validate if a range exists and is properly formatted' indicate a query/inspection operation that checks the state of data without modifying, creating, or deleting anything.
Attacks that exploit this kind of access
The rule that runs validate_excel_range 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 validate_excel_range, this is the rule to start with:
validate_excel_range 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 validate_excel_range call is checked against it from then on.
Questions about validate_excel_range
Validate if a range exists and is properly formatted. 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 validate_excel_range: 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.
validate_excel_range 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 validate_excel_range 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 validate_excel_range. 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.
validate_excel_range 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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