diagnose_item
Item diagnostics. action: explain (forensic state + rules + history), topology (Mermaid home graph).
This record as markdown: /tools/deswong-openhab-mcp/diagnose-item.md
What diagnose_item does on Openhab
AI agents call diagnose_item to retrieve information from Openhab without modifying anything. It is typically the context-gathering step in research, monitoring, and reporting workflows, before the agent takes action elsewhere.
Why diagnose_item is rated Low
The tool only retrieves and presents diagnostic information about items (state, rules, history, topology graph). There is no indication of modification, execution, deletion, or financial operations. It is a read-only forensic/diagnostic tool.
From the tool's definition 'Item diagnostics', 'explain (forensic state + rules + history)', 'topology (Mermaid home graph)' — all actions are read/query oriented, retrieving state, rules, history, and topology information
Attacks that exploit this kind of access
The rule that runs diagnose_item safely
PolicyLayer is an MCP gateway: it sits between your AI agents and Openhab, and checks every tool call against a rule you set before the call runs. Nothing changes on the server itself. For diagnose_item, this is the rule to start with:
diagnose_item 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 Openhab, apply this rule, and every diagnose_item call is checked against it from then on.
Questions about diagnose_item
Item diagnostics. action: explain (forensic state + rules + history), topology (Mermaid home graph). It is categorised as a Read tool in the Openhab MCP Server, which means it retrieves data without modifying state.
Register the Openhab MCP server in PolicyLayer and add a rule for diagnose_item: 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 Openhab. Nothing to install.
diagnose_item 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 diagnose_item 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 diagnose_item. 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.
diagnose_item is provided by the Openhab MCP server (deswong/openhab-mcp). PolicyLayer sits as a proxy in front of this server to enforce policies before tool calls reach the server.
More on Openhab, and thousands of servers like it.
This server
Across the catalogue