Medium Risk

activate

<tool_description> Activate an approved media buy to start serving. Requires creative to be submitted first. </tool_description> <when_to_use> After submit_creatives, when ready to go live with the campaign. </when_to_use> <combination_hints> submit_creatives → activate → track_enriched_snippet (...

Part of the Discovery server.

activate can modify Discovery data, with no limits today. PolicyLayer puts allow, deny, and rate-limit rules on every call. Live in minutes.

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AI agents use activate to create or modify resources in Discovery. Write operations carry medium risk because an autonomous agent could trigger bulk unintended modifications. Rate limits prevent a single agent session from making hundreds of changes in rapid succession. Argument validation ensures the agent passes expected values.

Without a policy, an AI agent could call activate repeatedly, creating or modifying resources faster than any human could review. PolicyLayer's rate limiting ensures write operations happen at a controlled pace, and argument validation catches malformed or unexpected inputs before they reach Discovery.

Write tools can modify data. A rate limit prevents runaway bulk operations from AI agents.

policy.json
{
  "version": "1",
  "default": "deny",
  "tools": {
    "activate": {
      "limits": [
        {
          "counter": "activate_rate",
          "window": "minute",
          "max": 30,
          "scope": "grant"
        }
      ]
    }
  }
}

See the full Discovery policy for all 19 tools.

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These attack patterns abuse exactly the kind of access activate gives an agent. Each links to the full case and the policy that stops it:

Browse the full MCP Attack Database →

Every attack above starts with a tool call. PolicyLayer checks each one against your policy first, so activate only ever does what you allow.

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Other write tools across the catalogue. The same approach applies to each: rate-limit and validate the arguments.

What does the activate tool do? +

<tool_description> Activate an approved media buy to start serving. Requires creative to be submitted first. </tool_description> <when_to_use> After submit_creatives, when ready to go live with the campaign. </when_to_use> <combination_hints> submit_creatives → activate → track_enriched_snippet (for enriched snippet buys). Can be paused later with pause, or cancelled with cancel. </combination_hints> <output_format> Activated media buy with won_at timestamp. </output_format>. It is categorised as a Write tool in the Discovery MCP Server, which means it can create or modify data. Consider rate limits to prevent runaway writes.

How do I enforce a policy on activate? +

Register the Discovery MCP server in PolicyLayer and add a rule for activate: 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 Discovery. Nothing to install.

What risk level is activate? +

activate is a Write tool with medium risk. Write tools should be rate-limited to prevent accidental bulk modifications.

Can I rate-limit activate? +

Yes. Add a rate_limit block to the activate 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.

How do I block activate completely? +

Set action: deny in the PolicyLayer policy for activate. 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.

What MCP server provides activate? +

activate is provided by the Discovery MCP server (https://mcp.nexbid.dev/mcp). PolicyLayer sits as a proxy in front of this server to enforce policies before tool calls reach the server.

Enforce policy on every Discovery tool call.

Deterministic rules across all 19 Discovery tools. Per-identity grants. Full audit log. Live in minutes. Nothing to install.

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4,600+ MCP servers and 31,000+ tools scanned and risk-classified.

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