start_playback

What start_playback does on Livepilot

AI agents invoke start_playback to trigger actions in Livepilot. What it does depends on the arguments the agent supplies, and its effects often reach beyond the immediate call: builds kicked off, notifications sent, workflows started.

Why start_playback is rated High

This tool executes a playback action in the music production software, which is a control operation that triggers the audio engine. While the blast radius is minimal (playback is reversible and non-destructive), it qualifies as Execute rather than Write because it invokes an operation/command whose effect is triggered dynamically, not data creation or modification.

From the tool's definition Tool name 'start_playback' and description 'Start playback from the beginning' indicate triggering an action (audio playback) in Ableton Live 12. This is a command that causes external state change in the DAW.

The rule that runs start_playback safely

PolicyLayer is an MCP gateway: it sits between your AI agents and Livepilot, and checks every tool call against a rule you set before the call runs. Nothing changes on the server itself. For start_playback, this is the rule to start with:

{
  "version": "1",
  "default": "deny",
  "tools": {
    "start_playback": {
      "limits": [
        {
          "counter": "start_playback_rate",
          "window": "minute",
          "max": 10,
          "scope": "grant"
        }
      ]
    }
  }
}

Questions about start_playback