Medium Risk

create-ami

Create an AMI

How to control create-ami ↓

What create-ami does on AWS MCP Server

AI agents use create-ami to create or update resources in AWS MCP Server — usually the action step of a workflow, after the agent has gathered context. Every call changes real data in your AWS MCP Server environment.

Medium Risk

Why create-ami needs a policy

Creating an AMI is a reversible write operation—it creates a new resource (machine image) that can be deleted or replaced. It does not irreversibly destroy data (ruling out Destructive), does not execute arbitrary code/commands (ruling out Execute), and does not move money (ruling out Financial).

From the tool's definition Tool name 'create-ami' and description 'Create an AMI' indicate creation of an Amazon Machine Image, which is a write operation that creates a new artifact in AWS.

Documented attack patterns abuse exactly the kind of access create-ami gives an agent:

How to control create-ami

PolicyLayer is an MCP gateway — it sits between your AI agents and AWS MCP Server, and nothing reaches the server without passing your rules. This is the rule we recommend for create-ami:

policy.json
{
  "version": "1",
  "default": "deny",
  "tools": {
    "create-ami": {
      "limits": [
        {
          "counter": "create-ami_rate",
          "window": "minute",
          "max": 30,
          "scope": "grant"
        }
      ]
    }
  }
}

create-ami stays usable, but capped — an agent stuck in a loop can't make hundreds of changes a minute. Everything else on the server is denied unless you say otherwise.

  1. Create a free account and register AWS MCP Server — nothing to install.
  2. Add this policy — paste it, or build it visually.
  3. Point your MCP client (Claude, Cursor, anything) at your gateway URL.
LIMIT THIS TOOL →

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Related tools and policies

Go deeper

Questions about create-ami

What does the create-ami tool do? +

Create an AMI. It is categorised as a Write tool in the AWS MCP Server MCP Server, which means it can create or modify data. Consider rate limits to prevent runaway writes.

How do I enforce a policy on create-ami? +

Register the AWS MCP Server MCP server in PolicyLayer and add a rule for create-ami: 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 AWS MCP Server. Nothing to install.

What risk level is create-ami? +

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

Can I rate-limit create-ami? +

Yes. Add a rate_limit block to the create-ami 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 create-ami completely? +

Set action: deny in the PolicyLayer policy for create-ami. 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 create-ami? +

create-ami is provided by the AWS MCP Server MCP server (lokeswaran-aj/aws-mcp). PolicyLayer sits as a proxy in front of this server to enforce policies before tool calls reach the server.

Enforce policy on every AWS MCP Server tool call.

Start from AWS MCP Server, add the rest of your stack, and see everything your agents can call. Then put policy on all of it.

Free to start. No card required.

54 AWS MCP Server tools catalogued and risk-classified — across an index of 43,000+ MCP servers.

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