Use this when an action requires human approval before proceeding. Creates an approval request, notifies designated team members, and pauses task execution until approved or rejected. Essential for sensitive operations like publishing content, making purchases, sending mass emails, modifying prod...
Part of the Athenic server.
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AI agents call request_approval to retrieve information from Athenic without modifying any data. This is common in research, monitoring, and reporting workflows where the agent needs context before taking action. Because read operations don't change state, they are generally safe to allow without restrictions -- but you may still want rate limits to control API costs.
Even though request_approval only reads data, uncontrolled read access can leak sensitive information or rack up API costs. An agent caught in a retry loop could make thousands of calls per minute. A rate limit gives you a safety net without blocking legitimate use.
Read-only tools are safe to allow by default. No rate limit needed unless you want to control costs.
{
"version": "1",
"default": "deny",
"tools": {
"request_approval": {}
}
}See the full Athenic policy for all 5 tools.
These attack patterns abuse exactly the kind of access request_approval gives an agent. Each links to the full case and the policy that stops it:
Other read tools across the catalogue. The same approach applies to each: allow, with a rate cap to control cost.
Use this when an action requires human approval before proceeding. Creates an approval request, notifies designated team members, and pauses task execution until approved or rejected. Essential for sensitive operations like publishing content, making purchases, sending mass emails, modifying production systems, or accessing confidential data. Supports urgency levels for prioritization.. It is categorised as a Read tool in the Athenic MCP Server, which means it retrieves data without modifying state.
Register the Athenic MCP server in PolicyLayer and add a rule for request_approval: 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 Athenic. Nothing to install.
request_approval 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 request_approval 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 request_approval. 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.
request_approval is provided by the Athenic MCP server (maxbeech/athenic). PolicyLayer sits as a proxy in front of this server to enforce policies before tool calls reach the server.
Deterministic rules across all 5 Athenic tools. Per-identity grants. Full audit log. Live in minutes. Nothing to install.
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