Create or update a dashboard. Two modes: (1) Full JSON — provide 'dashboard' for new dashboards or complete replacements. (2) Patch — provide 'uid' + 'operations' to make targeted changes to an existing dashboard. One of these two modes is required; 'folderUid'\, 'message'\, and 'overwrite' are s...
Risk signalsAccepts file system path (operations[].path) · High parameter count (10 properties)
Part of the Mcp Grafana Npx server.
Free to start. No card required.
AI agents use update_dashboard to create or modify resources in Mcp Grafana Npx. 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 update_dashboard 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 Mcp Grafana Npx.
Write tools can modify data. A rate limit prevents runaway bulk operations from AI agents.
{
"version": "1",
"default": "deny",
"tools": {
"update_dashboard": {
"limits": [
{
"counter": "update_dashboard_rate",
"window": "minute",
"max": 30,
"scope": "grant"
}
]
}
}
}See the full Mcp Grafana Npx policy for all 52 tools.
These attack patterns abuse exactly the kind of access update_dashboard gives an agent. Each links to the full case and the policy that stops it:
Other write tools across the catalogue. The same approach applies to each: rate-limit and validate the arguments.
Create or update a dashboard. Two modes: (1) Full JSON — provide 'dashboard' for new dashboards or complete replacements. (2) Patch — provide 'uid' + 'operations' to make targeted changes to an existing dashboard. One of these two modes is required; 'folderUid'\, 'message'\, and 'overwrite' are supplementary and do nothing on their own. Dashboard authoring guidance: if a saved query must support one\, many\, or All values from a multi-select variable inside a regex expression or matcher\, save '${var:regex}' rather than plain '$var'. Saved dashboard annotation queries/definitions must be written into dashboard JSON under 'annotations.list'; the create_annotation tool creates annotation events and does not add a reusable dashboard annotation query/definition to the saved dashboard. For stat panels over the current dashboard range\, make the query return the range-level result the stat should display; panel-side reduction only reduces returned series and does not compute peak-over-range or ratio-of-peaks semantics for you. Patch operations support JSONPaths like '$.panels[0].targets[0].expr'\, '$.panels[1].title'\, '$.panels[2].targets[0].datasource'\, '$.templating.list/-'\, and '$.annotations.list/-'. Append to arrays with '/- ' syntax: '$.panels/- '. Remove by index: {"op": "remove"\, "path": "$.panels[2]"}. Multiple removes on the same array are automatically reordered to avoid index-shifting issues. Note: only numeric array indices are supported in patch paths; filter expressions like [?(@.id==2)] and wildcards like [*] are not supported.. It is categorised as a Write tool in the Mcp Grafana Npx MCP Server, which means it can create or modify data. Consider rate limits to prevent runaway writes.
Register the Mcp Grafana Npx MCP server in PolicyLayer and add a rule for update_dashboard: 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 Mcp Grafana Npx. Nothing to install.
update_dashboard is a Write tool with medium risk. Write tools should be rate-limited to prevent accidental bulk modifications.
Yes. Add a rate_limit block to the update_dashboard 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 update_dashboard. 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.
update_dashboard is provided by the Mcp Grafana Npx MCP server (mcp-grafana-npx). PolicyLayer sits as a proxy in front of this server to enforce policies before tool calls reach the server.
Deterministic rules across all 52 Mcp Grafana Npx tools. Per-identity grants. Full audit log. Live in minutes. Nothing to install.
Free to start. No card required.
4,600+ MCP servers and 31,000+ tools scanned and risk-classified.