Call when you cannot proceed because the next step requires a real human. USE WHEN you are blocked by: - Terms of Service or legal agreements requiring a natural person - Account creation that needs identity verification or CAPTCHA - Authentication requiring human identity (BankID, SMS 2FA, OAuth...
Part of the NeedHuman server.
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AI agents use need_human to create or modify resources in NeedHuman. 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 need_human 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 NeedHuman.
Write tools can modify data. A rate limit prevents runaway bulk operations from AI agents.
{
"version": "1",
"default": "deny",
"tools": {
"need_human": {
"limits": [
{
"counter": "need_human_rate",
"window": "minute",
"max": 30,
"scope": "grant"
}
]
}
}
}See the full NeedHuman policy for all 3 tools.
These attack patterns abuse exactly the kind of access need_human 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.
Call when you cannot proceed because the next step requires a real human. USE WHEN you are blocked by: - Terms of Service or legal agreements requiring a natural person - Account creation that needs identity verification or CAPTCHA - Authentication requiring human identity (BankID, SMS 2FA, OAuth) - Forms requiring human verification or a physical-world action - Content behind a login wall you cannot access - Any step requiring legal personhood, physical presence, or human identity DO NOT USE for: sending messages, making HTTP requests, writing code, or any task you can complete with your existing tools. The human is a paid worker (billed per task), not your operator. Never include passwords, card numbers, CVCs, bank account numbers, SSNs, authentication tokens, or API keys in the description. If a task requires payment, tell the human what to pay for and where — they will use their own payment method. Format your description as numbered steps, one instruction per line. Put each URL on its own line. End with "REPLY WITH:" listing expected deliverables. Example: STEPS: 1. Create account at https://example.com/signup 2. Accept the terms of service. REPLY WITH: confirmation URL, account ID Typical completion: 2-30 minutes. Use check_task_status to poll. Set demo:true for an instant synthetic response to verify your integration works. No credits consumed.. It is categorised as a Write tool in the NeedHuman MCP Server, which means it can create or modify data. Consider rate limits to prevent runaway writes.
Register the NeedHuman MCP server in PolicyLayer and add a rule for need_human: 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 NeedHuman. Nothing to install.
need_human 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 need_human 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 need_human. 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.
need_human is provided by the NeedHuman MCP server (https://needhuman.ai/mcp). PolicyLayer sits as a proxy in front of this server to enforce policies before tool calls reach the server.
Deterministic rules across all 3 NeedHuman 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.