AI agents invoke show_notification to trigger actions in SP-MCP. 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.
This tool triggers an action in an external application (displaying a notification), which constitutes executing an external operation. It doesn't read, write persistent data, or destroy anything, but it does cause a side effect in the UI of the app. Severity is low since the blast radius of showing a spurious notification is minimal.
From the tool's definition "Show a notification in Super Productivity" — triggers an external UI operation in the Super Productivity app
Documented attack patterns abuse exactly the kind of access show_notification gives an agent:
PolicyLayer is an MCP gateway — it sits between your AI agents and SP-MCP, and nothing reaches the server without passing your rules. This is the rule we recommend for show_notification:
{
"version": "1",
"default": "deny",
"tools": {
"show_notification": {
"limits": [
{
"counter": "show_notification_rate",
"window": "minute",
"max": 10,
"scope": "grant"
}
]
}
}
}show_notification stays usable, but rate-capped — a runaway agent can't fire it dozens of times a minute. Everything else on the server is denied unless you say otherwise.
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Show a notification in Super Productivity. It is categorised as a Execute tool in the SP-MCP MCP Server, which means it can trigger actions or run processes. Use rate limits and argument validation.
Register the SP- MCP server in PolicyLayer and add a rule for show_notification: 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 SP-MCP. Nothing to install.
show_notification is a Execute tool with high risk. Execute tools should be rate-limited and have argument validation enabled.
Yes. Add a rate_limit block to the show_notification 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 show_notification. 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.
show_notification is provided by the SP- MCP server (organicmoron/sp-mcp). PolicyLayer sits as a proxy in front of this server to enforce policies before tool calls reach the server.
Deterministic rules across all 10 SP-MCP tools. Per-identity grants. Full audit log. Live in minutes. Nothing to install.
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10 SP-MCP tools catalogued and risk-classified — across an index of 42,500+ MCP servers.