Validates that the current phase
AI agents invoke sdd_advance_phase to trigger actions in Specky. 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.
Advancing a pipeline phase triggers a state transition and likely downstream operations (validation, artifact generation). This is an Execute-level action as it runs pipeline logic and changes system state, though the description is truncated and uninformative, reducing confidence.
From the tool's definition 'sdd_advance_phase' — validates the current phase and advances the pipeline to the next phase, triggering a phase transition in the 7-phase pipeline
Documented attack patterns abuse exactly the kind of access sdd_advance_phase gives an agent:
PolicyLayer is an MCP gateway — it sits between your AI agents and Specky, and nothing reaches the server without passing your rules. This is the rule we recommend for sdd_advance_phase:
{
"version": "1",
"default": "deny",
"tools": {
"sdd_advance_phase": {
"limits": [
{
"counter": "sdd_advance_phase_rate",
"window": "minute",
"max": 10,
"scope": "grant"
}
]
}
}
}sdd_advance_phase 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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Validates that the current phase. It is categorised as a Execute tool in the Specky MCP Server, which means it can trigger actions or run processes. Use rate limits and argument validation.
Register the Specky MCP server in PolicyLayer and add a rule for sdd_advance_phase: 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 Specky. Nothing to install.
sdd_advance_phase 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 sdd_advance_phase 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 sdd_advance_phase. 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.
sdd_advance_phase is provided by the Specky MCP server (paulasilvatech/specky). PolicyLayer sits as a proxy in front of this server to enforce policies before tool calls reach the server.
Start from Specky, 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.
56 Specky tools catalogued and risk-classified — across an index of 43,000+ MCP servers.