Update task properties including name, details, parent relationship (parentId), completion status, dependencies, priority, complexity, status, tags, and time estimates. Use parentId to move tasks within the hierarchy.
AI agents use update_task to create or update resources in Agentic Tools MCP Server — usually the action step of a workflow, after the agent has gathered context. Every call changes real data in your Agentic Tools MCP Server environment.
This tool creates or modifies task data without permanently deleting it. Changes to task properties are reversible—a task can be updated again to correct values, restored, or reverted. While it affects task hierarchy and completion state, these modifications do not destroy data. The severity is medium because misuse could disrupt project workflows or task tracking, but the effects are correctable.
From the tool's definition Tool description explicitly states 'Update task properties including name, details, parent relationship (parentId), completion status, dependencies, priority, complexity, status, tags, and time estimates.' The verb 'Update' and the range of modifiable fields…
Documented attack patterns abuse exactly the kind of access update_task gives an agent:
PolicyLayer is an MCP gateway — it sits between your AI agents and Agentic Tools MCP Server, and nothing reaches the server without passing your rules. This is the rule we recommend for update_task:
{
"version": "1",
"default": "deny",
"tools": {
"update_task": {
"limits": [
{
"counter": "update_task_rate",
"window": "minute",
"max": 30,
"scope": "grant"
}
]
}
}
}update_task stays usable, but capped — an agent stuck in a loop can't make hundreds of changes a minute. Everything else on the server is denied unless you say otherwise.
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Update task properties including name, details, parent relationship (parentId), completion status, dependencies, priority, complexity, status, tags, and time estimates. Use parentId to move tasks within the hierarchy. It is categorised as a Write tool in the Agentic Tools MCP Server MCP Server, which means it can create or modify data. Consider rate limits to prevent runaway writes.
Register the Agentic Tools MCP Server MCP server in PolicyLayer and add a rule for update_task: 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 Agentic Tools MCP Server. Nothing to install.
update_task 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_task 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_task. 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_task is provided by the Agentic Tools MCP Server MCP server (pimzino/agentic-tools-mcp). PolicyLayer sits as a proxy in front of this server to enforce policies before tool calls reach the server.
Deterministic rules across all 29 Agentic Tools MCP Server tools. Per-identity grants. Full audit log. Live in minutes. Nothing to install.
Free to start. No card required.
29 Agentic Tools MCP Server tools catalogued and risk-classified — across an index of 42,500+ MCP servers.