Medium Risk

setup

Set up ${unresolved.name} — call this tool to begin.

How to control setup ↓

AI agents use setup to create or update resources in Photon MCP Server — usually the action step of a workflow, after the agent has gathered context. Every call changes real data in your Photon MCP Server environment.

Medium Risk

An AI agent can call setup faster than any human can review — one bad instruction and it creates or modifies resources in Photon MCP Server by the hundred, each call as confident as the last.

Documented attack patterns abuse exactly the kind of access setup gives an agent:

PolicyLayer is an MCP gateway — it sits between your AI agents and Photon MCP Server, and nothing reaches the server without passing your rules. This is the rule we recommend for setup:

policy.json
{
  "version": "1",
  "default": "deny",
  "tools": {
    "setup": {
      "limits": [
        {
          "counter": "setup_rate",
          "window": "minute",
          "max": 30,
          "scope": "grant"
        }
      ]
    }
  }
}

setup 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.

  1. Create a free account and register Photon MCP Server — nothing to install.
  2. Add this policy — paste it, or build it visually.
  3. Point your MCP client (Claude, Cursor, anything) at your gateway URL.
LIMIT THIS TOOL →

Free to start. No card required.

Go deeper

What does the setup tool do? +

Set up ${unresolved.name} — call this tool to begin. It is categorised as a Write tool in the Photon MCP Server MCP Server, which means it can create or modify data. Consider rate limits to prevent runaway writes.

How do I enforce a policy on setup? +

Register the Photon MCP Server MCP server in PolicyLayer and add a rule for setup: 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 Photon MCP Server. Nothing to install.

What risk level is setup? +

setup is a Write tool with medium risk. Write tools should be rate-limited to prevent accidental bulk modifications.

Can I rate-limit setup? +

Yes. Add a rate_limit block to the setup 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.

How do I block setup completely? +

Set action: deny in the PolicyLayer policy for setup. 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.

What MCP server provides setup? +

setup is provided by the Photon MCP Server MCP server (portel-dev/photon). PolicyLayer sits as a proxy in front of this server to enforce policies before tool calls reach the server.

Enforce policy on every Photon MCP Server tool call.

Deterministic rules across all 6 Photon MCP Server tools. Per-identity grants. Full audit log. Live in minutes. Nothing to install.

Free to start. No card required.

6 Photon MCP Server tools catalogued and risk-classified — across an index of 42,500+ MCP servers.

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