This record as markdown: /tools/ruflo/agent-spawn.md
What agent_spawn does on Ruflo
AI agents invoke agent_spawn to trigger actions in Ruflo. 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.
Why agent_spawn is rated High
Spawning a subagent triggers execution of an autonomous agent, which can itself perform arbitrary actions, coordinate workflows, and consume resources. This is an Execute-category action with high severity because a misused spawn could create runaway agents, consume significant compute, or initiate unintended autonomous operations across the swarm.
From the tool's definition 'Spawn a subagent' — creates and launches a new autonomous agent process
Attacks that exploit this kind of access
The rule that runs agent_spawn safely
PolicyLayer is an MCP gateway: it sits between your AI agents and Ruflo, and checks every tool call against a rule you set before the call runs. Nothing changes on the server itself. For agent_spawn, this is the rule to start with:
agent_spawn 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.
The button opens the PolicyLayer dashboard: create your workspace, connect Ruflo, apply this rule, and every agent_spawn call is checked against it from then on.
Questions about agent_spawn
Spawn a subagent. It is categorised as a Execute tool in the Ruflo MCP Server, which means it can trigger actions or run processes. Use rate limits and argument validation.
Register the Ruflo MCP server in PolicyLayer and add a rule for agent_spawn: 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 Ruflo. Nothing to install.
agent_spawn 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 agent_spawn 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 agent_spawn. 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.
agent_spawn is provided by the Ruflo MCP server (ruvnet/ruflo). PolicyLayer sits as a proxy in front of this server to enforce policies before tool calls reach the server.
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