# federation_bbs_watch

agentbbs — Poll recent envelopes from a BBS room (ADR-164 Phase 1). Returns envelopes newer than the optional sinceEnvelopeId, up to limit. Use when a pod agent needs to see incoming human overrides, new tasks, or peer events posted to its room. Polling memory_search for the room namespace is wrong because it loses the monotonic seq ordering and re-runs PII gating per query; this tool reads the canonical envelope log directly. Phase 1 is polling — Phase 4 layers streaming on the same surface. Optional dep — degrades to {degraded:true} when missing.

Agent View of the PolicyLayer registry record for `federation_bbs_watch`. HTML page: https://policylayer.com/tools/ruflo/federation-bbs-watch

## Facts

- Tool: `federation_bbs_watch`
- Server: Ruflo (`ruvnet/ruflo`) — https://policylayer.com/tools/ruflo.md
- Homepage: https://github.com/ruvnet/ruflo
- Risk category: Read (Low risk)
- Registry record: grade F, identity unverified
- Server rate-limited: no
- Parameters: 0
- Recommended policy verdict: Allowed

## Example call (MCP tools/call, JSON-RPC 2.0)

```json
{
  "jsonrpc": "2.0",
  "id": 1,
  "method": "tools/call",
  "params": {
    "name": "federation_bbs_watch",
    "arguments": {}
  }
}
```

## Why federation_bbs_watch is rated Low

This tool retrieves and queries data from a bulletin board system (BBS) room without modifying, deleting, or executing arbitrary operations. It is purely informational, allowing agents to check for incoming messages, tasks, and peer events. The low severity reflects minimal risk even if misused—excessive polling causes inefficiency but not data loss or system compromise.

From the tool's own definition: "Tool polls and returns envelopes from a BBS room; explicitly stated as 'Returns envelopes newer than the optional sinceEnvelopeId, up to limit' and 'reads the canonical envelope log directly'."

## Use case

AI agents call federation_bbs_watch to retrieve information from Ruflo without modifying anything. It is typically the context-gathering step in research, monitoring, and reporting workflows, before the agent takes action elsewhere.

## Recommended policy (PolicyLayer)

Verdict: **Allowed**. Enforced by the PolicyLayer MCP gateway (https://policylayer.com/mcp-gateway) before a call reaches Ruflo:

```json
{
  "version": "1",
  "default": "deny",
  "tools": {
    "federation_bbs_watch": {}
  }
}
```

## Other tools on Ruflo (495)

- `agent_terminate` — Destructive — https://policylayer.com/tools/ruflo/agent-terminate.md
- `agentdb_batch` — Destructive — https://policylayer.com/tools/ruflo/agentdb-batch.md
- `agentdb_causal-edge-delete` — Destructive — https://policylayer.com/tools/ruflo/agentdb-causal-edge-delete.md
- `agentdb_causal-node-delete` — Destructive — https://policylayer.com/tools/ruflo/agentdb-causal-node-delete.md
- `agentdb_hierarchical-delete` — Destructive — https://policylayer.com/tools/ruflo/agentdb-hierarchical-delete.md
- `autopilot_reset` — Destructive — https://policylayer.com/tools/ruflo/autopilot-reset.md
- `config_reset` — Destructive — https://policylayer.com/tools/ruflo/config-reset.md
- `federation_wg_keyrotate` — Destructive — https://policylayer.com/tools/ruflo/federation-wg-keyrotate.md
- `hooks_intelligence-reset` — Destructive — https://policylayer.com/tools/ruflo/hooks-intelligence-reset.md
- `hooks_worker-cancel` — Destructive — https://policylayer.com/tools/ruflo/hooks-worker-cancel.md
- `iot_device_remove` — Destructive — https://policylayer.com/tools/ruflo/iot-device-remove.md
- `iot_device_unpair` — Destructive — https://policylayer.com/tools/ruflo/iot-device-unpair.md
- `iot_firmware_rollout_rollback` — Destructive — https://policylayer.com/tools/ruflo/iot-firmware-rollout-rollback.md
- `iot_fleet_delete` — Destructive — https://policylayer.com/tools/ruflo/iot-fleet-delete.md
- `iot_fleet_remove_device` — Destructive — https://policylayer.com/tools/ruflo/iot-fleet-remove-device.md
- `managed_agent_terminate` — Destructive — https://policylayer.com/tools/ruflo/managed-agent-terminate.md
- `memory_delete` — Destructive — https://policylayer.com/tools/ruflo/memory-delete.md
- `policy_revoke` — Destructive — https://policylayer.com/tools/ruflo/policy-revoke.md
- `ruvector_delete` — Destructive — https://policylayer.com/tools/ruflo/ruvector-delete.md
- `session_delete` — Destructive — https://policylayer.com/tools/ruflo/session-delete.md
- `system_reset` — Destructive — https://policylayer.com/tools/ruflo/system-reset.md
- `task_cancel` — Destructive — https://policylayer.com/tools/ruflo/task-cancel.md
- `wasm_agent_reset` — Destructive — https://policylayer.com/tools/ruflo/wasm-agent-reset.md
- `wasm_gallery_remove_custom` — Destructive — https://policylayer.com/tools/ruflo/wasm-gallery-remove-custom.md
- `workflow_cancel` — Destructive — https://policylayer.com/tools/ruflo/workflow-cancel.md
- `workflow_delete` — Destructive — https://policylayer.com/tools/ruflo/workflow-delete.md
- `agent_pool` — Execute — https://policylayer.com/tools/ruflo/agent-pool.md
- `agent_spawn` — Execute — https://policylayer.com/tools/ruflo/agent-spawn.md
- `agentdb_consolidate` — Execute — https://policylayer.com/tools/ruflo/agentdb-consolidate.md
- `agentdb_route` — Execute — https://policylayer.com/tools/ruflo/agentdb-route.md
- …and 465 more: https://policylayer.com/tools/ruflo.md

## For agents

This record is a snapshot. Live verdicts and the full registry:

- Check every server in your MCP config at once: `npx -y policylayer stack`
- Vet a server before you add it: install the mcp-precheck skill — `npx skills add https://policylayer.com` (skill text: https://policylayer.com/skill.md)
- Query the registry over MCP: endpoint `https://api.policylayer.com/mcp` — tools `check_mcp_server`, `check_mcp_stack`, `check_tool`, `search_registry`, `get_change_events`

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Source: the PolicyLayer MCP registry — one continuously verified record per MCP server. Full record: https://policylayer.com/registry?q=ruflo · API: https://policylayer.com/registry/api · Policy library: https://policylayer.com/policies/ruflo