Change the status of a task. Provide task_id explicitly. When an approach fails or hits a hard blocker, abandon it with a specific reason before creating an alternative sibling — the reason is visible to sibling tasks and prevents repeating the same mistake. When completing a task, make sure its ...
AI agents use set_status to create or update resources in Conductor — usually the action step of a workflow, after the agent has gathered context. Every call changes real data in your Conductor environment.
This tool modifies task state metadata within a persistent task tree system. It is reversible (a status can be changed back), so it does not qualify as Destructive. It does not execute code or external operations (Execute), create permanent changes (Destructive), or move money (Financial).
From the tool's definition The tool description states "Change the status of a task" and "Activating a task", which are modifications to task state.
Documented attack patterns abuse exactly the kind of access set_status gives an agent:
PolicyLayer is an MCP gateway — it sits between your AI agents and Conductor, and nothing reaches the server without passing your rules. This is the rule we recommend for set_status:
{
"version": "1",
"default": "deny",
"tools": {
"set_status": {
"limits": [
{
"counter": "set_status_rate",
"window": "minute",
"max": 30,
"scope": "grant"
}
]
}
}
}set_status 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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Change the status of a task. Provide task_id explicitly. When an approach fails or hits a hard blocker, abandon it with a specific reason before creating an alternative sibling — the reason is visible to sibling tasks and prevents repeating the same mistake. When completing a task, make sure its children are all resolved first. Activating a task with unmet depends_on will return an error; complete the dependencies first. It is categorised as a Write tool in the Conductor MCP Server, which means it can create or modify data. Consider rate limits to prevent runaway writes.
Register the Conductor MCP server in PolicyLayer and add a rule for set_status: 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 Conductor. Nothing to install.
set_status 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 set_status 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 set_status. 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.
set_status is provided by the Conductor MCP server (shannonbay/conductor). PolicyLayer sits as a proxy in front of this server to enforce policies before tool calls reach the server.
Start from Conductor, add the rest of your stack, and see everything your agents can call. Then put policy on all of it.
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16 Conductor tools catalogued and risk-classified — across an index of 43,000+ MCP servers.