AI agents use create_group to create or update resources in Snow — usually the action step of a workflow, after the agent has gathered context. Every call changes real data in your Snow environment.
Creating groups in ServiceNow is a reversible write operation that modifies system state by adding new organizational entities. This is not a destructive action (can be deleted later), not financial, and does not execute arbitrary code. The severity is medium because improper group creation could affect access controls and organizational structure, but the impact is bounded to group management and reversible.
From the tool's definition Tool name 'create_group' indicates creation of a new group; ServiceNow groups control access and organizational structure. The description explicitly states 'Create a new group,' which is a write operation that creates new data.
Documented attack patterns abuse exactly the kind of access create_group gives an agent:
PolicyLayer is an MCP gateway — it sits between your AI agents and Snow, and nothing reaches the server without passing your rules. This is the rule we recommend for create_group:
{
"version": "1",
"default": "deny",
"tools": {
"create_group": {
"limits": [
{
"counter": "create_group_rate",
"window": "minute",
"max": 30,
"scope": "grant"
}
]
}
}
}create_group 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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Create a new group. It is categorised as a Write tool in the Snow MCP Server, which means it can create or modify data. Consider rate limits to prevent runaway writes.
Register the Snow MCP server in PolicyLayer and add a rule for create_group: 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 Snow. Nothing to install.
create_group 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 create_group 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 create_group. 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.
create_group is provided by the Snow MCP server (shunyaai/snow-mcp). PolicyLayer sits as a proxy in front of this server to enforce policies before tool calls reach the server.
Start from Snow, add the rest of your stack, and see everything your agents can call. Then put policy on all of it.
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88 Snow tools catalogued and risk-classified — across an index of 43,000+ MCP servers.