Finds and retrieves a single incident by its number (e.g., 'INC0010107').
AI agents call get_incident_by_number to retrieve information from Snow without modifying anything — typically the context-gathering step in research, monitoring, and reporting workflows, before the agent takes action elsewhere.
This tool retrieves incident data by number without creating, modifying, or deleting any records. It is a straightforward read operation on ServiceNow incidents, consistent with the 'Read' category definition for tools that query data without side effects. Low severity reflects minimal risk if misused—the worst outcome is exposure of incident information that may already be visible to the user.
From the tool's definition Tool name 'get_incident_by_number' and description 'Finds and retrieves a single incident' indicate a query/retrieval operation with no side effects.
Documented attack patterns abuse exactly the kind of access get_incident_by_number 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 get_incident_by_number:
{
"version": "1",
"default": "deny",
"tools": {
"get_incident_by_number": {}
}
}get_incident_by_number is read-only, so it stays allowed — but everything else on the server is denied unless you say otherwise.
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Finds and retrieves a single incident by its number (e.g., 'INC0010107'). It is categorised as a Read tool in the Snow MCP Server, which means it retrieves data without modifying state.
Register the Snow MCP server in PolicyLayer and add a rule for get_incident_by_number: 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.
get_incident_by_number is a Read tool with low risk. Read-only tools are generally safe to allow by default.
Yes. Add a rate_limit block to the get_incident_by_number 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 get_incident_by_number. 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.
get_incident_by_number 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.