Publish a draft knowledge article by setting its workflow_state to
AI agents use publish_kb_article to create or update resources in Now Sdk Ext — usually the action step of a workflow, after the agent has gathered context. Every call changes real data in your Now Sdk Ext environment.
Publishing a knowledge article transitions it from draft to published state, making it visible to end users and potentially affecting organizational communications. This is a reversible write operation (can unpublish later), but has significant business impact if misused by an AI agent (e.g., publishing incorrect or sensitive information).
From the tool's definition Tool name 'publish_kb_article' with description indicating it 'sets workflow_state' of a knowledge article. This modifies state and publishes content, making it a write operation that changes data in a persistent manner.
Documented attack patterns abuse exactly the kind of access publish_kb_article gives an agent:
PolicyLayer is an MCP gateway — it sits between your AI agents and Now Sdk Ext, and nothing reaches the server without passing your rules. This is the rule we recommend for publish_kb_article:
{
"version": "1",
"default": "deny",
"tools": {
"publish_kb_article": {
"limits": [
{
"counter": "publish_kb_article_rate",
"window": "minute",
"max": 30,
"scope": "grant"
}
]
}
}
}publish_kb_article 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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Publish a draft knowledge article by setting its workflow_state to. It is categorised as a Write tool in the Now Sdk Ext MCP Server, which means it can create or modify data. Consider rate limits to prevent runaway writes.
Register the Now Sdk Ext MCP server in PolicyLayer and add a rule for publish_kb_article: 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 Now Sdk Ext. Nothing to install.
publish_kb_article 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 publish_kb_article 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 publish_kb_article. 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.
publish_kb_article is provided by the Now Sdk Ext MCP server (sonisoft-cnanda/now-sdk-ext-mcp). PolicyLayer sits as a proxy in front of this server to enforce policies before tool calls reach the server.
Start from Now Sdk Ext, add the rest of your stack, and see everything your agents can call. Then put policy on all of it.
Free to start. No card required.
86 Now Sdk Ext tools catalogued and risk-classified — across an index of 43,000+ MCP servers.