Discover all running Power BI Desktop instances on this machine
AI agents call desktop_discover_instances to retrieve information from Power BI MCP Server without modifying anything — typically the context-gathering step in research, monitoring, and reporting workflows, before the agent takes action elsewhere.
This tool performs discovery and introspection (listing running instances) with no capability to modify, delete, or execute operations. The blast radius if misused by an AI agent is minimal — it merely reveals what Power BI instances are active on the machine, which is informational. Classification as Read is appropriate.
From the tool's definition Tool name and description indicate it 'Discover[s] all running Power BI Desktop instances' — a query/enumeration operation that retrieves information about running processes with no side effects or state modifications.
Attacks that exploit this kind of access
Discover all running Power BI Desktop instances on this machine. It is categorised as a Read tool in the Power BI MCP Server MCP Server, which means it retrieves data without modifying state.
Register the Power BI MCP Server MCP server in PolicyLayer and add a rule for desktop_discover_instances: 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 Power BI MCP Server. Nothing to install.
desktop_discover_instances 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 desktop_discover_instances 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 desktop_discover_instances. 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.
desktop_discover_instances is provided by the Power BI MCP Server MCP server (sulaiman013/powerbi-mcp). PolicyLayer sits as a proxy in front of this server to enforce policies before tool calls reach the server.