publish_course · Metis Public Health MCP: Risk & Policy

WHAT IT DOES

What publish_course does on Metis Public Health

AI agents use publish_course to create or update resources in Metis Public Health — usually the action step of a workflow, after the agent has gathered context. Every call changes real data in your Metis Public Health environment.

WHY IT NEEDS A POLICY

Why publish_course needs a policy

Publishing a course typically involves creating or modifying structured content that becomes available to others—a Write operation. The absence of a description prevents confirmation of whether publication is reversible (could be updated/unpublished) or has broader distribution effects.

From the tool's definition Tool name is 'publish_course' which strongly suggests creating or making content available (publish); however, the description is empty, limiting certainty about the exact scope and reversibility.

Attacks that exploit this kind of access

Recommended rule Ready

Verdict

publish_course Rate-limited

publish_course 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.

View as policy code

policy.json

{
  "version": "1",
  "default": "deny",
  "tools": {
    "publish_course": {
      "limits": [
        {
          "counter": "publish_course_rate",
          "window": "minute",
          "max": 30,
          "scope": "grant"
        }
      ]
    }
  }
}

LIMIT THIS TOOL →

Instant setup, no code required.

PolicyLayer is an MCP gateway: every tool call is checked against your rule before it reaches Metis Public Health, so you can run agents against it safely.

FAQ

Questions about publish_course

What does the publish_course tool do? +

publish_course. It is categorised as a Write tool in the Metis Public Health MCP Server, which means it can create or modify data. Consider rate limits to prevent runaway writes.

How do I enforce a policy on publish_course? +

Register the Metis Public Health MCP server in PolicyLayer and add a rule for publish_course: 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 Metis Public Health. Nothing to install.

What risk level is publish_course? +

publish_course is a Write tool with medium risk. Write tools should be rate-limited to prevent accidental bulk modifications.

Can I rate-limit publish_course? +

Yes. Add a rate_limit block to the publish_course 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.

How do I block publish_course completely? +

Set action: deny in the PolicyLayer policy for publish_course. 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.

What MCP server provides publish_course? +

publish_course is provided by the Metis Public Health MCP server (sveritg/metis_ph). PolicyLayer sits as a proxy in front of this server to enforce policies before tool calls reach the server.