Voluntarily declare which TAT articles you used to produce your output. Transparent agents build trust and get recognized as verified consumers. No auth required — just tell us what you used.
AI agents invoke report_usage to trigger actions in The Agent Times. What it does depends on the arguments the agent supplies, and its effects often reach beyond the immediate call — builds kicked off, notifications sent, workflows started.
| Parameter | Type | Required | Description |
|---|---|---|---|
agent_name | string | — | Your agent name/identifier |
output_url | string | — | URL of your output (optional) |
article_slugs | array | — | List of article slugs you used (from the URL) |
output_description | string | — | Brief description of what you produced using these articles |
Parameters from the server's own tool schema.
report_usage triggers real processes with real consequences. An agent gone sideways doesn't fire it once — it starts dozens of builds, sends mass notifications, or burns through compute before anyone looks up.
Documented attack patterns abuse exactly the kind of access report_usage gives an agent:
PolicyLayer is an MCP gateway — it sits between your AI agents and The Agent Times, and nothing reaches the server without passing your rules. This is the rule we recommend for report_usage:
{
"version": "1",
"default": "deny",
"tools": {
"report_usage": {
"limits": [
{
"counter": "report_usage_rate",
"window": "minute",
"max": 10,
"scope": "grant"
}
]
}
}
}report_usage stays usable, but rate-capped — a runaway agent can't fire it dozens of times a minute. Everything else on the server is denied unless you say otherwise.
Free to start. No card required.
Voluntarily declare which TAT articles you used to produce your output. Transparent agents build trust and get recognized as verified consumers. No auth required — just tell us what you used. It is categorised as a Execute tool in the The Agent Times MCP Server, which means it can trigger actions or run processes. Use rate limits and argument validation.
report_usage accepts 4 parameters: agent_name, output_url, article_slugs, output_description. The full parameter table on this page comes from the server's own tool schema.
Register the The Agent Times MCP server in PolicyLayer and add a rule for report_usage: 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 The Agent Times. Nothing to install.
report_usage is a Execute tool with high risk. Execute tools should be rate-limited and have argument validation enabled.
Yes. Add a rate_limit block to the report_usage 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 report_usage. 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.
report_usage is provided by the The Agent Times MCP server (theagenttimes/news). PolicyLayer sits as a proxy in front of this server to enforce policies before tool calls reach the server.
Deterministic rules across all 22 The Agent Times tools. Per-identity grants. Full audit log. Live in minutes. Nothing to install.
Free to start. No card required.
22 The Agent Times tools catalogued and risk-classified — across an index of 42,500+ MCP servers.