Delegate a task to a specialist agent (code, reasoning, research, or creative). The agent will process the task and return results.
AI agents invoke farnsworth_delegate to trigger actions in Farnsworth. 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.
This tool triggers autonomous agent execution across multiple specialist domains including code execution, reasoning, research, and creative tasks. The effects depend entirely on the delegated arguments, making it an Execute-category tool. The blast radius is high because delegating to a 'code' agent could run arbitrary code, and research/browsing agents could trigger external operations.
From the tool's definition Delegate a task to a specialist agent (code, reasoning, research, or creative). The agent will process the task and return results.
Documented attack patterns abuse exactly the kind of access farnsworth_delegate gives an agent:
PolicyLayer is an MCP gateway — it sits between your AI agents and Farnsworth, and nothing reaches the server without passing your rules. This is the rule we recommend for farnsworth_delegate:
{
"version": "1",
"default": "deny",
"tools": {
"farnsworth_delegate": {
"limits": [
{
"counter": "farnsworth_delegate_rate",
"window": "minute",
"max": 10,
"scope": "grant"
}
]
}
}
}farnsworth_delegate 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.
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Delegate a task to a specialist agent (code, reasoning, research, or creative). The agent will process the task and return results. It is categorised as a Execute tool in the Farnsworth MCP Server, which means it can trigger actions or run processes. Use rate limits and argument validation.
Register the Farnsworth MCP server in PolicyLayer and add a rule for farnsworth_delegate: 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 Farnsworth. Nothing to install.
farnsworth_delegate 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 farnsworth_delegate 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 farnsworth_delegate. 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.
farnsworth_delegate is provided by the Farnsworth MCP server (timowhite88/farnsworth). PolicyLayer sits as a proxy in front of this server to enforce policies before tool calls reach the server.
Deterministic rules across all 20 Farnsworth tools. Per-identity grants. Full audit log. Live in minutes. Nothing to install.
Free to start. No card required.
20 Farnsworth tools catalogued and risk-classified — across an index of 42,500+ MCP servers.