Report whether a tool worked or failed. Improves future search rankings for all agents.
AI agents use report_tool_usage to create or update resources in Need — usually the action step of a workflow, after the agent has gathered context. Every call changes real data in your Need environment.
This tool writes feedback/telemetry data to a ranking or scoring system. It modifies state (search rankings) reversibly and has no destructive, financial, or execution implications. Misuse could skew rankings for all agents (moderate blast radius), but it is fundamentally a write/update operation on a feedback index.
From the tool's definition 'Report whether a tool worked or failed. Improves future search rankings for all agents.'
Documented attack patterns abuse exactly the kind of access report_tool_usage gives an agent:
PolicyLayer is an MCP gateway — it sits between your AI agents and Need, and nothing reaches the server without passing your rules. This is the rule we recommend for report_tool_usage:
{
"version": "1",
"default": "deny",
"tools": {
"report_tool_usage": {
"limits": [
{
"counter": "report_tool_usage_rate",
"window": "minute",
"max": 30,
"scope": "grant"
}
]
}
}
}report_tool_usage 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.
Free to start. No card required.
Report whether a tool worked or failed. Improves future search rankings for all agents. It is categorised as a Write tool in the Need MCP Server, which means it can create or modify data. Consider rate limits to prevent runaway writes.
Register the Need MCP server in PolicyLayer and add a rule for report_tool_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 Need. Nothing to install.
report_tool_usage 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 report_tool_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_tool_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_tool_usage is provided by the Need MCP server (tuckerschreiber/need). PolicyLayer sits as a proxy in front of this server to enforce policies before tool calls reach the server.
Start from Need, 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.
3 Need tools catalogued and risk-classified — across an index of 43,000+ MCP servers.