create-work-item

THE RISK

Medium Risk

Why create-work-item needs a policy

Creating a work item adds data to Azure DevOps but is not destructive (it can be deleted or modified) and does not execute arbitrary code or move financial resources. It modifies the project state by introducing new work tracking items, making it a Write action.

From the tool's definition The tool name and description indicate it 'Create a new work item in Azure DevOps', which creates new data within the system. This is a reversible write operation.

Documented attack patterns abuse exactly the kind of access create-work-item gives an agent:

POLICY

How to control create-work-item

PolicyLayer is an MCP gateway — it sits between your AI agents and DevOps Enhanced MCP, and nothing reaches the server without passing your rules. This is the rule we recommend for create-work-item:

policy.json

{
  "version": "1",
  "default": "deny",
  "tools": {
    "create-work-item": {
      "limits": [
        {
          "counter": "create-work-item_rate",
          "window": "minute",
          "max": 30,
          "scope": "grant"
        }
      ]
    }
  }
}

create-work-item 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.

Create a free account and register DevOps Enhanced MCP — nothing to install.
Add this policy — paste it, or build it visually.
Point your MCP client (Claude, Cursor, anything) at your gateway URL.

LIMIT THIS TOOL →

Free to start. No card required.

EXPLORE

Related tools and policies

More DevOps Enhanced MCP tools

Execute trigger-pipeline Trigger a build pipeline in Azure DevOps Write add-work-item-comment Add a comment to an existing work item in Azure DevOps Write update-work-item Update an existing work item in Azure DevOps Read get-builds Get build definitions and recent builds Read get-current-context Get current Azure DevOps context based on directory Read get-pipeline-status Get status of a specific build or pipeline Read get-pull-requests Get pull requests from Azure DevOps repository Read get-repositories Get repositories from Azure DevOps project

All 10 DevOps Enhanced MCP tools →

Write tools on other servers

M-Team MCP Server download_torrent YouTube MCP Server generate_video_title Android Forensics ADB MCP Server combine_reports 0xarchive web3_signup

Go deeper

The MCP Attack Database → Documented attack patterns against MCP deployments — and the policies that stop them.
Argument validation → Checking tool call arguments against schema and policy before they run.
Scoped token → Per-person credentials that grant a defined subset of servers and tools.
Rate Limiting MCP Tool Calls: A Practical Guide →
MCP Security: Why Prompt Guardrails Aren't Enough →

FAQ

Questions about create-work-item

What does the create-work-item tool do? +

Create a new work item in Azure DevOps. It is categorised as a Write tool in the DevOps Enhanced MCP MCP Server, which means it can create or modify data. Consider rate limits to prevent runaway writes.

How do I enforce a policy on create-work-item? +

Register the DevOps Enhanced MCP server in PolicyLayer and add a rule for create-work-item: 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 DevOps Enhanced MCP. Nothing to install.

What risk level is create-work-item? +

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

Can I rate-limit create-work-item? +

Yes. Add a rate_limit block to the create-work-item 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 create-work-item completely? +

Set action: deny in the PolicyLayer policy for create-work-item. 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 create-work-item? +

create-work-item is provided by the DevOps Enhanced MCP server (wangkanai/devops-mcp). PolicyLayer sits as a proxy in front of this server to enforce policies before tool calls reach the server.

Enforce policy on every DevOps Enhanced MCP tool call.

Start from DevOps Enhanced MCP, add the rest of your stack, and see everything your agents can call. Then put policy on all of it.

CHECK YOUR STACK →