Lesson 10 · Activity 01

Decide the Connections

An agent is only as safe as the connections you allow. Here you'll take a real-looking agent workflow, classify what each MCP server exposes, run the "Should I connect this server?" aid, and refuse the one connection that shouldn't be allowed.

Work through it

0 of 5 done

Read the scenario and list the host, clients, and servers.
Classify what each server exposes: tool, resource, or prompt.
Run the four decision-aid questions on each server.
Decide allow / don’t-allow for each, with a reason.
Compare to the model answer.

The scenario

Maple Valley College runs an advising agent (the host). Three MCP servers are available to connect:

Catalog — official, runs locally; exposes course-catalog data to read.
Ticketing — official; exposes a "create advising ticket" action.
StudyTips — an unknown third-party, hosted remotely; exposes tools that can "read student records and post messages."

Your decisions

Fill in each row. Saved on this device until you reset.

Server	Primitive (tool/resource/prompt)	Touches student data?	Allow? + why
Catalog (official, local)
Ticketing (official)
StudyTips (unknown, remote)

Saved automatically on this device.

Reveal model answer

Server	Primitive	Student data?	Decision
Catalog	Resource (read)	No	ALLOW — read-only, official, local; least privilege.
Ticketing	Tool (act)	Maybe (ticket content)	ALLOW with care — it can act, so require human sign-off before tickets send (Lesson 11).
StudyTips	Tools (read records + post)	Yes	DON’T ALLOW — unknown third party, remote, and tools that touch student records. Use a vetted alternative or de-identified data.

Key takeaway: the deciding factors are who runs it, what it can do (tool vs. resource), local vs. remote, and whether it touches student data. StudyTips fails all four.

Takeaway: MCP connects; it doesn’t secure. The approval is your control — grant the least each task needs.