Manage freeze windows

Manage Freeze Windows

Create and toggle Harness deployment freeze windows via MCP. A freeze window blocks pipeline executions within a time window so you can enforce change freezes for releases, holidays, or maintenance.

MCP Tools Used

Tool	Resource Type	Purpose
harness_list	freeze_window	List project freeze windows, filter by status / time / keyword
harness_get	freeze_window	Get a single freeze window by identifier
harness_create	freeze_window	Create a freeze window from YAML
harness_update	freeze_window	Replace an existing freeze window's YAML definition
harness_delete	freeze_window	Delete a freeze window
harness_execute (action: toggle_status)	freeze_window	Enable / disable one or more freeze windows in bulk
harness_get	global_freeze	Get the current project-level global freeze state
harness_execute (action: manage)	global_freeze	Enable or disable the project global freeze from YAML
harness_schema	freeze_window	Exact JSON Schema for the create / update body

Both resources are project-scoped — every call needs org_id and project_id.

Freeze Window YAML

Create/update bodies take a raw freeze YAML string passed as body: { yaml: "<yaml string>" }. The MCP server forwards it to the Harness API with Content-Type: application/yaml.

freeze:
  name: Q4 Release Freeze
  identifier: q4_release_freeze
  entityConfigs:
    - name: All Services
      entities:
        - type: Service
          filterType: All
        - type: Environment
          filterType: All
        - type: EnvType
          filterType: All
        - type: Org
          filterType: All
        - type: Project
          filterType: All
  status: Enabled                     # Enabled | Disabled
  description: "Change freeze for Q4 GA release"
  windows:
    - timeZone: America/Los_Angeles
      startTime: 2026-12-20 00:00 AM
      duration: 14d                   # e.g. 2h, 3d, 14d, 4w
      recurrence:
        type: Yearly                  # Daily | Weekly | Monthly | Yearly (optional)
  notificationRules: []

Use harness_schema(resource_type="freeze_window") if you want the authoritative field list. Key rules:

• identifier matches ^[a-zA-Z_][0-9a-zA-Z_]{0,127}$.
• entityConfigs is required and must match at least one deployment scope.
• windows[].duration accepts h, d, w suffixes (no seconds).
• windows[].startTime format: YYYY-MM-DD HH:mm AM|PM in the given timeZone.

Instructions

Step 1: List existing freeze windows

Call MCP tool: harness_list
Parameters:
  resource_type: "freeze_window"
  org_id: "<organization>"
  project_id: "<project>"
  freeze_status: "Enabled"     # optional: Enabled | Disabled
  search_term: "release"       # optional: keyword filter
  start_time: 1735689600000    # optional: epoch ms lower bound
  end_time: 1738368000000      # optional: epoch ms upper bound

Step 2: Get a freeze window by identifier

Call MCP tool: harness_get
Parameters:
  resource_type: "freeze_window"
  resource_id: "<freeze_identifier>"
  org_id: "<organization>"
  project_id: "<project>"

Step 3: Create a freeze window

Call MCP tool: harness_create
Parameters:
  resource_type: "freeze_window"
  org_id: "<organization>"
  project_id: "<project>"
  body:
    yaml: |
      freeze:
        name: Holiday Freeze
        identifier: holiday_freeze
        entityConfigs:
          - name: All Services
            entities:
              - type: Service
                filterType: All
              - type: Environment
                filterType: All
              - type: EnvType
                filterType: All
        status: Enabled
        windows:
          - timeZone: America/Los_Angeles
            startTime: 2026-12-22 06:00 PM
            duration: 10d

Step 4: Update a freeze window

harness_update performs a full replace of the YAML — include every field you want to keep.

Call MCP tool: harness_update
Parameters:
  resource_type: "freeze_window"
  resource_id: "<freeze_identifier>"
  org_id: "<organization>"
  project_id: "<project>"
  body:
    yaml: "<full updated freeze YAML>"

Step 5: Toggle status for one or many freeze windows

Call MCP tool: harness_execute
Parameters:
  resource_type: "freeze_window"
  action: "toggle_status"
  org_id: "<organization>"
  project_id: "<project>"
  status: "Enabled"                    # Enabled | Disabled
  body:
    freeze_ids: ["holiday_freeze", "q4_release_freeze"]

Pass an array of identifiers — toggle works in bulk. Use this instead of editing the YAML when you just need to flip enabled/disabled.

Step 6: Delete a freeze window

Call MCP tool: harness_delete
Parameters:
  resource_type: "freeze_window"
  resource_id: "<freeze_identifier>"
  org_id: "<organization>"
  project_id: "<project>"

Step 7: Read the project global freeze

Call MCP tool: harness_get
Parameters:
  resource_type: "global_freeze"
  org_id: "<organization>"
  project_id: "<project>"

Returns { status: "Enabled" | "Disabled", ... }. The global freeze is a singleton — there is exactly one per project scope, no resource_id needed.

Step 8: Enable or disable the global freeze

Call MCP tool: harness_execute
Parameters:
  resource_type: "global_freeze"
  action: "manage"
  org_id: "<organization>"
  project_id: "<project>"
  body:
    yaml: |
      freeze:
        name: Project Global Freeze
        identifier: _global_
        status: Enabled              # Enabled | Disabled
        entityConfigs:
          - name: All
            entities:
              - type: Service
                filterType: All
              - type: Environment
                filterType: All
              - type: EnvType
                filterType: All
        windows:
          - timeZone: UTC
            startTime: 2026-12-22 00:00 AM
            duration: 14d

The global freeze takes effect immediately when status: Enabled — pipelines at the project scope will start being blocked.

Examples

Create a two-week holiday freeze

/manage-freeze-windows
Create a holiday freeze window called "Winter 2026 Shutdown" in org default, project payments,
covering all services and environments, from 2026-12-22 6pm PT for 14 days.

Check what's currently blocking deployments

/manage-freeze-windows
List every Enabled freeze window in project "payments" and also show me whether the project global
freeze is on.

Bulk-disable all freezes for a hotfix

/manage-freeze-windows
Disable all Enabled freeze windows in project "payments" temporarily so I can ship a hotfix.

Turn on the project global freeze

/manage-freeze-windows
Enable the global freeze for project "payments" right now with a 4-hour duration in UTC —
we're running incident response.

Audit scheduled freezes for a release

/manage-freeze-windows
Show me every freeze window in project "release-ops" whose start_time is in the next 30 days.

Performance Notes

• Use harness_schema(resource_type="freeze_window") to get the authoritative body schema before drafting new YAML — field names are case-sensitive and several fields (entityConfigs, windows, notificationRules) are required.
• Prefer toggle_status over update when you only want to flip enabled/disabled — it avoids re-sending the full YAML and works in bulk.
• Freeze windows are project-scoped — a window in project A does not affect project B. To freeze the whole org, create a freeze window in every project (or use global_freeze per project).
• global_freeze is a singleton per project — there is no list/create/delete. harness_get reads it, harness_execute(action="manage") flips it on or off via YAML.
• Time zones matter — timeZone is an IANA name (e.g. America/Los_Angeles, Europe/Berlin), not an offset. The server interprets startTime in that zone.
• Overlapping windows compound — Harness evaluates every Enabled freeze window; if any match, the deployment is blocked. Disable rather than delete if you may re-enable later.

Troubleshooting

body must include yaml (freeze YAML string with 'freeze:' root)

You passed the body as a plain YAML string or JSON object — the bodyBuilder expects the outer shape body: { yaml: "<yaml string>" }. Wrap your YAML string in a yaml key.

INVALID_REQUEST on create

• Check that entityConfigs is present and non-empty. entityConfigs[].entities must include at least Service and Environment (or EnvType) filters.
• Verify identifier matches ^[a-zA-Z_][0-9a-zA-Z_]{0,127}$ — hyphens and dots are not allowed in identifiers.
• duration values use suffixes (2h, 3d, 14d, 4w) — raw numbers without a suffix are rejected.

DUPLICATE_IDENTIFIER

A freeze window with that identifier already exists at the same project scope. Either harness_update the existing one or pick a new identifier.

Toggle fails with "body must include freeze_ids"

toggle_status expects body.freeze_ids as an array of strings, even for a single window. Pass body: { freeze_ids: ["my_freeze"] }, not body: "my_freeze" or resource_id: "my_freeze".

Deployments still run during an Enabled freeze

• Confirm the freeze status is Enabled and not Disabled — harness_get will show the current status.
• Check the windows[].startTime and duration — if the current time is outside the window, the freeze is scheduled but not active.
• Verify entityConfigs actually cover the service/environment you're deploying to — a freeze with Service: filterType: NotEquals / entityRefs: [payments] will not block payments.
• Global project freeze and named freeze windows are independent — either one being Disabled is enough to let a deployment through if that's the only one matching.

Can't delete a freeze window

Active (currently firing) freeze windows cannot be deleted in some account tiers — Disabled them first via toggle_status then harness_delete.