diff --git a/x-pack/plugins/fleet/common/types/models/agent.ts b/x-pack/plugins/fleet/common/types/models/agent.ts
index 303eeea6e510c..872b389d248a3 100644
--- a/x-pack/plugins/fleet/common/types/models/agent.ts
+++ b/x-pack/plugins/fleet/common/types/models/agent.ts
@@ -26,6 +26,7 @@ export type AgentActionType =
   | 'POLICY_CHANGE'
   | 'UNENROLL'
   | 'UPGRADE'
+  | 'SETTINGS'
   // INTERNAL* actions are mean to interupt long polling calls these actions will not be distributed to the agent
   | 'INTERNAL_POLICY_REASSIGN';
 
diff --git a/x-pack/plugins/fleet/server/routes/agent/actions_handlers.test.ts b/x-pack/plugins/fleet/server/routes/agent/actions_handlers.test.ts
index 4574bcc64d4ce..2f08846642985 100644
--- a/x-pack/plugins/fleet/server/routes/agent/actions_handlers.test.ts
+++ b/x-pack/plugins/fleet/server/routes/agent/actions_handlers.test.ts
@@ -25,7 +25,6 @@ describe('test actions handlers schema', () => {
       NewAgentActionSchema.validate({
         type: 'POLICY_CHANGE',
         data: 'data',
-        sent_at: '2020-03-14T19:45:02.620Z',
       })
     ).toBeTruthy();
   });
@@ -34,7 +33,6 @@ describe('test actions handlers schema', () => {
     expect(() => {
       NewAgentActionSchema.validate({
         data: 'data',
-        sent_at: '2020-03-14T19:45:02.620Z',
       });
     }).toThrowError();
   });
@@ -55,7 +53,6 @@ describe('test actions handlers', () => {
         action: {
           type: 'POLICY_CHANGE',
           data: 'data',
-          sent_at: '2020-03-14T19:45:02.620Z',
         },
       },
       params: {
diff --git a/x-pack/plugins/fleet/server/types/models/agent.ts b/x-pack/plugins/fleet/server/types/models/agent.ts
index 98ed793604954..619c21d8bf5d9 100644
--- a/x-pack/plugins/fleet/server/types/models/agent.ts
+++ b/x-pack/plugins/fleet/server/types/models/agent.ts
@@ -62,14 +62,26 @@ export const AgentEventSchema = schema.object({
   id: schema.string(),
 });
 
-export const NewAgentActionSchema = schema.object({
-  type: schema.oneOf([
-    schema.literal('POLICY_CHANGE'),
-    schema.literal('UNENROLL'),
-    schema.literal('UPGRADE'),
-    schema.literal('INTERNAL_POLICY_REASSIGN'),
-  ]),
-  data: schema.maybe(schema.any()),
-  ack_data: schema.maybe(schema.any()),
-  sent_at: schema.maybe(schema.string()),
-});
+export const NewAgentActionSchema = schema.oneOf([
+  schema.object({
+    type: schema.oneOf([
+      schema.literal('POLICY_CHANGE'),
+      schema.literal('UNENROLL'),
+      schema.literal('UPGRADE'),
+      schema.literal('INTERNAL_POLICY_REASSIGN'),
+    ]),
+    data: schema.maybe(schema.any()),
+    ack_data: schema.maybe(schema.any()),
+  }),
+  schema.object({
+    type: schema.oneOf([schema.literal('SETTINGS')]),
+    data: schema.object({
+      log_level: schema.oneOf([
+        schema.literal('debug'),
+        schema.literal('info'),
+        schema.literal('warning'),
+        schema.literal('error'),
+      ]),
+    }),
+  }),
+]);
diff --git a/x-pack/test/fleet_api_integration/apis/agents/actions.ts b/x-pack/test/fleet_api_integration/apis/agents/actions.ts
index 01f69328388db..d97ac6f7daa6e 100644
--- a/x-pack/test/fleet_api_integration/apis/agents/actions.ts
+++ b/x-pack/test/fleet_api_integration/apis/agents/actions.ts
@@ -36,6 +36,39 @@ export default function (providerContext: FtrProviderContext) {
       expect(apiResponse.item.data).to.eql({ data: 'action_data' });
     });
 
+    it('should return a 200 if this a valid SETTINGS action request', async () => {
+      const { body: apiResponse } = await supertest
+        .post(`/api/fleet/agents/agent1/actions`)
+        .set('kbn-xsrf', 'xx')
+        .send({
+          action: {
+            type: 'SETTINGS',
+            data: { log_level: 'debug' },
+          },
+        })
+        .expect(200);
+
+      expect(apiResponse.item.type).to.eql('SETTINGS');
+      expect(apiResponse.item.data).to.eql({ log_level: 'debug' });
+    });
+
+    it('should return a 400 if this a invalid SETTINGS action request', async () => {
+      const { body: apiResponse } = await supertest
+        .post(`/api/fleet/agents/agent1/actions`)
+        .set('kbn-xsrf', 'xx')
+        .send({
+          action: {
+            type: 'SETTINGS',
+            data: { log_level: 'thisnotavalidloglevel' },
+          },
+        })
+        .expect(400);
+
+      expect(apiResponse.message).to.match(
+        /\[request body.action\.[0-9]*\.data\.log_level]: types that failed validation/
+      );
+    });
+
     it('should return a 400 when request does not have type information', async () => {
       const { body: apiResponse } = await supertest
         .post(`/api/fleet/agents/agent1/actions`)
@@ -43,12 +76,11 @@ export default function (providerContext: FtrProviderContext) {
         .send({
           action: {
             data: { data: 'action_data' },
-            sent_at: '2020-03-18T19:45:02.620Z',
           },
         })
         .expect(400);
-      expect(apiResponse.message).to.eql(
-        '[request body.action.type]: expected at least one defined value but got [undefined]'
+      expect(apiResponse.message).to.match(
+        /\[request body.action\.[0-9]*\.type]: expected at least one defined value but got \[undefined]/
       );
     });
 
@@ -60,7 +92,6 @@ export default function (providerContext: FtrProviderContext) {
           action: {
             type: 'POLICY_CHANGE',
             data: { data: 'action_data' },
-            sent_at: '2020-03-18T19:45:02.620Z',
           },
         })
         .expect(404);