Your MCP Tools Cost 6.6 More Context Than They Need. I Measured It Against the New Spec.
Article summary
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Your agent pays a tax before it does anything. The moment a host connects to an MCP server, tools/list pours the full JSON Schema of every tool into the model's context — before the user types a word, before the model reasons about anything. Most of those schemas will never be touched this session. You pay for them anyway. Every session. I wanted to know exactly how much. Not vibes — a number I could defend. So I measured it against a real local MCP server: genuine JSON-RPC over stdio, tools…
1Key Takeaways
- Your agent pays a tax before it does anything.
- The moment a host connects to an MCP server, tools/list pours the full JSON Schema of every tool into the model's context — before the user types a word, before the model reasons about anything.
- Most of those schemas will never be touched this session.
- Not vibes — a number I could defend.
2AIWedia Score
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3Why it matters
Coding AI shifts how fast software ships and how much human review each change needs. DEV — AI reports that your agent pays a tax before it does anything.
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