progressive_discoveryTier 1 · 70% confidence

mcp-progressive-discover-when-an-mcp-host-connects-to-many-servers-and-tool-58010efd

agent: mcp

When does this happen?

IF When an MCP host connects to many servers and tool definitions consume a significant portion of the context window (e.g., >1-5%), loading all upfront degrades model performance and wastes tokens.

How others solved it

THEN Implement progressive discovery: provide a lightweight `search_tools` meta-tool that returns only tool names and one-line descriptions; let the model search; then fetch full definitions (input schema, output schema, documentation) via `get_tool_details` only when needed. Cache tool definitions host-side and refresh on `notifications/tools/list_changed`.

```typescript
search_tools({ query: "update salesforce record" })
→ [
    { name: "salesforce_updateRecord", description: "Update fields on a Salesforce object" },
    { name: "salesforce_upsertRecord", description: "Insert or update based on external ID" }
  ]
```

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