Claude Desktop Showed 4.7k Context for Our 408-Tool MCP Server — That Number Is a Trap
dennyriedl · reddit · 2026-09-09
The Routebase author shares what he learned putting his entire API lifecycle behind an MCP server with 408 tools:
- The trap: Claude Desktop's meter showed only 4.7k tokens via OAuth connector—tools are deferred there, loaded via tool search only when found. The meter shows what the client loaded, not what the server offers.
- One server, four costs: anonymous/staged 48 tools ≈6.4k tokens; read-only API key 167 tools ≈25k; unscoped key all 408 ≈60k; OAuth connector deferred, meter says 4.7k. The cheapest-looking number is the one you're most likely to see.
- Real usage (30 days, 1308 sessions, 21,872 calls): median distinct tools per session is 2, p90 is 4, p99 is 10; only 127 of 408 tools were ever called; 5 tools account for 76.5% of calls.
- Mitigation tried: bundling 179 write actions into manage tools with an action argument (275 chars/action vs. 430), but bundled schemas grow with each action, so gains are sublinear.
- Unsolved: how to cut the number without removing capability—bundling breaks per-tool permission filtering, splitting moves the problem to user config, tool search only helps supporting clients.
npm package: routebase-mcp.
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