MCP solves tool transport, not tool selection: why coding agents still prefer grep
Wise_Reflection_8340 · reddit · 2026-09-22
While integrating a structural code engine with several coding agents, the author found that exposing useful tools via MCP doesn't mean agents will use them. Their MCP server offers entity search, callers, dependencies, impact analysis, and bounded context, yet agents still default to grep and file reads. Suspected causes: stronger model priors for Unix tools, context overhead of MCP descriptions, multi-call latency, uncertainty about index coverage, and difficulty judging when structural queries win. They're experimenting with compound transactions — resolve → contextualize → edit → verify → receipt — where the receipt logs repo revision, changed entities, validation, and fallbacks. Open question: should MCP servers expose many precise tools, fewer compound operations, or both with a routing layer? Open-sourced as Ataraxy-Labs/sem.
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