tool-tax 0.5.0

Measure the hidden token bill of MCP and agent tool catalogs.

tool-tax

See how many tokens your agent tools burn before the user even asks a question.

tool-tax scans MCP-style tool catalogs, JSON/YAML tool manifests, and OpenAPI files. It can also probe a live MCP stdio server with tools/list. It shows the full schema cost, ranks the heaviest tools, diffs catalog changes in pull requests, writes a slim tool index for progressive loading, and can run a small stdio proxy that lazy-loads upstream schemas.

pipx install tool-tax

tool-tax mcp -- npx -y @modelcontextprotocol/server-filesystem /tmp
tool-tax scan examples
tool-tax diff old-tools.json new-tools.json
tool-tax pack examples --out .tool-tax

Example result:

Tools: 14
Full tool tax: 2,102 est. tokens
Slim index: 647 est. tokens
Potential savings: 1,455 est. tokens (69.2%)

Why

Agents keep getting more tools. MCP servers, browser tools, GitHub tools, database tools, and internal APIs all ship long schemas. If every schema is loaded up front, your agent pays a context tax before it starts working.

tool-tax gives that tax a number.

What It Does

• Finds tool definitions in JSON, YAML, and OpenAPI files.
• Probes live MCP stdio servers through initialize + tools/list.
• Estimates token cost for each tool schema.
• Ranks the most expensive tools.
• Diffs base/head catalogs for PR budget checks.
• Generates a slim tool-index.json plus separate schema files.
• Runs a stdio proxy with list_tools, get_schema, and call_tool wrappers.
• Fails CI when the tool catalog grows past a budget.
• Posts or updates a GitHub PR report comment when configured.

Install

From PyPI:

pipx install tool-tax

From GitHub:

pipx install git+https://github.com/SihyeonJeon/tool-tax.git@v0.5.0

From a clone:

git clone https://github.com/SihyeonJeon/tool-tax.git
cd tool-tax
python3 -m pip install -e .

Installs one runtime dependency: PyYAML.

Use

Scan a repo:

tool-tax scan .

Scan a live MCP stdio server:

tool-tax mcp -- npx -y @modelcontextprotocol/server-filesystem /tmp
tool-tax mcp --pack-out .tool-tax-mcp -- npx -y @modelcontextprotocol/server-memory

Run the lazy-schema proxy:

tool-tax proxy -- npx -y @modelcontextprotocol/server-filesystem /tmp

Write Markdown and JSON reports:

tool-tax scan examples --format md --out tool-tax-report.md
tool-tax scan examples --format json --out tool-tax-report.json

Create a progressive-loading pack:

tool-tax pack examples --out .tool-tax

That writes:

.tool-tax/
  tool-index.json       # small always-load index
  schemas/*.json        # full schemas loaded only when needed

Fail CI on tool bloat:

tool-tax scan mcp-tools.json --max-tokens 12000 --max-tool-tokens 750

Compare a pull request:

tool-tax diff base-tools.json head-tools.json --max-delta-tokens 500

Slice a large OpenAPI file before scanning or packing:

tool-tax scan openapi.json --tag payments
tool-tax scan openapi.json --path /v1/payment_intents
tool-tax pack openapi.json --operation "PostPayment*" --out .tool-tax-payments

Use it as a GitHub Action:

- uses: SihyeonJeon/tool-tax@v0.5.0
  with:
    path: .
    max-tokens: "12000"
    max-tool-tokens: "750"

Output

# Tool Tax Report

Grade: **lean**

| Metric | Value |
| --- | ---: |
| Tools | 7 |
| Full tool tax | 1,144 est. tokens |
| Slim index | 309 est. tokens |
| Potential savings | 835 est. tokens (73.0%) |
| Worst tool | 255 est. tokens |

Supports

• Live MCP stdio servers
• Lazy-schema MCP stdio proxy
• MCP-style JSON/YAML tool arrays
• Agent tool manifests with name, description, and inputSchema
• OpenAPI paths operations
• OpenAPI slicing by --tag, --path, and --operation
• Nested JSON catalogs
• GitHub Step Summary and PR comment reports

Benchmarks

Catalog	Tools	Full tool tax	Slim index	Potential savings
Live MCP Filesystem	14	2,102	647	69.2%
tool-tax proxy for MCP Filesystem	3	260	136	47.7%
Live MCP Memory	9	1,324	340	74.3%
Live MCP Sequential Thinking	1	858	46	94.6%
GitHub REST API	1,184	366,962	70,996	80.7%
Stripe OpenAPI	587	649,797	28,047	95.7%

Direct-vs-proxy upfront schema tax for MCP Filesystem: 2,102 -> 260 estimated tokens, or 87.6% less upfront tool schema.

Repo Shape

src/tool_tax/   # library + CLI
tests/          # unittest smoke coverage
examples/       # sample MCP/OpenAPI catalogs and reports
docs/           # trend scan and repo structure notes

Claim

This tool does not claim provider bill reduction from the estimator alone. It measures the up-front schema tax, creates a smaller index, and includes an experimental stdio proxy that exposes three wrapper tools so upstream schemas can be fetched only when needed.

The proxy is intentionally narrow: stdio, tools/list, and tools/call. It is not a full MCP gateway for resources, prompts, streamable HTTP, or auth.

More

• Roadmap
• Public scan gallery
• Proxy benchmark
• PyPI publish notes
• Star forecast and comparison set
• Launch kit
• Trend scan
• Repo shape scan

License

MIT