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Progressive Tool Discovery
established
Nikola Balic (@nibzard)
Anthropic Engineering Team
Tool Use & Environment
mcp
tool-discovery
context-optimization
lazy-loading

Problem

When agents have access to large tool catalogs (dozens or hundreds of available tools), loading all tool definitions upfront consumes excessive context window space. Most tools won't be used in a given workflow, making this preloading wasteful and limiting the context available for actual task execution.

Solution

Present tools through a filesystem-like hierarchy where agents discover capabilities on-demand by exploring the structure. Implement a search_tools capability that allows agents to request different levels of detail:

  1. Name only: Minimal context for initial browsing
  2. Name + description: Enough to understand tool purpose
  3. Full definition with schemas: Complete API details only when needed

Tools are organized hierarchically (e.g., servers/google-drive/getDocument.ts, servers/slack/sendMessage.ts) so agents can:

  • List the ./servers/ directory to see available integrations
  • Navigate into specific server directories to find relevant tools
  • Load full definitions only for tools they intend to use
# Agent workflow
1. list_directory("./servers/")
   → Returns: ["google-drive/", "slack/", "github/", ...]

2. search_tools(pattern="google-drive/*", detail_level="name+description")
   → Returns: Brief descriptions of Google Drive tools

3. get_tool_definition("servers/google-drive/getDocument")
   → Returns: Full JSON schema with parameters, types, examples

How to use it

Best for:

  • Systems with 20+ available tools or integrations
  • Model Context Protocol (MCP) server implementations
  • Plugin architectures where agents select from many capabilities

Implementation considerations:

  • Organize tools in a clear hierarchy (by integration, by domain, by function)
  • Provide meaningful names and descriptions at each level
  • Support pattern matching (glob or regex) for tool searches
  • Cache tool definitions that are frequently requested together

Example directory structure:

servers/
├── google-drive/
│   ├── getDocument.ts
│   ├── listFiles.ts
│   └── shareFile.ts
├── slack/
│   ├── sendMessage.ts
│   └── getChannels.ts
└── github/
    ├── createIssue.ts
    └── listRepos.ts

Trade-offs

Pros:

  • Dramatically reduces initial context consumption
  • Scales to hundreds or thousands of tools
  • Agents learn about tool ecosystem through exploration
  • Natural mapping to code-based tool interfaces

Cons:

  • Adds discovery overhead (extra tool calls before execution)
  • Requires thoughtful organization and naming schemes
  • Less effective if agents need most tools anyway
  • May require multiple round-trips to find the right tool

References

  • Anthropic Engineering: Code Execution with MCP (2024)
  • Model Context Protocol specification