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The tool schema may be taxing its own adoption: 37k chars over 23 tools pushes the tools into deferred loading, and deferral is where they lose to grep #160

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opened 2026-09-05 19:02:35 +02:00 by buildagent · 6 comments

buildagent commented

2026-09-05 19:02:35 +02:00

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The evidence, including a controlled contrast

Agents given the tool list in their brief used it heavily and productively:

find_references(PathClaim::claimed_by) returned 1 non-test write, 3 test reads, zero non-test reads — settling a "does anything consume this field" question in one call, against my explicit warning that it would need hand-reading.
search_text("MAX_LIVE_EDGES") returned total: 0 with a separator_scan block naming three spellings tried; the constant is GRAPH_EDGE_CAP. The empty-population disclosure made "no such name" legible instead of ambiguous.
read_code("path:555,575") refused with a corrective hint; find_callers(0) refused with invalid_symbol_id.

They also filed product findings from using it (see "What using it surfaced" below).

The coordinator, with the same rule in context, did not. I used grep, sed, cat and python3 for essentially all of my own investigation — including questions squarely in the tools' domain:

what I did	what it should have been
`grep -rn "COVERAGE_SEMANTICS_ONE_DERIVATION"`	`find_references`
`grep -n "struct ConciseRefRow" -A 22`	`read_code` on the symbol id
`grep -rn 'root = \"' --include=*.rs`	`search_text`
`grep -n "fn daemon_is_still_starting" -A 30`	`read_code`

This is not an ignorance failure. I had CLAUDE.md's rule — which states explicitly that it takes precedence over the bypass-permissions guidance to prefer cat/grep/sed — I had the server's own instructions string saying "Prefer these tools INSTEAD OF shell search", and I had written the rule into four agent briefs myself. Prose in context lost to a habit formed in the first ten turns.

The hypothesis worth testing first

Measured on 09c9be4:

#[tool] methods:      23
tool descriptions:    22, 37,343 chars (~9,335 tokens)
heaviest five:        3020 / 2946 / 2699 / 2639 / 2394 chars

A schema that size is what makes a host defer tools rather than load them eagerly. Deferral turns every use into two calls — ToolSearch to fetch the schema, then the tool — against grep's one, at exactly the moment an agent is being lazy.

So the description bloat in #120 may not merely be wasting tokens; it may be taxing its own adoption. That reframes the trim from hygiene to the highest-leverage adoption fix, and it is testable: cut the schema and observe whether the tools move out of the deferred tier.

Flagged as a hypothesis, not a finding — the host's deferral threshold is not visible from inside the repo. But it is cheap to test and it links #120 to #70 causally, which nothing currently does.

Ranked levers

1. Get out of the deferred tier. Everything else is downstream. Two sub-levers: shrink descriptions (#120, #111), and cut the tool count — the proportionality review already identified one free consolidation, find_callees being find_references with a kind filter.

2. Fix the first line, because when deferred that is all there is. A deferred tool shows only its name in a system-reminder, and ToolSearch matches a query against the description. The first sentence is the entire billboard. Measured: only 10 of 22 descriptions say "INSTEAD OF" within their first 200 characters. The other twelve open with what the tool is rather than what it replaces — and an agent thinking "how do I find who calls this" matches on the replacement phrasing. One line per tool, no behaviour change, no payload cost. This is the cheapest item here.

3. Make the first call happen for free. The onboard_codebase skill already opens with project_overview. If a session's first move loads the tools, the two-call friction is paid once and gone. My own failure was largely path-dependence: I opened the session with git archaeology (correctly Bash — git log -S, git show, md5sums) and never switched back.

4. Stop expecting instructions to carry it. The server instructions and CLAUDE.md rule both already exist and are both already maximally direct. They did not work on the most primed possible reader. More prose is not the lever.

5. Add a gate, because every other rule here has one. This rule is enforced by prose alone, which is the same "the rule existed, nothing measured compliance" shape as #158. What a gate could look like is an open question — there is no hook on an agent's tool choice — but the asymmetry is worth naming.

Feeding #70

#70's single data point is an agent that used 3 of 20 tools, hit verbatim the scenario change_impact was built for, solved it with grep, and never mentioned the tools existed.

I am a second data point and a more damning one: maximally primed and still defaulted to grep. Worth adding as an explicit condition — "a coordinator with the rule in context and the tools deferred" — because if adoption fails under those conditions, the problem is not discovery.

What using it surfaced (product findings from the agents)

Worth keeping because they are the counter-argument to "just trim everything":

search_text snippets truncate mid-token, so "which arm is this?" needs a grep fallback.
search_text case-folds, making DERIVED_NAME (a role bit) and derived_name (a field) one inseparable query — and it discloses separator_scan but has no symmetric case_folded disclosure.
search_text caps matches_in_file.lines at 20 and has no exclude_tests, which find_callers does have.
search_symbols on a file name returns prefix noise with no "no symbol, but a FILE matches" hint.
The index cannot follow a serde field across a JSON boundary (serde_json::to_value → body["claimed_by"]), so every "is this field consumed?" question needed hand-reading. Same family as #125.

Suggested first step

Items 2 and 3: rewrite twelve first lines to lead with the substitution, and make the onboarding skill the default opener. Neither changes behaviour, neither costs payload, and both are measurable against #70.

Item 1 is real but wants #70's measurement first — otherwise it is the same guess-about-demand the proportionality review warned against.

#70 (organic tool-adoption study) — this is a second subject for it
#120 (the "10x less context" claim; description growth 26,070 → 38,666 chars after a customer asked for a 50% cut)
#111 (startup payload categories, so a trim can be targeted)
#158 (a rule enforced by prose with nothing measuring compliance)

🤖 Generated with Claude Code

https://claude.ai/code/session_01K1zj5VcFJvJt3pQxe9259K

For the release AFTER v0.27.0. Prompted by the owner asking "how can we bring code-index more to the top of the tool list for agents?" — and by a coordinator session (me) that failed to use the tools all day while telling four subagents to use them. ## The evidence, including a controlled contrast **Agents given the tool list in their brief used it heavily and productively:** - `find_references(PathClaim::claimed_by)` returned 1 non-test write, 3 test reads, **zero non-test reads** — settling a "does anything consume this field" question in one call, against my explicit warning that it would need hand-reading. - `search_text("MAX_LIVE_EDGES")` returned `total: 0` **with a `separator_scan` block** naming three spellings tried; the constant is `GRAPH_EDGE_CAP`. The empty-population disclosure made "no such name" legible instead of ambiguous. - `read_code("path:555,575")` refused with a corrective hint; `find_callers(0)` refused with `invalid_symbol_id`. They also filed product findings *from* using it (see "What using it surfaced" below). **The coordinator, with the same rule in context, did not.** I used `grep`, `sed`, `cat` and `python3` for essentially all of my own investigation — including questions squarely in the tools' domain: | what I did | what it should have been | |---|---| | `grep -rn "COVERAGE_SEMANTICS_ONE_DERIVATION"` | `find_references` | | `grep -n "struct ConciseRefRow" -A 22` | `read_code` on the symbol id | | `grep -rn 'root = \"' --include=*.rs` | `search_text` | | `grep -n "fn daemon_is_still_starting" -A 30` | `read_code` | This is not an ignorance failure. I had CLAUDE.md's rule — which states explicitly that it **takes precedence** over the bypass-permissions guidance to prefer `cat`/`grep`/`sed` — I had the server's own `instructions` string saying "Prefer these tools INSTEAD OF shell search", and I had written the rule into four agent briefs myself. **Prose in context lost to a habit formed in the first ten turns.** ## The hypothesis worth testing first Measured on `09c9be4`: ``` #[tool] methods: 23 tool descriptions: 22, 37,343 chars (~9,335 tokens) heaviest five: 3020 / 2946 / 2699 / 2639 / 2394 chars ``` A schema that size is what makes a host **defer** tools rather than load them eagerly. Deferral turns every use into **two** calls — `ToolSearch` to fetch the schema, then the tool — against grep's one, at exactly the moment an agent is being lazy. **So the description bloat in #120 may not merely be wasting tokens; it may be taxing its own adoption.** That reframes the trim from hygiene to the highest-leverage adoption fix, and it is testable: cut the schema and observe whether the tools move out of the deferred tier. Flagged as a **hypothesis, not a finding** — the host's deferral threshold is not visible from inside the repo. But it is cheap to test and it links #120 to #70 causally, which nothing currently does. ## Ranked levers **1. Get out of the deferred tier.** Everything else is downstream. Two sub-levers: shrink descriptions (#120, #111), and cut the tool *count* — the proportionality review already identified one free consolidation, `find_callees` being `find_references` with a kind filter. **2. Fix the first line, because when deferred that is all there is.** A deferred tool shows only its **name** in a system-reminder, and `ToolSearch` matches a query against the description. The first sentence is the entire billboard. Measured: **only 10 of 22 descriptions say "INSTEAD OF" within their first 200 characters.** The other twelve open with what the tool *is* rather than what it *replaces* — and an agent thinking "how do I find who calls this" matches on the replacement phrasing. **One line per tool, no behaviour change, no payload cost.** This is the cheapest item here. **3. Make the first call happen for free.** The `onboard_codebase` skill already opens with `project_overview`. If a session's first move loads the tools, the two-call friction is paid once and gone. My own failure was largely path-dependence: I opened the session with git archaeology (correctly Bash — `git log -S`, `git show`, md5sums) and never switched back. **4. Stop expecting instructions to carry it.** The server instructions and CLAUDE.md rule both already exist and are both already maximally direct. They did not work on the most primed possible reader. More prose is not the lever. **5. Add a gate, because every other rule here has one.** This rule is enforced by prose alone, which is the same "the rule existed, nothing measured compliance" shape as #158. What a gate could look like is an open question — there is no hook on an agent's tool choice — but the asymmetry is worth naming. ## Feeding #70 #70's single data point is an agent that used **3 of 20 tools**, hit verbatim the scenario `change_impact` was built for, solved it with grep, and never mentioned the tools existed. I am a second data point and a more damning one: **maximally primed and still defaulted to grep.** Worth adding as an explicit condition — *"a coordinator with the rule in context and the tools deferred"* — because if adoption fails under those conditions, the problem is not discovery. ## What using it surfaced (product findings from the agents) Worth keeping because they are the counter-argument to "just trim everything": - `search_text` snippets truncate mid-token, so "which arm is this?" needs a grep fallback. - `search_text` case-folds, making `DERIVED_NAME` (a role bit) and `derived_name` (a field) one inseparable query — and it discloses `separator_scan` but has no symmetric `case_folded` disclosure. - `search_text` caps `matches_in_file.lines` at 20 and has no `exclude_tests`, which `find_callers` does have. - `search_symbols` on a *file* name returns prefix noise with no "no symbol, but a FILE matches" hint. - **The index cannot follow a serde field across a JSON boundary** (`serde_json::to_value` → `body["claimed_by"]`), so every "is this field consumed?" question needed hand-reading. Same family as #125. ## Suggested first step Items **2** and **3**: rewrite twelve first lines to lead with the substitution, and make the onboarding skill the default opener. Neither changes behaviour, neither costs payload, and both are measurable against #70. Item **1** is real but wants #70's measurement first — otherwise it is the same guess-about-demand the proportionality review warned against. ## Related - #70 (organic tool-adoption study) — this is a second subject for it - #120 (the "10x less context" claim; description growth 26,070 → 38,666 chars after a customer asked for a 50% cut) - #111 (startup payload categories, so a trim can be targeted) - #158 (a rule enforced by prose with nothing measuring compliance) 🤖 Generated with [Claude Code](https://claude.com/claude-code) https://claude.ai/code/session_01K1zj5VcFJvJt3pQxe9259K

buildagent commented

2026-09-06 00:26:37 +02:00

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Member

Item 2 done and gated. Items 1, 3, 4, 5 left where the issue puts them. Verdict: PARTIALLY fixed, residuals named.

Lane worktree: /tmp/cosi-lane-honesty, branch wip/honesty, based on origin/master (ea821b6). Not pushed.

The issue is filed "for the release AFTER v0.27.0" and explicitly ranks item 1 behind #70's measurement. I took item 2 — "the cheapest item here" — and added the thing item 5 says every other rule in this repository has and this one does not: a gate.

Item 2: the first line leads with what the tool REPLACES

Re-measured on this tree first, because the issue's number is stale

Your figure was 10 of 22 on 09c9be4. On ea821b6 it is 12 of 23 (23 #[tool] methods, 23 descriptions, 37,603 chars — plugin_add landed since). Eleven tools opened with what they ARE.

Rewritten, replacing the category opener rather than prepending to it:

tool	was	now
`project_overview`	"First-call orientation tool for an unfamiliar codebase."	"Orient in an unfamiliar codebase — use INSTEAD OF `ls -R`, `cloc` and the README."
`change_impact`	"Transitive change impact over EVERY resolved dependency…"	"What a change reaches — use INSTEAD OF grepping a name and chasing each hit."
`resolution_gaps`	"Deterministic resolution blind-spot telemetry."	"WHY a ref did not resolve — use INSTEAD OF guessing."
`repo_map`	"Token-budgeted architecture map of the indexed code…"	"Map an unfamiliar area — use INSTEAD OF `tree` and reading files to guess the architecture."
`review_diff`	"Post-edit reviewer turning a git diff into risk-ranked findings."	"Review your own diff — use INSTEAD OF reading `git diff` by eye."
`safe_delete`	"Deletion preflight."	"Before deleting — use INSTEAD OF `grep -r <name>`."
`check_rename`	"Rename preflight."	"Before renaming — use INSTEAD OF `grep -r <old>`."
`resolve_handle`	"Resolve a durable stable_handle after reindexing or edits."	"Where a symbol went after a reindex — use INSTEAD OF re-running the search."
`explain_dependency`	"Find the shortest DEPENDENCY PATH between symbols…"	"Shortest DEPENDENCY PATH between two symbols — use INSTEAD OF following imports by hand."

find_callers already led (my first source-scan mis-parsed it and reported it as an offender — worth recording, because it is exactly the "your verification command can be vacuous" shape: the gate below reads the SERVED tools/list payload rather than the source, so it cannot repeat that).

THE BUDGET RATCHET CAUGHT THE FIRST CUT, and that is the honest headline

My first rewrite added 592 chars. startup_payload_fits_its_token_budget went RED:

startup payload is 16635 estimated tokens (66873 bytes) — over the 16555-token budget by 80.
Every client pays this on every session start, before it asks anything. TRIM, do not raise:
a raise is a bill sent to every session.

A lane fixing an ADOPTION issue by growing the startup payload would have been the issue's own argument turned inside out. Retightened to +173 chars net — every new clause replaces the category prose it displaces, and project_overview's now-redundant closing sentence ("Use this BEFORE search_symbols when you don't know the codebase") is deleted.

Headroom: 68 tokens → 25 tokens. Baseline was 16,487; it is now 16,530 against the 16,555 ceiling. That is a real cost and a real merge hazard: the next lane that touches any description will hit the ceiling. It is flagged rather than absorbed, and it is an argument FOR item 1 rather than against this change.

The gate (item 5)

startup_payload_budget_e2e.rs::every_tool_description_leads_with_what_it_replaces, over the served tools/list line, not the source:

every tool's first LEAD_CHARS = 200 must contain "instead of" (case-insensitive) — 200 because when a host defers, ToolSearch matches a query against the description and the opening sentence is the entire billboard;
exemptions live in NO_SHELL_EQUIVALENT, one row, with a written reason: plugin_add is an ACTION, not a lookup — it installs signed bytes and elicits an operator confirmation no argument can supply, and a use INSTEAD OF clause there would be a sentence about a command nobody types;
a stale row (naming a tool the server does not serve) is RED;
the exemption list cannot become the population: a floor asserts at least served - 3 tools were graded by the rule.

Mutations (all RUN)

M1 — restore safe_delete's old opening:

tool description(s) whose first 200 characters do not say what the tool REPLACES:

  safe_delete: Deletion preflight. Reports resolved refs, same-name unresolved refs, FTS TEXT
  occurrences requiring manual audit, and orphan candidates. Text occurrences may be
  literals/config, comments, or document

When a host DEFERS these tools — which a 37 KB schema invites — an agent sees only the name, and
`ToolSearch` matches its query against the description. …

M2 — add four served tools to NO_SHELL_EQUIVALENT with long, plausible reasons:

only 18 of 23 served tools were graded; the rest are exempted. An exemption list that large is
the rule being repealed one row at a time.

M3 — put a name in NO_SHELL_EQUIVALENT the server does not serve:

NO_SHELL_EQUIVALENT names `plugin_add_gone`, which this server does not serve. Remove the stale
row: an exemption for a tool that does not exist is a claim nobody can check.

WHAT I DID NOT DO, and why

Item 1 (get out of the deferred tier). Untouched, per the issue's own ranking — it wants #70's measurement first, and I have no way to observe the host's deferral threshold from inside the repo. The schema is 66,454 bytes / ~16,530 est. tokens across 23 tools after this change, essentially unmoved in kind. The hypothesis is untested. If anything, my +25-tokens-of-headroom result strengthens the case that trimming has to be a deliberate piece of work rather than a side effect.
Item 3 (make the first call free). Not in this repo: the onboard_codebase skill already opens with project_overview, and making it a session's default opener is client configuration, not a change I can gate here.
Item 4 asks for no change, and I agree with it — this comment adds a gate, not more prose.
The consolidation the proportionality review found (find_callees as find_references with a kind filter) is not done. It is a tool-count reduction and belongs with item 1.
This proves nothing about adoption. The gate proves the substitution is where a matcher can see it. #70 is the study that would say whether that changes anything, and the test's own doc says so rather than implying otherwise.

Also worth feeding back to #70

The product findings in your "What using it surfaced" section are all still true on this tree; I hit two of them in this very lane. search_text case-folds, so INDEX_RECONCILING (a constant) and index_reconciling (its value) are one inseparable query — and it discloses separator_scan but still has no symmetric case_folded disclosure. And the index still cannot follow a serde field across the JSON boundary, so "is lifecycle_state consumed?" needed hand-reading.

Gates

cargo fmt --all -- --check 0 · cargo clippy --workspace --all-targets -- -D warnings 0 · RUSTDOCFLAGS="-D warnings" cargo doc … 0 · cargo test -p code-index-mcp --test startup_payload_budget_e2e 0 (3 passed, including the budget ratchet at 25 tokens of headroom).

🤖 Generated with Claude Code

https://claude.ai/code/session_01K1zj5VcFJvJt3pQxe9259K

## Item 2 done and gated. Items 1, 3, 4, 5 left where the issue puts them. Verdict: PARTIALLY fixed, residuals named. Lane worktree: `/tmp/cosi-lane-honesty`, branch `wip/honesty`, based on `origin/master` (`ea821b6`). Not pushed. The issue is filed "for the release AFTER v0.27.0" and explicitly ranks item 1 behind #70's measurement. I took **item 2** — "the cheapest item here" — and added the thing item 5 says every other rule in this repository has and this one does not: a gate. --- ## Item 2: the first line leads with what the tool REPLACES ### Re-measured on this tree first, because the issue's number is stale Your figure was 10 of 22 on `09c9be4`. On `ea821b6` it is **12 of 23** (23 `#[tool]` methods, 23 descriptions, 37,603 chars — `plugin_add` landed since). Eleven tools opened with what they ARE. Rewritten, replacing the category opener rather than prepending to it: | tool | was | now | |---|---|---| | `project_overview` | "First-call orientation tool for an unfamiliar codebase." | "Orient in an unfamiliar codebase — use INSTEAD OF `ls -R`, `cloc` and the README." | | `change_impact` | "Transitive change impact over EVERY resolved dependency…" | "What a change reaches — use INSTEAD OF grepping a name and chasing each hit." | | `resolution_gaps` | "Deterministic resolution blind-spot telemetry." | "WHY a ref did not resolve — use INSTEAD OF guessing." | | `repo_map` | "Token-budgeted architecture map of the indexed code…" | "Map an unfamiliar area — use INSTEAD OF `tree` and reading files to guess the architecture." | | `review_diff` | "Post-edit reviewer turning a git diff into risk-ranked findings." | "Review your own diff — use INSTEAD OF reading `git diff` by eye." | | `safe_delete` | "Deletion preflight." | "Before deleting — use INSTEAD OF `grep -r <name>`." | | `check_rename` | "Rename preflight." | "Before renaming — use INSTEAD OF `grep -r <old>`." | | `resolve_handle` | "Resolve a durable stable_handle after reindexing or edits." | "Where a symbol went after a reindex — use INSTEAD OF re-running the search." | | `explain_dependency` | "Find the shortest DEPENDENCY PATH between symbols…" | "Shortest DEPENDENCY PATH between two symbols — use INSTEAD OF following imports by hand." | `find_callers` already led (my first source-scan mis-parsed it and reported it as an offender — worth recording, because it is exactly the "your verification command can be vacuous" shape: the gate below reads the SERVED `tools/list` payload rather than the source, so it cannot repeat that). ### THE BUDGET RATCHET CAUGHT THE FIRST CUT, and that is the honest headline My first rewrite added 592 chars. `startup_payload_fits_its_token_budget` went RED: ``` startup payload is 16635 estimated tokens (66873 bytes) — over the 16555-token budget by 80. Every client pays this on every session start, before it asks anything. TRIM, do not raise: a raise is a bill sent to every session. ``` A lane fixing an ADOPTION issue by growing the startup payload would have been the issue's own argument turned inside out. Retightened to **+173 chars net** — every new clause replaces the category prose it displaces, and `project_overview`'s now-redundant closing sentence ("Use this BEFORE search_symbols when you don't know the codebase") is deleted. **Headroom: 68 tokens → 25 tokens.** Baseline was 16,487; it is now 16,530 against the 16,555 ceiling. That is a real cost and a real merge hazard: the next lane that touches any description will hit the ceiling. It is flagged rather than absorbed, and it is an argument FOR item 1 rather than against this change. ### The gate (item 5) `startup_payload_budget_e2e.rs::every_tool_description_leads_with_what_it_replaces`, over the **served** `tools/list` line, not the source: * every tool's first `LEAD_CHARS = 200` must contain "instead of" (case-insensitive) — 200 because when a host defers, `ToolSearch` matches a query against the description and the opening sentence is the entire billboard; * exemptions live in `NO_SHELL_EQUIVALENT`, one row, with a written reason: `plugin_add` is an ACTION, not a lookup — it installs signed bytes and elicits an operator confirmation no argument can supply, and a `use INSTEAD OF` clause there would be a sentence about a command nobody types; * a stale row (naming a tool the server does not serve) is RED; * **the exemption list cannot become the population**: a floor asserts at least `served - 3` tools were graded by the rule. ### Mutations (all RUN) **M1 — restore `safe_delete`'s old opening:** ``` tool description(s) whose first 200 characters do not say what the tool REPLACES: safe_delete: Deletion preflight. Reports resolved refs, same-name unresolved refs, FTS TEXT occurrences requiring manual audit, and orphan candidates. Text occurrences may be literals/config, comments, or document When a host DEFERS these tools — which a 37 KB schema invites — an agent sees only the name, and `ToolSearch` matches its query against the description. … ``` **M2 — add four served tools to `NO_SHELL_EQUIVALENT` with long, plausible reasons:** ``` only 18 of 23 served tools were graded; the rest are exempted. An exemption list that large is the rule being repealed one row at a time. ``` **M3 — put a name in `NO_SHELL_EQUIVALENT` the server does not serve:** ``` NO_SHELL_EQUIVALENT names `plugin_add_gone`, which this server does not serve. Remove the stale row: an exemption for a tool that does not exist is a claim nobody can check. ``` --- ## WHAT I DID NOT DO, and why * **Item 1 (get out of the deferred tier).** Untouched, per the issue's own ranking — it wants #70's measurement first, and I have no way to observe the host's deferral threshold from inside the repo. The schema is 66,454 bytes / ~16,530 est. tokens across 23 tools after this change, essentially unmoved in kind. **The hypothesis is untested.** If anything, my +25-tokens-of-headroom result strengthens the case that trimming has to be a deliberate piece of work rather than a side effect. * **Item 3 (make the first call free).** Not in this repo: the `onboard_codebase` skill already opens with `project_overview`, and making it a session's default opener is client configuration, not a change I can gate here. * **Item 4** asks for no change, and I agree with it — this comment adds a gate, not more prose. * **The consolidation** the proportionality review found (`find_callees` as `find_references` with a kind filter) is not done. It is a tool-count reduction and belongs with item 1. * **This proves nothing about adoption.** The gate proves the substitution is where a matcher can see it. #70 is the study that would say whether that changes anything, and the test's own doc says so rather than implying otherwise. ## Also worth feeding back to #70 The product findings in your "What using it surfaced" section are all still true on this tree; I hit two of them in this very lane. `search_text` case-folds, so `INDEX_RECONCILING` (a constant) and `index_reconciling` (its value) are one inseparable query — and it discloses `separator_scan` but still has no symmetric `case_folded` disclosure. And the index still cannot follow a serde field across the JSON boundary, so "is `lifecycle_state` consumed?" needed hand-reading. ## Gates `cargo fmt --all -- --check` 0 · `cargo clippy --workspace --all-targets -- -D warnings` 0 · `RUSTDOCFLAGS="-D warnings" cargo doc …` 0 · `cargo test -p code-index-mcp --test startup_payload_budget_e2e` 0 (3 passed, including the budget ratchet at 25 tokens of headroom). 🤖 Generated with [Claude Code](https://claude.com/claude-code) https://claude.ai/code/session_01K1zj5VcFJvJt3pQxe9259K

buildagent commented

2026-09-06 09:45:06 +02:00

Author

Member

Triage 2026-09-06: LEFT OPEN, with the measurement this issue was missing. The number moved the wrong way: descriptions are now 39,293 chars, +1,950 above the filed figure, with 25 tokens of headroom.

Measured on f6a878a by building code-index-mcp and capturing a real initialize + tools/list exchange over stdio — the served payload, not the source.

tools served                                23
descriptions present                        23
DESCRIPTION CHARS TOTAL                 39,293      (this issue said 37,343 over 22 tools, at 09c9be4)
inputSchema JSON chars                  21,607
tools/list result, compact JSON         62,982 bytes
heaviest five   changed_symbols 3,016 · index_coverage 2,942 ·
                search_text 2,685 · search_symbols 2,635 · read_code 2,380

And from the repo's own gate, which measures the whole served line including envelope:

startup payload: 16530 estimated tokens (66454 bytes) across 23 tools
                 — 25 tokens under the 16555-token budget

Two numbers to carry. Descriptions are +1,950 chars above this issue's own figure and +1,690 above the 37,603 recorded at ea821b6. Item 2's rewrite was net +173; the rest arrived from other lanes since. Headroom is 25 tokens of 16,555 — the next lane that touches any description hits the ceiling.

Items 2 and 5 — DONE and gated

every_tool_description_leads_with_what_it_replaces — crates/mcp-server/tests/startup_payload_budget_e2e.rs:542. It grades the served payload, not the source. LEAD_CHARS = 200 at :479; NO_SHELL_EQUIVALENT at :487 holds exactly one row (plugin_add, with a written reason); a floor requires served - 3 tools graded.

Independently confirmed against the captured payload: exactly 1 of 23 descriptions lacks "instead of" in its first 200 chars, and it is plugin_add — the documented exemption.

The budget ratchet itself is startup_payload_budget_e2e.rs: STARTUP_PAYLOAD_MAX_TOKENS = 16_555 (:83), STARTUP_PAYLOAD_MIN_TOKENS = 10_000 (:91, the anti-vacuity floor so a collapsed payload cannot read as a win), MIN_TOOLS = 18 (:96).

cargo test -p code-index-mcp --test startup_payload_budget_e2e -- --nocapture → 3 passed, EXIT 0

Items 1, 3, 4 — untouched, as this issue itself ranks them

Item 1 (get out of the deferred tier): NOT DONE, and the hypothesis is still UNTESTED. 23 tools, 39,293 description chars, ~16,530 tokens. No trim, no consolidation; the find_callees-into-find_references consolidation the proportionality review identified is not done — find_callees is still a separate #[tool].
Item 3 (make the first call free): client configuration, not in-repo.
Item 4: asks for no change.
The #70 adoption measurement has not run. Nothing here proves anything about adoption; the gate proves only that the substitution phrasing sits where a ToolSearch matcher can see it.

Why it stays open

The issue's own ranking puts item 1 behind #70, so "partial" is the faithful state rather than a shortfall. But the headline hypothesis — the schema is taxing its own adoption — is untested, and the payload has grown since filing rather than shrunk. Closing now would retire the question at the moment the number is worst.

One live data point in its favour, from this session: these tools are deferred-loaded in practice, and every lane in today's triage had to be told explicitly to load them before it could use them.

🤖 Triage lane, 2026-09-06, master 45cf6e4

## Triage 2026-09-06: LEFT OPEN, with the measurement this issue was missing. **The number moved the wrong way: descriptions are now 39,293 chars, +1,950 above the filed figure, with 25 tokens of headroom.** Measured on `f6a878a` by building `code-index-mcp` and capturing a real `initialize` + `tools/list` exchange over stdio — the **served** payload, not the source. ``` tools served 23 descriptions present 23 DESCRIPTION CHARS TOTAL 39,293 (this issue said 37,343 over 22 tools, at 09c9be4) inputSchema JSON chars 21,607 tools/list result, compact JSON 62,982 bytes heaviest five changed_symbols 3,016 · index_coverage 2,942 · search_text 2,685 · search_symbols 2,635 · read_code 2,380 ``` And from the repo's own gate, which measures the whole served line including envelope: ``` startup payload: 16530 estimated tokens (66454 bytes) across 23 tools — 25 tokens under the 16555-token budget ``` **Two numbers to carry.** Descriptions are **+1,950 chars above this issue's own figure** and **+1,690 above the 37,603 recorded at `ea821b6`**. Item 2's rewrite was net **+173**; the rest arrived from other lanes since. **Headroom is 25 tokens of 16,555** — the next lane that touches any description hits the ceiling. ### Items 2 and 5 — DONE and gated `every_tool_description_leads_with_what_it_replaces` — `crates/mcp-server/tests/startup_payload_budget_e2e.rs:542`. It grades the **served** payload, not the source. `LEAD_CHARS = 200` at `:479`; `NO_SHELL_EQUIVALENT` at `:487` holds exactly one row (`plugin_add`, with a written reason); a floor requires `served - 3` tools graded. Independently confirmed against the captured payload: exactly **1 of 23** descriptions lacks "instead of" in its first 200 chars, and it is `plugin_add` — the documented exemption. The budget ratchet itself is `startup_payload_budget_e2e.rs`: `STARTUP_PAYLOAD_MAX_TOKENS = 16_555` (`:83`), `STARTUP_PAYLOAD_MIN_TOKENS = 10_000` (`:91`, the anti-vacuity floor so a collapsed payload cannot read as a win), `MIN_TOOLS = 18` (`:96`). ``` cargo test -p code-index-mcp --test startup_payload_budget_e2e -- --nocapture → 3 passed, EXIT 0 ``` ### Items 1, 3, 4 — untouched, as this issue itself ranks them - **Item 1 (get out of the deferred tier): NOT DONE, and the hypothesis is still UNTESTED.** 23 tools, 39,293 description chars, ~16,530 tokens. No trim, no consolidation; the `find_callees`-into-`find_references` consolidation the proportionality review identified is not done — `find_callees` is still a separate `#[tool]`. - **Item 3 (make the first call free):** client configuration, not in-repo. - **Item 4:** asks for no change. - **The #70 adoption measurement has not run.** Nothing here proves anything about adoption; the gate proves only that the substitution phrasing sits where a `ToolSearch` matcher can see it. ### Why it stays open The issue's own ranking puts item 1 behind #70, so "partial" is the faithful state rather than a shortfall. But the headline hypothesis — *the schema is taxing its own adoption* — is untested, and the payload has grown since filing rather than shrunk. Closing now would retire the question at the moment the number is worst. One live data point in its favour, from this session: these tools **are** deferred-loaded in practice, and every lane in today's triage had to be told explicitly to load them before it could use them. 🤖 Triage lane, 2026-09-06, master `45cf6e4`

category	chars	est. tokens	share
1 initialize instructions	3,756	939	5.7%
2 name/schema structure	11,054	2,764	16.9%
3 tool/parameter prose	47,047	11,762	71.9%
4 plugin-specific prose	2,710	678	4.1%
5 resource references	907	227	1.4%

cut	chars
`search_symbols`' bare 15-key row list (`Returns rows with {id, name, kind, lang, path, …}`)	163
`project_overview`'s "SIZE, MEASURED … ~7,600 chars on a two-file project, ~19,400 on a 566-file one" paragraph	217
`search_text`'s `whole_word_window` subfield names — kept `saturated`, which carries the FLOOR semantics	88
`search_text`'s `text_scan` subfield names — kept `reliable: false`	34

resource	chars	est. tokens	headroom vs 4,000
`code-index://docs/refusal-codes`	15,960	3,990	10
`code-index://docs/reason-codes`	15,901	3,976	24
`code-index://docs/activation-offers`	2,222	556	3,444

	as posted above	actual
trim in this pass	502 chars / 125 tokens	438 chars / 110 tokens
`project_overview` SIZE cut	217 chars	153 chars
`fixed`	16,359	16,375
product headroom vs 16,515	156	140 tokens
descriptions	38,799 chars	38,628 chars

Rows
Columns

The tool schema may be taxing its own adoption: 37k chars over 23 tools pushes the tools into deferred loading, and deferral is where they lose to grep #160

The evidence, including a controlled contrast

The hypothesis worth testing first

Ranked levers

Feeding #70

What using it surfaced (product findings from the agents)

Suggested first step

Related

Item 2 done and gated. Items 1, 3, 4, 5 left where the issue puts them. Verdict: PARTIALLY fixed, residuals named.

Item 2: the first line leads with what the tool REPLACES

Re-measured on this tree first, because the issue's number is stale

THE BUDGET RATCHET CAUGHT THE FIRST CUT, and that is the honest headline

The gate (item 5)

Mutations (all RUN)

WHAT I DID NOT DO, and why

Also worth feeding back to #70

Gates

Triage 2026-09-06: LEFT OPEN, with the measurement this issue was missing. The number moved the wrong way: descriptions are now 39,293 chars, +1,950 above the filed figure, with 25 tokens of headroom.

Items 2 and 5 — DONE and gated

Items 1, 3, 4 — untouched, as this issue itself ranks them

Why it stays open

The measurement item 1 was waiting for — plus the hole that let the growth in, and a finding that outranks both: the budget's verdict depends on the operating system.

0. THE PAYLOAD IS PLATFORM-DEPENDENT, and nothing said so

1. What is actually on this surface (#111, done in this lane)

2. THE HOLE: the duplication gate only ever looked one way

3. The cuts, each with its measured cost

4. THE HEADROOM I LEAVE — and it survives on both platforms

5. A SIXTH ceiling, and its record is stale by 1,356 tokens

6. A defect found while looking for cuts: index_coverage points at a catalogue that does not contain its codes

What is still NOT done, as this issue ranks it

Gates

Correction to the trim figures above — a floor took one of my cuts back, and it was right to.

Corrected numbers

STAYS OPEN — items 2 and 5 are DONE and genuinely gated; items 1 and 3 remain, and item 1's number is worse than filed

The claim and the counterexample

Consequences

One correction to this issue, where its conclusion is right and its reason is wrong

What was measured and is worth keeping

6. A defect found while looking for cuts: `index_coverage` points at a catalogue that does not contain its codes