MCP Selection & Pruning

Model Context Protocol servers are powerful. They give Claude access to external services — databases, APIs, design tools, project management platforms. They are also the single largest source of unnecessary context bloat. Each MCP server registers its available tools into Claude's context at session start. A Figma MCP might register 15 tools. A GitHub MCP might register 20. A database MCP might register 10. Each tool registration includes a description, parameter schema, and usage examples. Three MCP servers can easily add 15,000 tokens of tool definitions that sit in context for the entire session, whether you use them or not.

The audit process is simple. Run /context and look at the MCP section. How many tokens are your MCP servers consuming? Now ask: how many of those tools did you actually use in the last week? For most developers, the answer is sobering. They have five MCP servers installed, using maybe two tools total, and paying the token cost for all fifty registered tools across every session. The fix is equally simple: uninstall every MCP server you have not used in the past two weeks. You can always reinstall when needed. The token savings are immediate and significant.