05 / Tools and context
Load tools when the task needs them
An agent can find a tool before it loads the details.
What the teams report
Cloudflare found that tool definitions used context space before any task started. Its portal now exposes search and execution tools instead of every definition. [1]
Sentry’s Junior starts without a connection to an MCP provider. Model Context Protocol (MCP) connects agents to tools. Junior connects after the agent requests a tool lookup. [2]
Browserbase loads skills for each task. These skills contain instructions for specific work. They are separate from the tools that perform actions. [3]
“keep the always-on surface small”
Sentry, on progressive tool discovery. [2]
Our observation
More tools need not mean more initial context
Tool discovery can separate available capabilities from the context supplied at the start of a task.
This adds a dependency: the agent must find the correct tool. A missing or unclear tool description can prevent that step.
A small tool set may not need discovery. The reports do not establish that fewer tool definitions always improve accuracy.
A question for your buildCan the agent find the right tool without first reading every tool definition?
Sources
- Cloudflare: Our internal AI engineering stackTool schema overhead and portal-level search.
- Sentry: Building an internProgressive discovery and provider connections.
- Browserbase: Internal agentsTask-specific skills and a small core tool set.