[mcp-analysis] MCP Structural Analysis - 2026-07-14

[github-actions[bot]]

MCP Structural Analysis — 2026-07-14

Analyzed 11 sources (10 GitHub MCP tools + the prompt-injected <github-context> block) across all available toolsets. Overall usefulness averaged 3.55/5, consuming ~17,586 tokens today (a single per-item call each).

Key findings

• 🥇 Best patterns: list_discussions and get_file_contents (both ⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐) — compact, cursor-paginated, relationship-rich, size proportional to payload.
• ⚠️ Pagination defect: list_workflows ignored per_page=1 and returned all 329 workflows (~3,880 tokens) — the single largest avoidable context cost.
• 🚫 Identity tools blocked: get_teams returns 403 under the integration token (same as get_me) → agents must read identity from the <github-context> block, which is the most efficient source (⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐, ~0 MCP cost).
• 🔒 list_repository_collaborators blocked by integrity policy ("lower integrity than agent requires") — no user data reaches the agent (⭐⭐).
• ✅ list_code_scanning_alerts returned [] — no open critical/high alerts (healthy repo state).

Recommendations

• Prefer for autonomous work: list_discussions, list_pull_requests, get_file_contents, and the injected <github-context> block.
• Use with care (context-heavy): get_file_contents on large files (range-fetch), search_issues and list_issues (full bodies inflate cost — add a title-only mode for triage).
• Avoid / substitute: get_teams + get_me (fall back to workflow context); list_workflows pagination cannot be trusted to bound output.

Full Structural Analysis Report

Executive Summary

Metric	Value
Sources Analyzed	11 (10 MCP tools + 1 injected context block)
Total Tokens (Today)	17,586
Average Usefulness Rating	3.55 / 5
Best Rated	list_discussions, get_file_contents, github_context — 5/5
Worst Rated	get_teams — 1/5 (403 under integration token)

Usefulness Ratings for Agentic Work

Tool	Toolset	Rating	Assessment
github_context	workflow_context	⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐	Zero-cost identity; the correct actor/repo source
list_discussions	discussions	⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐	Compact, paginated, embeds category+user
get_file_contents	repos	⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐	Clean resource envelope; size ∝ file
list_pull_requests	pull_requests	⭐⭐⭐⭐	Compact, embeds head/base + assignees
list_issues	issues	⭐⭐⭐⭐	Rich + actionable; full-body bloat
search_issues	search	⭐⭐⭐⭐	Powerful query; bodies inflate cost
list_workflows	actions	⭐⭐⭐	Clean data but pagination ignored
list_code_scanning_alerts	code_security	⭐⭐⭐	Graceful empty result; low signal now
get_label	labels	⭐⭐⭐	Complete but a lookup primitive
list_repository_collaborators	users	⭐⭐	Blocked by integrity policy
get_teams	context	⭐	403 Resource not accessible by integration

Schema Analysis

Tool	Type	Depth	Key Fields	Notes
github_context	markdown	1	actor, repository, workspace, workflow-run-id	Flat injected block
get_teams	error	1	content.text, isError	403 error envelope
get_file_contents	array	3	content.text, resource.text/uri/mimeType, sha	MCP resource envelope
list_issues	array	3	number, title, state, labels, assignees, user, body	Body-heavy
list_pull_requests	array	3	number, title, state, head, base, user, labels	Embeds refs+repo
list_workflows	object	3	total_count, workflows[].{id,name,path,state,html_url}	per_page ignored
list_code_scanning_alerts	array	1	(empty)	[] no open alerts
list_discussions	object	3	discussions[].{category,number,title,user,html_url}, pageInfo	Cursor pagination
get_label	object	1	name, color, description, id	Flat
list_repository_collaborators	filtered	1	integrity_policy_message	Data withheld
search_issues	array	3	number, title, state, labels, user, body, author_association	Body-heavy

Response Size Analysis

Toolset	Tokens	Tool Tested
repos	9,495	get_file_contents (README.md)
actions	3,880	list_workflows (329 returned)
search	1,900	search_issues
issues	1,613	list_issues
pull_requests	319	list_pull_requests
discussions	157	list_discussions
workflow_context	80	github_context
users	72	list_repository_collaborators
labels	40	get_label
context	29	get_teams
code_security	1	list_code_scanning_alerts

30-Day Trend Summary

Metric	Value
Data Points	154
Days Covered	16 (2026-06-15 → 2026-07-14)
Average Daily Tokens	9,164
Rating Trend	Stable (3.50 → 3.55)

Recommendations

• High-value tools (4–5): list_discussions, get_file_contents, list_pull_requests, list_issues, search_issues, plus the injected <github-context>.
• Needs improvement: list_workflows (honor per_page); get_teams/get_me (degrade gracefully or omit from read-only toolset); list_repository_collaborators (integrity-blocked).
• Context-efficient (low tokens, high rating): list_discussions (157 tok, 5/5), github_context (80 tok, 5/5), list_pull_requests (319 tok, 4/5).
• Context-heavy: get_file_contents on large files (9.5k), list_workflows (3.9k, avoidable), search_issues (1.9k).

Visualizations

Response Size by Toolset

Usefulness Ratings

Daily Token Trend

Size vs Usefulness

References: §29332024273

Warning

Firewall blocked 1 domain

The following domain was blocked by the firewall during workflow execution:

• awmgmcpg

To allow these domains, add them to the network.allowed list in your workflow frontmatter:

network:
  allowed:
    - defaults
    - "awmgmcpg"

See Network Configuration for more information.

Generated by 🔍 GitHub MCP Structural Analysis · 143.1 AIC · ⌖ 16.8 AIC · ⊞ 9.9K · ◷

• expires on Jul 15, 2026, 4:34 AM UTC-08:00