[mcp-analysis] MCP Structural Analysis - 2026-08-27

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Analysis date: 2026-08-27 · Repo: github/gh-aw · Run: 33088030398

Tested 10 representative GitHub MCP tools/toolsets today (3,135 tokens total, avg usefulness 3.6/5). Best: github_context / list_workflows (mcpscripts wrapper) at 5/5. Worst: list_issues at 2/5, hurt by a third straight day of an integrity-policy redaction hiding a matching issue with zero visible content. The dominant structural pattern across non-wrapper GitHub MCP tools remains a fixed ~2.8k-char base64 icon block in _meta.serverInfo that inflates every call regardless of payload size — wrapper tools (mcpscripts) avoid this entirely and consistently score highest.

Full Structural Analysis Report

Executive Summary

Metric	Value
Tools Analyzed	10
Total Tokens (Today)	3,135
Average Usefulness Rating	3.6/5
Best Rated Tool	github_context / list_workflows: 5/5
Worst Rated Tool	list_issues: 2/5

Usefulness Ratings for Agentic Work

Tool	Toolset	Rating	Assessment
github_context	workflow_context	⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐	Excellent — zero-cost, immediately actionable identity block
list_workflows (mcpscripts)	actions	⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐	Excellent — clean JSON, explicit pagination, no bloat
list_pull_requests	pull_requests	⭐⭐⭐⭐	Good — flat, minimal, directly actionable
list_code_scanning_alerts	code_security	⭐⭐⭐⭐	Good when empty/populated; well-known actionable schema
search_code	search	⭐⭐⭐⭐	Good — today's fragment included an actual code snippet
get_file_contents	repos	⭐⭐⭐	Adequate — targeted small file avoided bloat, but icon overhead dominates
list_discussions	discussions	⭐⭐⭐	Adequate — good relationships/pagination, icon overhead dominates
get_label	labels	⭐⭐⭐	Adequate — tiny payload, overhead-dominated
search_users	users	⭐⭐⭐	Adequate — minimal identity fields, needs follow-up call
list_issues	issues	⭐⭐	Limited — redacted item hides content from the agent

Schema Analysis

Tool	Type	Depth	Key Fields	Notes
github_context	markdown	1	actor, repository, workspace, workflow-run-id	Prompt-injected, no MCP call
get_file_contents	object	3	content.resource.text, _meta.serverInfo	Small file avoided contributor-list bloat seen on 08-25
list_issues	array	2	number, title, state, labels	One item redacted by integrity policy
list_pull_requests	array	1	number, title, state, html_url	Flat, field-selected
list_workflows (mcpscripts)	object	2	total_count, per_page, workflows[].id/name/path/state	Best-in-class, no icon bloat
list_code_scanning_alerts	array	1	(empty today)	High variance — 6 alerts on 08-26, 0 today
list_discussions	object	3	discussions[].category/html_url/title/user, pageInfo, totalCount	Rich relationships, icon-block overhead
get_label	object	1	name, color, description, id	Tiny payload, overhead-dominated
search_users	object	2	items[].login/id/profile_url/avatar_url	Identity-only, no profile detail
search_code	object	2	items[].name/path/text_matches[].fragment	Fragment gave an actionable code snippet today

Response Size Analysis (3-day average)

Toolset	Avg Tokens	Tools Tested
repos	2,557	3
labels	1,090	2
code_security	707	3
discussions	667	3
search	550	3
users	542	3
actions	183	3
workflow_context	107	3
issues	58	3
pull_requests	37	3

Tool-by-Tool Analysis (Today)

Tool	Toolset	Tokens	Schema	Rating	Notes
github_context	workflow_context	90	markdown	⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐	Zero-cost identity block
get_file_contents	repos	720	object	⭐⭐⭐	.gitignore targeted; icon overhead > content
list_issues	issues	70	array	⭐⭐	Redacted item, 3rd day running
list_pull_requests	pull_requests	35	array	⭐⭐⭐⭐	Tiny, flat, actionable
list_workflows	actions	180	object	⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐	mcpscripts wrapper, clean pagination
list_code_scanning_alerts	code_security	10	array	⭐⭐⭐⭐	Empty today, unambiguous
list_discussions	discussions	700	object	⭐⭐⭐	Good relationships, icon overhead
get_label	labels	430	object	⭐⭐⭐	Tiny payload, overhead-dominated
search_users	users	420	object	⭐⭐⭐	Identity-only fields
search_code	search	480	object	⭐⭐⭐⭐	Fragment included usable code snippet

30-Day Trend Summary

Metric	Value
Data Points	30 (3 days × 10 tools)
Average Daily Tokens	6,497
Average Rating Trend	Stable (3.6 → 3.7 → 3.6)

Recommendations

• High-value tools (rating 4-5): github_context (prompt-injected, free), list_workflows via the mcpscripts wrapper, list_pull_requests, list_code_scanning_alerts, search_code (when fragments are returned)
• Tools needing improvement: list_issues — the integrity-policy redaction has now hidden a matching issue for 3 consecutive days with zero visible content, which is a real gap for agentic triage workflows relying on this tool
• Context-efficient tools (low tokens, high rating): list_pull_requests (35 tokens, ⭐⭐⭐⭐), list_code_scanning_alerts (10 tokens, ⭐⭐⭐⭐), list_workflows mcpscripts wrapper (180 tokens, ⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐)
• Context-heavy tools: get_file_contents on full README fetches (6,000 tokens on 08-25) — prefer directory listings with fields filtering or targeting a specific small file, as done today
• Structural observation: every non-wrapper GitHub MCP tool call carries a fixed ~2.8k-char base64 icon block in _meta.serverInfo, which dominates payload size for small responses (get_label, search_users, list_discussions). Wrapper tools built on mcpscripts avoid this and should be preferred where available.

Visualizations

Response Size by Toolset

Usefulness Ratings

Daily Token Trend

Size vs Usefulness

Generated by 🔍 GitHub MCP Structural Analysis · claude · agent · 90.3 AIC · ⌖ 10.1 AIC · ⊞ 11.5K · ◷

• expires on Aug 28, 2026, 7:41 AM UTC-08:00

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This discussion has been marked as outdated by GitHub MCP Structural Analysis.

A newer discussion is available at Discussion #56642.