[mcp-analysis] MCP Structural Analysis - 2026-09-15

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Daily structural analysis of the GitHub MCP toolset (2026-09-15, 15 days of trend data since 2026-08-25). Today's standout: list_code_scanning_alerts spiked to 36,600 tokens — by far the largest single-call payload measured in 30 days — driven by 30 open critical/high alerts from a new scanner ("pr-action"/opengrep) whose ~1,600-char rule description is repeated verbatim per alert instance rather than deduplicated. Best-rated tools remain the zero-cost github_context block and the list_workflows mcpscripts wrapper (both 5/5); worst-rated today are list_issues (2/5, redacted item blocks visibility) and the code-scanning spike (2/5, technically complete but extremely token-inefficient).

Full Structural Analysis Report

Executive Summary

Metric	Value
Tools Analyzed (today)	10
Total Tokens (Today)	40,097
Average Usefulness Rating	3.5/5
Best Rated Tool	github_context / list_workflows: 5/5
Worst Rated Tool	list_issues / list_code_scanning_alerts: 2/5

Usefulness Ratings for Agentic Work

Tool	Toolset	Rating	Assessment
github_context	workflow_context	⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐	Excellent — zero-cost, always-present identity block
list_workflows	actions	⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐	Excellent — mcpscripts wrapper, clean schema, no bloat
get_file_contents	repos	⭐⭐⭐⭐	Good — fields-filtered directory listing stays cheap
list_pull_requests	pull_requests	⭐⭐⭐⭐	Good — flat, minimal, actionable with field selection
search_code	search	⭐⭐⭐⭐	Good — embeds matching fragment, but high call-to-call variance (rate-limited on 3 of 15 days)
list_discussions	discussions	⭐⭐⭐	Adequate — good pagination metadata, icon _meta overhead dominates small payload
get_label	labels	⭐⭐⭐	Adequate — tiny real payload buried in repeated icon _meta block
search_users	users	⭐⭐⭐	Adequate — minimal identity fields only, needs follow-up call for profile detail
list_issues	issues	⭐⭐	Limited — integrity-policy redaction has blocked one item on every single measured day (15/15)
list_code_scanning_alerts	code_security	⭐⭐	Limited today — complete but massively token-inefficient due to verbatim-repeated rule descriptions

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	array	1	name, path, size, type	Directory-listing mode with fields filter
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, no nesting when field-filtered
list_workflows	object	2	total_count, workflows[].id/name/path/state	mcpscripts wrapper, explicit pagination
list_code_scanning_alerts	array	3	number, rule.id, rule.full_description, rule.help, most_recent_instance.location	Rule-level text repeated per instance
list_discussions	object	3	discussions[].category.name, pageInfo.hasNextPage, totalCount	Nested category/user relationships
get_label	object	1	name, color, description, id	Tiny payload, fixed icon overhead
search_users	object	2	items[].login, items[].id, total_count	No name/bio, identity only
search_code	object	2	items[].path, items[].text_matches[].fragment	Includes matching snippet inline

Response Size Analysis

Toolset	Avg Tokens (30d)	Today's Tokens
code_security	4,908	36,600
repos	2,638	420
labels	864	610
discussions	693	700
users	617	630
search	601	775
actions	171	172
issues	98	65
pull_requests	96	40
workflow_context	92	85

Tool-by-Tool Analysis (today)

Tool	Toolset	Tokens	Schema	Rating	Notes
github_context	workflow_context	85	markdown	⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐	issue/PR/discussion numbers all false — this run wasn't triggered by one of those events
list_workflows	actions	172	object	⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐	total_count now 376 workflows in-repo, wrapper stays clean
search_code	search	775	object	⭐⭐⭐⭐	No rate-limit today; fragment included inline
get_file_contents	repos	420	array	⭐⭐⭐⭐	.github directory listing, 22 entries, fields-filtered
list_pull_requests	pull_requests	40	array	⭐⭐⭐⭐	Single Dependabot bump PR
list_discussions	discussions	700	object	⭐⭐⭐	Top result: automated "Typist" audit discussion (this workflow's own family)
get_label	labels	610	object	⭐⭐⭐	Unchanged pattern since day 1
search_users	users	630	object	⭐⭐⭐	Unchanged pattern since day 1
list_issues	issues	65	array	⭐⭐	Issue #61121 redacted, empty otherwise
list_code_scanning_alerts	code_security	36,600	array	⭐⭐	30 alerts, only 3 unique rule IDs, ~1,600-char description repeated per instance

30-Day Trend Summary

Metric	Value
Data Points	150
Days Covered	15 (2026-08-25 → 2026-09-15)
Average Daily Total Tokens	10,777
Rating Trend	Stable for most toolsets; code_security usefulness declining as alert-volume and per-instance verbosity grow

Recommendations

• High-value tools (5/5): github_context (free) and list_workflows via the mcpscripts wrapper — use these as the template for what a well-designed MCP response looks like (flat, explicit pagination, no icon bloat).
• Tools needing improvement: list_code_scanning_alerts returns rule-level boilerplate (full_description/help, ~1,600 chars) repeated verbatim for every alert instance instead of being deduplicated by rule.id — for the 30 alerts seen today (only 3 unique rules) this alone accounts for the bulk of the 36,600-token payload. list_issues continues to have one item redacted by integrity policy on every single day measured (15/15), which is a recurring, unresolved visibility gap rather than a one-off.
• Context-efficient tools (low tokens, high rating): github_context, list_workflows, list_pull_requests, get_file_contents (when using fields + directory-listing mode).
• Context-heavy tools: list_code_scanning_alerts (today's outlier at 36,600 tokens vs a 30-day average of 4,908), and raw (non-fields-filtered) get_file_contents calls against auto-growing files like README.md (11,900 tokens on 2026-09-14).

Visualizations

Response Size by Toolset

Usefulness Ratings

Daily Token Trend

Size vs Usefulness

Warning

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

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Generated by 🔍 GitHub MCP Structural Analysis · claude · agent · 156.4 AIC · ⌖ 9.24 AIC · ⊞ 11.5K · ◷

• expires on Sep 16, 2026, 4:03 AM UTC-08:00

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This discussion was automatically closed because it expired on 2026-09-16T12:03:43.343Z.

Closed by Workflow