Tools

Commands for managing MCP tools per server.

tools

List all servers with tool counts.

mcpsm tools [options]

Options

Option	Description
--json	Output in JSON format

Example

mcpsm tools

Output

Server Tools:

  filesystem     11/11 tools enabled   4,200 tokens
  github         6/8 tools enabled     3,100 tokens
  postgres       ? tools not discovered

---

tools <server>

List tools for a specific server.

mcpsm tools <server> [options]

Options

Option	Description
--json	Output in JSON format
-a, --all	Show all tools (including disabled)

Examples

# Show enabled tools
mcpsm tools filesystem

# Show all tools
mcpsm tools filesystem --all

Output

Tools for filesystem (11/11 enabled):

  ✔ read_file           Read file contents         380 tokens
  ✔ write_file          Write content to file      420 tokens
  ✔ list_directory      List directory contents    350 tokens
  ✔ create_directory    Create a new directory     280 tokens
  ...

Tools that the server annotates are tagged [read-only], [destructive] and [idempotent]. Tools without annotations get no tag. The annotations are saved by tools discover, so run it again for servers discovered before this feature. --json includes kind (read-only, destructive or unclassified) and the raw annotations for each tool.

---

tools discover

Discover available tools from a server.

mcpsm tools discover <server>

Example

mcpsm tools discover filesystem

This:

1. Starts the server
2. Queries available tools
3. Calculates token counts
4. Saves to tool filters

---

tools enable

Enable tool(s) for a server.

mcpsm tools enable <server> [tool] [options]

Options

Option	Description
--all	Enable all tools
--read-only	Enable all read-only tools
--destructive	Enable all destructive tools

Examples

# Enable specific tool
mcpsm tools enable filesystem write_file

# Enable all tools
mcpsm tools enable filesystem --all

# Enable every read-only tool
mcpsm tools enable filesystem --read-only

---

tools disable

Disable tool(s) for a server.

mcpsm tools disable <server> <tool> [options]

Options

Option	Description
--all	Disable all tools
--read-only	Disable all read-only tools
--destructive	Disable all destructive tools

Examples

# Disable specific tool
mcpsm tools disable filesystem delete_file

# Disable all tools
mcpsm tools disable filesystem --all

# Disable every destructive tool
mcpsm tools disable filesystem --destructive

---

Token Counting

Each tool has an estimated token count based on:

• Tool name and description
• Parameter schemas
• Return type definitions

This helps you understand context usage before enabling tools.

# View detailed token info
mcpsm tokens --detailed

---

Example: Minimize Context Usage

# See all tools
mcpsm tools filesystem --all

# Disable tools you don't need
mcpsm tools disable filesystem delete_file
mcpsm tools disable filesystem move_file

# Verify token savings
mcpsm tokens

---

Tool Filtering in TUI

Press T in the main menu to configure tools for the selected server:

Tool Filters for filesystem:

  [x] read_file           380 tokens
  [x] write_file          420 tokens
  [x] list_directory      350 tokens
  [ ] delete_file         300 tokens
  [ ] move_file           320 tokens

  SPACE: Toggle  |  A: All  |  N: None  |  ESC: Back