0.45.0 — publish the context-window cost, and shrink it

CHANGELOG.md

@@ -2,6 +2,37 @@
 
 All notable changes to BlockRun MCP will be documented in this file.
 
+## 0.45.0
+
+**Every tool schema got smaller, and the README now tells you by how much.**
+Installing an MCP server spends your context on every turn — the client loads
+each tool's schema into the model's prompt and re-sends it for the whole
+session, whether or not you ever call the tools. Package managers have shown
+install size for thirty years; almost no MCP server shows this. Now ours does:
+a `🧮 12.9K Context Tokens` badge, and a table of what each profile costs at
+the point where you are already choosing one. `--profile trading` is **57% less
+context** than the default for the same trading workflow — already true, never
+stated. The harness that produces the number ships too:
+`npm run measure:schema`, and `-- <cmd>` points it at any other stdio MCP
+server, so the claim is checkable by anyone against anyone.
+`test/schema-tokens.test.ts` fails the build when the README disagrees with the
+live server, asserting the published figure rather than a raw count so wording
+edits do not break CI but a real regression does.
+
+Alongside it, 300 of those tokens are simply gone. The SDK's zod→JSON-Schema
+conversion stamps `"$schema": "http://json-schema.org/draft-07/schema#"` onto
+every tool's `inputSchema` — 15 tokens each, on all 20 tools, that no code path
+in the reference SDK ever reads and that its bundled validator never receives.
+It is not our string and the SDK exposes no way to suppress it, so
+`stripJsonSchemaDialect()` wraps the `tools/list` handler through the public
+`setRequestHandler`. It is never load-bearing: if a future SDK stops routing
+that way the wrapper stops matching and the header simply returns.
+
+Honest about the rest: 54% of what remains is tool *descriptions*, not schemas,
+and that work is not done. Numbers are `o200k_base`, a proxy — Claude's
+tokenizer is not public and runs higher on JSON — so every figure published is
+a slight under-count, never an over-count.
+
 ## 0.44.0
 
 **Two MCP Apps: a Polymarket order card and a wallet panel.** Hosts that

README.md

@@ -12,6 +12,7 @@ Agents can only sign transactions.<br><br>
 <br>
 
 <img src="https://img.shields.io/badge/🧰_20_Tools-success?style=for-the-badge" alt="20 tools">&nbsp;
+<img src="https://img.shields.io/badge/🧮_12.9K_Context_Tokens-5B9BF6?style=for-the-badge" alt="12.9K context tokens">&nbsp;
 <img src="https://img.shields.io/badge/🤖_Agent--Native-black?style=for-the-badge" alt="Agent native">&nbsp;
 <img src="https://img.shields.io/badge/🔑_Zero_API_Keys-blue?style=for-the-badge" alt="No API keys">&nbsp;
 <img src="https://img.shields.io/badge/📈_Read_+_Trade_Polymarket-e11d48?style=for-the-badge" alt="Read and trade Polymarket">&nbsp;
@@ -173,6 +174,49 @@ codex mcp add blockrun-trading -- npx -y @blockrun/mcp@latest --profile trading
 ```
 
 An unknown profile name falls back to `full`. `modal` and `phone` are `full`-profile only.
+
+#### What each profile costs your context
+
+Installing an MCP server spends context on **every turn**, whether or not you call the tools —
+the client loads each tool's schema into the model's prompt and re-sends it for the whole session.
+Package managers have shown install size for decades. Almost no MCP server shows this. Ours:
+
+| Profile | Tools | Context |
+|---------|-------|---------|
+| `full` *(default)* | 20 | 12,900 |
+| `trading` | 9 | 5,554 |
+| `media` | 7 | 5,436 |
+| `research` | 6 | 3,024 |
+| `chat` | 3 | 1,924 |
+
+Running `--profile trading` instead of the default costs **57% less context** for the same trading
+workflow. If you only ever ask about markets, that is the single cheapest change you can make.
+
+Measure it yourself — against us, or against any other stdio MCP server:
+
+```bash
+npm i gpt-tokenizer
+node scripts/measure-tool-schema.mjs                     # this server, every profile
+node scripts/measure-tool-schema.mjs -- npx -y @some/other-mcp-server
+```
+
+<details>
+<summary>How the number is computed, and why it is a slight under-count</summary>
+
+It counts the **model-visible projection** — `{name, description, input_schema}` per tool, with the
+`mcp__blockrun__` prefix the host prepends — because that is what lands in the API `tools` array.
+It excludes `annotations`, `_meta` and `outputSchema`, which the host consumes and never forwards
+to the model (a further ~3.7% on the wire).
+
+The tokenizer is `o200k_base`. Claude's tokenizer is not public and runs a few percent higher on
+JSON, so **every figure here is a slight under-count**, never an over-count.
+
+Two caveats worth stating plainly. Tool schemas sit at the front of the prompt and are covered by
+prompt caching, so after the first turn they re-send at cache-read rates — the *context-window*
+cost is 100% every turn, the *dollar* cost is roughly a tenth of that. And 54% of our own cost is
+tool **descriptions**, not schemas, which is where the remaining work is.
+
+</details>
 For a complete live signal → order-preview presentation, use
 [`skills/signal-to-trade-demo/SKILL.md`](skills/signal-to-trade-demo/SKILL.md)
 with the [Stanford runbook](docs/stanford-trading-demo.md).

package.json

@@ -1,6 +1,6 @@
 {
   "name": "@blockrun/mcp",
-  "version": "0.44.0",
+  "version": "0.45.0",
   "mcpName": "io.github.BlockRunAI/blockrun-mcp",
   "description": "BlockRun MCP Server - Give your AI agent web search, deep research, prediction markets, and crypto data. Paid via x402 micropayments.",
   "type": "module",
@@ -23,6 +23,7 @@
     "test": "tsx --experimental-test-module-mocks --test test/*.test.ts",
     "prepublishOnly": "npm run build",
     "verify:prices": "tsx scripts/verify-prices.ts",
+    "measure:schema": "node scripts/measure-tool-schema.mjs",
     "e2e:polymarket:readonly": "tsx scripts/polymarket-e2e-readonly.ts",
     "e2e:polymarket:approvals": "tsx scripts/polymarket-e2e-verify-approvals.ts",
     "e2e:polymarket:approve": "tsx scripts/polymarket-e2e-approve.ts",
@@ -86,6 +87,7 @@
     "@modelcontextprotocol/ext-apps": "^1.7.5",
     "@types/node": "^20.0.0",
     "@types/qrcode": "^1.5.6",
+    "gpt-tokenizer": "^4.0.0",
     "tsup": "^8.0.0",
     "tsx": "^4.0.0",
     "typescript": "^5.0.0",

scripts/measure-tool-schema.mjs

@@ -0,0 +1,160 @@
+#!/usr/bin/env node
+/**
+ * Measure what an MCP server costs a model's context window.
+ *
+ * Installing an MCP server puts every tool's schema into the model's prompt,
+ * on every turn, whether or not the tools are ever called. Package managers
+ * have shown install size for decades; nothing shows this. So: measure it.
+ *
+ *   node scripts/measure-tool-schema.mjs                     this repo, every profile
+ *   node scripts/measure-tool-schema.mjs --json              machine-readable
+ *   node scripts/measure-tool-schema.mjs -- npx -y @foo/bar  ANY stdio MCP server
+ *
+ * Requires `gpt-tokenizer` (a devDependency here; `npm i gpt-tokenizer` elsewhere).
+ *
+ * WHAT IS COUNTED: the model-visible projection — `{name, description,
+ * input_schema}` per tool, with the host's name prefix — because that is what
+ * lands in the API `tools` array. Not counted: `annotations`, `_meta` and
+ * `outputSchema`, which the host consumes and does not forward to the model.
+ * On this server that wire overhead is a further ~3.7%.
+ *
+ * TWO WAYS TO GET THIS WRONG, both of which cost us a retraction:
+ *
+ *   1. Reading your own source instead of the wire. The schema the model
+ *      receives is GENERATED — the SDK adds fields your source never mentions.
+ *      Always measure a live `tools/list`.
+ *   2. Re-encoding before counting. `JSON.stringify` is correct because it
+ *      leaves non-ASCII alone. Python's `json.dumps` defaults to
+ *      `ensure_ascii=True`, which turns every em-dash into `\uXXXX` — six
+ *      characters where the model sees one glyph. That inflated our first
+ *      numbers by 4.4%. If your count disagrees with a colleague's while your
+ *      DESCRIPTION totals match to the token, this is why.
+ *
+ * The tokenizer is o200k_base. Claude's tokenizer is not public and runs a few
+ * percent higher on JSON, so every number here is a slight UNDER-count.
+ */
+import { spawn } from "node:child_process";
+import { fileURLToPath, pathToFileURL } from "node:url";
+import { encode } from "gpt-tokenizer/encoding/o200k_base";
+
+const argv = process.argv.slice(2);
+const sep = argv.indexOf("--");
+const userCmd = sep === -1 ? [] : argv.slice(sep + 1);
+const flags = new Set(sep === -1 ? argv : argv.slice(0, sep));
+const asJson = flags.has("--json");
+
+const SERVER = fileURLToPath(new URL("../dist/index.js", import.meta.url));
+// Only this repo's own server has profiles to sweep; a foreign server is one run.
+const PROFILES = userCmd.length ? [null] : ["full", "media", "trading", "research", "chat"];
+const PREFIX = process.env.MCP_PREFIX ?? (userCmd.length ? "" : "mcp__blockrun__");
+
+/** One MCP handshake over stdio. Returns the tools array verbatim. */
+function listTools(cmd) {
+  return new Promise((resolve, reject) => {
+    const child = spawn(cmd[0], cmd.slice(1), { stdio: ["pipe", "pipe", "ignore"] });
+    const pending = new Map();
+    let buf = "";
+    let id = 0;
+
+    const send = (m) => child.stdin.write(`${JSON.stringify(m)}\n`);
+    const rpc = (method, params) =>
+      new Promise((res) => {
+        pending.set(++id, res);
+        send({ jsonrpc: "2.0", id, method, params });
+      });
+
+    child.on("error", reject);
+    const timer = setTimeout(() => {
+      child.kill();
+      reject(new Error(`timed out waiting for ${cmd.join(" ")}`));
+    }, 60_000);
+
+    child.stdout.on("data", (chunk) => {
+      buf += chunk;
+      let i;
+      while ((i = buf.indexOf("\n")) !== -1) {
+        const line = buf.slice(0, i).trim();
+        buf = buf.slice(i + 1);
+        if (!line) continue;
+        let msg;
+        try { msg = JSON.parse(line); } catch { continue; }
+        const done = pending.get(msg.id);
+        if (done) { pending.delete(msg.id); done(msg); }
+      }
+    });
+
+    (async () => {
+      await rpc("initialize", {
+        protocolVersion: "2025-06-18",
+        capabilities: {},
+        clientInfo: { name: "measure-tool-schema", version: "1.0.0" },
+      });
+      send({ jsonrpc: "2.0", method: "notifications/initialized" });
+      const { result } = await rpc("tools/list", {});
+      clearTimeout(timer);
+      child.kill();
+      resolve(result?.tools ?? []);
+    })().catch(reject);
+  });
+}
+
+/** The projection the model actually receives, tokenized. */
+export function measure(tools, prefix = "") {
+  const rows = tools.map((t) => {
+    const schema = t.inputSchema ?? {};
+    const description = t.description ?? "";
+    return {
+      tool: t.name,
+      tokens: encode(JSON.stringify({
+        name: prefix + t.name,
+        description,
+        input_schema: schema,
+      })).length,
+      description: encode(description).length,
+      schema: encode(JSON.stringify(schema)).length,
+    };
+  });
+  rows.sort((a, b) => b.tokens - a.tokens);
+  const total = rows.reduce((n, r) => n + r.tokens, 0);
+  return {
+    tools: rows.length,
+    total,
+    descriptions: rows.reduce((n, r) => n + r.description, 0),
+    schemas: rows.reduce((n, r) => n + r.schema, 0),
+    perTool: rows.length ? Math.round(total / rows.length) : 0,
+    rows,
+  };
+}
+
+/** 12900 -> "12.9K". The form the README badge publishes. */
+export const asK = (n) => `${(Math.round(n / 100) / 10).toFixed(1)}K`;
+
+// Importable: test/schema-tokens.test.ts reuses measure()/asK() to pin the
+// published number, so the CLI half must not run on import.
+const isCli = process.argv[1] && import.meta.url === pathToFileURL(process.argv[1]).href;
+if (!isCli) { /* library use */ } else await main();
+
+async function main() {
+const results = {};
+for (const profile of PROFILES) {
+  const cmd = userCmd.length
+    ? userCmd
+    : ["node", SERVER, ...(profile && profile !== "full" ? ["--profile", profile] : [])];
+  results[profile ?? userCmd.join(" ")] = measure(await listTools(cmd), PREFIX);
+}
+
+if (asJson) {
+  console.log(JSON.stringify(results, null, 2));
+} else {
+  const [headline] = Object.values(results);
+  for (const [name, r] of Object.entries(results)) {
+    const pct = (n) => `${((n / r.total) * 100).toFixed(1)}%`;
+    console.log(
+      `\n${name} — ${r.total.toLocaleString()} tokens across ${r.tools} tools ` +
+      `(${r.perTool}/tool · descriptions ${pct(r.descriptions)} · schemas ${pct(r.schemas)})`,
+    );
+    if (name === "full" || PROFILES.length === 1) console.table(r.rows);
+  }
+  console.log(`\nbadge: ${asK(headline.total)}`);
+}
+}

test/schema-tokens.test.ts

@@ -0,0 +1,87 @@
+// Run with: npm test  (tsx --test)
+//
+// Pins the context-window cost this repo publishes.
+//
+// Installing an MCP server spends the user's context on every turn, whether or
+// not the tools are called. We put that number on the README the way a package
+// manager puts install size on a download — which only means anything if it
+// cannot quietly go stale.
+//
+// So this measures the live server and fails HERE, in the repo that can fix it,
+// rather than letting the badge make a claim that stopped being true three
+// description edits ago.
+//
+// The assertion is on the PUBLISHED form ("12.9K"), not the raw token count.
+// Pinning 12,900 exactly would fail CI on every wording tweak; pinning the
+// rounded figure fails exactly when the published claim becomes wrong.
+//
+// When it fails: run `npm run measure:schema`, confirm the change is intended,
+// and update the README badge and the profile table to what it prints.
+import { test } from "node:test";
+import assert from "node:assert/strict";
+import { readFileSync } from "node:fs";
+import { McpServer } from "@modelcontextprotocol/sdk/server/mcp.js";
+import { Client } from "@modelcontextprotocol/sdk/client/index.js";
+import { InMemoryTransport } from "@modelcontextprotocol/sdk/inMemory.js";
+import { initializeMcpServer } from "../src/mcp-handler.js";
+// @ts-expect-error -- plain .mjs, no types; measure()/asK() are the contract.
+import { measure, asK } from "../scripts/measure-tool-schema.mjs";
+
+const README = readFileSync(new URL("../README.md", import.meta.url), "utf8");
+const PREFIX = "mcp__blockrun__";
+
+/** Same projection the CLI harness measures, over an in-process handshake. */
+async function measureProfile(profile: string) {
+  const server = new McpServer({ name: "test", version: "0.0.0" });
+  initializeMcpServer(server, { argv: ["--profile", profile], env: {} });
+  const [clientSide, serverSide] = InMemoryTransport.createLinkedPair();
+  const client = new Client({ name: "test-client", version: "0.0.0" });
+  await Promise.all([server.connect(serverSide), client.connect(clientSide)]);
+  const { tools } = await client.listTools();
+  await client.close();
+  return measure(tools, PREFIX) as {
+    tools: number; total: number; descriptions: number; perTool: number;
+  };
+}
+
+test("the README badge states the measured context cost", async () => {
+  const full = await measureProfile("full");
+  const shown = asK(full.total) as string;
+  assert.ok(
+    README.includes(`badge/🧮_${shown}_Context_Tokens`),
+    `badge URL should show ${shown} (measured ${full.total} tokens)`,
+  );
+  assert.ok(README.includes(`alt="${shown} context tokens"`), "badge alt text");
+});
+
+test("the profile table states each profile's measured cost", async () => {
+  // Every row is a public claim; a trimmed profile that quietly grew would
+  // otherwise keep advertising a saving it no longer delivers.
+  for (const profile of ["full", "media", "trading", "research", "chat"]) {
+    const { total, tools } = await measureProfile(profile);
+    // Tolerant of row decoration (`full` carries a *(default)* marker), strict
+    // on both numbers — the decoration is prose, the numbers are the claim.
+    const row = new RegExp(
+      `\\| \`${profile}\`[^|]*\\| ${tools} \\| ${total.toLocaleString()} \\|`,
+    );
+    assert.match(README, row,
+      `README row for ${profile} should read ${tools} tools / ${total.toLocaleString()} tokens`);
+  }
+});
+
+test("the advertised profile saving is the one measured", async () => {
+  const full = await measureProfile("full");
+  const trading = await measureProfile("trading");
+  const cut = Math.round((1 - trading.total / full.total) * 100);
+  assert.ok(README.includes(`${cut}% less context`), `saving should read ${cut}%`);
+});
+
+test("descriptions are the majority of the cost, which is why the table ranks them", async () => {
+  // Not decoration: it is the finding the whole measurement exists to surface,
+  // and if schemas ever overtake descriptions the README's advice is wrong.
+  const full = await measureProfile("full");
+  assert.ok(
+    full.descriptions > full.total / 2,
+    `descriptions ${full.descriptions} should exceed half of ${full.total}`,
+  );
+});