[mcp-analysis] MCP Structural Analysis - 2026-05-15

[github-actions[bot]]

Overview

Analyzed 12 GitHub MCP tools across 10 toolsets for response size, schema structure, and usefulness in agentic workflows.

Headline Findings

Metric	Value
Tools analyzed	12
Toolsets covered	10
Total tokens (today)	~6,295
Average usefulness rating	3.50 / 5
Best rated	get_file_contents, list_pull_requests, search_repositories (⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐)
Worst rated	get_me (⭐ — 403 in this environment)
Biggest context offenders	list_workflows (~2,200 tok), list_label (~2,125 tok)

Key insight: Pagination is inconsistent. list_workflows and list_label ignored perPage=1 / had no perPage support and returned the entire collection (296 workflows, 534 labels) — a large hidden context cost that agents should anticipate.

Critical Issues

• get_me returns 403 Resource not accessible by integration under the workflow's installation token — agents that depend on identity discovery will fail silently.
• list_label has no perPage parameter and dumps all repository labels regardless of need. Use get_label when only one is needed.
• list_workflows returns the entire workflow set even when per_page=1 is supplied.

Full Structural Analysis Report

Usefulness Ratings for Agentic Work

Tool	Toolset	Rating	Assessment
get_file_contents	repos	⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐	Returns text + SHA + URI. Clean, immediately actionable.
list_pull_requests	pull_requests	⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐	Rich PR object with nested base/head/user, html_url, draft state.
search_repositories	search	⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐	Minimal-output mode is compact; topics/stars/language present.
list_code_scanning_alerts	code_security	⭐⭐⭐⭐	Filterable, predictable, lean.
list_discussions	discussions	⭐⭐⭐⭐	totalCount + cursor pagination — designed for agents.
list_branches	repos	⭐⭐⭐⭐	Lean; respects perPage. Missing last-commit metadata.
list_commits	repos	⭐⭐⭐⭐	Rich author info, but duplicated under author and commit.author.
list_issues	issues	⭐⭐⭐	Rich schema, but result here was filtered by integrity policy.
list_tags	repos	⭐⭐⭐	Just name + sha; needs get_tag for date/message.
list_workflows	actions	⭐⭐	Ignores per_page=1; bloats context.
list_label	labels	⭐⭐	No perPage; returns all labels every time.
get_me	context	⭐	403 in this workflow context.

Schema Analysis

Tool	Type	Depth	Key Fields	Notes
get_file_contents	resource	3	text, mimeType, uri, sha	MCP resource envelope; binary-safe.
list_pull_requests	array	4	number, title, state, draft, base, head, user, body	Most deeply nested response observed.
search_repositories	array	2	full_name, stargazers_count, topics, language	Flat, scannable.
list_code_scanning_alerts	array	1	(empty here)	Predictable shape.
list_discussions	object	3	discussions[], pageInfo, totalCount	Cursor pagination via endCursor.
list_branches	array	1	name, sha, protected	Trivial schema.
list_commits	array	4	sha, commit.message, commit.author, author.login	Duplicate author info.
list_issues	array	3	number, title, state, labels, assignees, body	Standard.
list_tags	array	1	name, sha	Minimal.
list_workflows	object	3	id, name, path, state, url, badge_url	node_id and badge_url rarely needed.
list_label	object	2	labels[].name, color, description, id	All 534 returned.
get_me	error	2	error_message	Failure path.

Response Size by Toolset (today)

Toolset	Tokens (est.)	Tools tested
actions	~2,200	list_workflows
labels	~2,125	list_label
repos	~1,300 (avg ~330)	get_file_contents, list_branches, list_commits, list_tags
pull_requests	~295	list_pull_requests
search	~130	search_repositories
discussions	~115	list_discussions
issues	~60	list_issues
context	~28	get_me
code_security	~10	list_code_scanning_alerts

30-Day Trend

Metric	Value
Data points	12 (first day of tracking)
Average daily tokens	~6,295
Rating trend	baseline established

Recommendations

• High-value tools (⭐⭐⭐⭐+): get_file_contents, list_pull_requests, search_repositories, list_code_scanning_alerts, list_discussions, list_branches, list_commits. Use these as the default for agentic GitHub workflows.
• Tools needing improvement:
  • list_workflows — honor per_page; trim node_id/badge_url from default response.
  • list_label — add perPage support; default to small page sizes.
  • get_me — surface installation-token limitations earlier with a clearer error.
• Context-efficient (low tokens, high rating): list_code_scanning_alerts, list_branches, list_discussions, search_repositories.
• Context-heavy — avoid until needed: list_workflows, list_label.
• Use minimal-output flags whenever offered (e.g. search_repositories minimal_output: true) — they materially reduce token cost.

Visualizations

Response Size by Toolset

Usefulness Ratings

Daily Token Trend

Size vs Usefulness

References:

• §25917686882

Note

🔒 Integrity filter blocked 1 item

The following item was blocked because it doesn't meet the GitHub integrity level.

• Generated *.lock.yml files quote the top-level on: key #32354 list_issues: has lower integrity than agent requires. The agent cannot read data with integrity below "approved".

To allow these resources, lower min-integrity in your GitHub frontmatter:

tools:
  github:
    min-integrity: approved  # merged | approved | unapproved | none

Generated by 🔍 GitHub MCP Structural Analysis · ● 9.4M · ◷

• expires on May 16, 2026, 12:33 PM UTC

[github-actions[bot]]

💥 KA-POW! 🦸♀️ The Smoke Test Squad just WHOOSHED through this discussion! 🌪️

⚡ ZAP! All systems nominal! 💪
🎉 BOOM! Claude engine — nominal!
🚀 ZOOM! Run §25918800860 — over and out!

...and that's another one for the smoke-test scrapbook! 📚✨

Warning

Firewall blocked 6 domains

The following domains were blocked by the firewall during workflow execution:

• accounts.google.com
• android.clients.google.com
• clients2.google.com
• contentautofill.googleapis.com
• safebrowsingohttpgateway.googleapis.com
• www.google.com

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

network:
  allowed:
    - defaults
    - "accounts.google.com"
    - "android.clients.google.com"
    - "clients2.google.com"
    - "contentautofill.googleapis.com"
    - "safebrowsingohttpgateway.googleapis.com"
    - "www.google.com"

See Network Configuration for more information.

💥 [THE END] — Illustrated by Smoke Claude · ● 4M · ◷