// MCP TOKEN COST

The Tanod MCP server costs 140,570 tokens before the first call.

Every request your agent makes carries every tool definition this server exposes — context your code, documents and conversation can't use, mostly for tools the agent never calls. You don't need them all in the window, and you don't have to pay for them.

QUICK ANSWER The Tanod MCP server's 308 tool definitions consume 140,570 tokens — 70% of a 200k context window, and 81× the median MCP server (1,746 tokens). A scoped grant exposing only the tools you use cuts that roughly in proportion.

MEASURED FROM SCHEMAS tiktoken o200k_base · rank #15 of 15,192 measured servers · refreshed every build Method →

// CONTEXT WINDOW SHARE

What that costs before your agent starts working.

Tool definitions are overhead: they occupy context on every request and compete with your code, documents and conversation history for the same window.

200K WINDOW 70%

1M WINDOW 14%

Corpus context: Tanod ranks #15 of 15,192 measured MCP servers by definition cost. The median is 1,746 tokens, p90 is 12,772, and the heaviest (AstroWay Astrology API (full catalogue)) is 547,756 — 274% of a 200k window on its own. New to this? See MCP token cost and context window in the glossary.

Token cost is one axis. See the risk picture across your whole stack →

// PER-TOOL BREAKDOWN

Where the 140,570 tokens go.

Each row is one tool definition as a tools/list entry — name, description and input schema — counted with o200k_base. Average: 456 tokens per tool.

Tool	Category	Tokens	% of server
get_gpu_prices	Read	1,209	0.9%
fetch_page_contents	Read	1,177	0.8%
build_ics_event	Execute	1,165	0.8%
image_resize	Write	1,037	0.7%
translate_speech	Read	1,004	0.7%
image_watermark	Write	973	0.7%
pdf_redact	Read	970	0.7%
build_xlsx_workbook	Execute	945	0.7%
check_x402_endpoint_before_paying	Read	944	0.7%
pdf_watermark	Write	936	0.7%
image_crop	Execute	912	0.6%
image_compress	Read	903	0.6%
pdf_page_numbers	Write	886	0.6%
translate_document	Read	866	0.6%
pdf_resize	Write	849	0.6%
image_thumbnail	Read	830	0.6%
transcribe_audio	Execute	817	0.6%
embed_multimodal	Write	817	0.6%
build_pptx_deck	Execute	813	0.6%
count_or_add_business_days	Read	791	0.6%
text_to_speech	Write	761	0.5%
pdf_attachments	Write	758	0.5%
get_satellite_image	Read	755	0.5%
pdf_protect	Destructive	754	0.5%
pdf_crop	Write	749	0.5%
take_website_screenshot	Read	744	0.5%
create_readback_watch	Write	741	0.5%
image_rotate	Read	733	0.5%
check_address_poisoning	Read	731	0.5%
generate_agent_ready_files	Write	725	0.5%
transcribe_podcast_episode	Read	721	0.5%
pdf_pipeline	Destructive	718	0.5%
image_convert	Write	716	0.5%
lint_x402_listing	Read	714	0.5%
html_to_pdf	Execute	707	0.5%
preflight_mcp_listing	Read	707	0.5%
pdf_metadata	Write	706	0.5%
pdf_set_outline	Write	703	0.5%
generate_random	Write	700	0.5%
pdf_ocr	Read	694	0.5%
get_lending_yields	Read	693	0.5%
audit_token_approvals	Destructive	688	0.5%
chain_json_rpc	Read	680	0.5%
pdf_rasterize	Read	678	0.5%
convert_subtitles	Write	674	0.5%
convert_excel_to_json	Write	665	0.5%
pdf_fill_form	Write	665	0.5%
rank_funding_carry	Read	660	0.5%
image_favicon	Write	659	0.5%
convert_document_to_markdown	Write	657	0.5%
get_topic_trends_attention	Read	656	0.5%
find_places_nearby	Read	652	0.5%
pdf_to_images	Read	652	0.5%
verify_jwt	Read	648	0.5%
news_search	Read	627	0.4%
image_hash	Read	624	0.4%
convert_bank_statement	Write	623	0.4%
text_lines	Read	616	0.4%
hmac_sign_verify	Read	614	0.4%
images_to_pdf	Read	611	0.4%
scan_contract_source	Read	610	0.4%
fill_docx_template	Write	610	0.4%
get_erc20_transfers	Read	609	0.4%
get_event_logs	Read	609	0.4%
pdf_merge	Write	601	0.4%
pdf_split	Read	594	0.4%
pdf_compress	Read	591	0.4%
text_similarity	Read	587	0.4%
estimate_gas	Write	587	0.4%
extract_pdf_tables	Read	577	0.4%
analyze_agent_traffic	Read	575	0.4%
pre_trade_check	Read	574	0.4%
convert_office_to_pdf	Write	565	0.4%
search_datasets	Read	561	0.4%
convert_markdown_to_word	Write	560	0.4%
pdf_reorder_pages	Destructive	559	0.4%
expand_rrule	Execute	558	0.4%
x402_payment_status	Read	556	0.4%
export_gpu_price_history	Write	554	0.4%
get_event_contract_odds	Read	552	0.4%
satellite_passes	Execute	549	0.4%
embed_texts	Write	549	0.4%
scan_agent_package	Read	542	0.4%
x402_receipt_check	Read	542	0.4%
convert_pdf_to_word	Write	540	0.4%
image_strip_metadata	Read	536	0.4%
transfer_preflight	Financial	533	0.4%
get_portfolio	Read	531	0.4%
check_subtitle_delivery	Read	525	0.4%
get_live_fx_rates	Read	523	0.4%
text_frequency	Read	521	0.4%
pdf_extract_pages	Read	514	0.4%
pdf_rotate	Read	509	0.4%
check_wallet_drain	Read	507	0.4%
get_swap_quote	Read	502	0.4%
compare_documents	Read	500	0.4%
paper_digest	Read	499	0.4%
eth_call	Read	498	0.4%
text_replace	Write	497	0.4%
sec_financials	Execute	494	0.4%
pdf_flatten	Read	493	0.4%
get_dex_price_candles	Read	492	0.4%
lookup_phone_prefix	Read	492	0.4%
get_x402_repeat_demand	Read	488	0.3%
extract_pdf	Read	485	0.3%
get_dex_volume	Read	485	0.3%
pdf_redaction_check	Read	485	0.3%
read_qr_barcode	Read	485	0.3%
get_large_token_trades	Read	484	0.3%
render_mermaid	Execute	483	0.3%
get_protocol_tvl	Read	482	0.3%
pdf_unlock	Write	481	0.3%
image_dedupe	Read	479	0.3%
pdf_remove_pages	Destructive	476	0.3%
redact_pii	Read	475	0.3%
validate_identifier	Read	475	0.3%
vehicle_recalls	Read	475	0.3%
search_social_posts	Read	471	0.3%
benchmark_x402_price	Read	469	0.3%
lookup_barcode_product	Read	467	0.3%
extract_pdf_images	Read	466	0.3%
pdf_repair	Read	466	0.3%
translate_text	Read	466	0.3%
get_stablecoin_supply	Read	464	0.3%
scan_contract_address	Read	458	0.3%
get_large_solana_token_trades	Read	456	0.3%
query_agent_index	Read	453	0.3%
get_exchange_reserves	Read	449	0.3%
check_token_honeypot	Read	447	0.3%
upload_file_get_link	Write	445	0.3%
text_numbers	Read	443	0.3%
make_barcode	Read	442	0.3%
decode_nostr_id	Read	440	0.3%
get_weather	Read	439	0.3%
sec_company_lookup	Read	438	0.3%
get_storage_at	Read	437	0.3%
check_text_sources	Read	435	0.3%
get_crypto_news_headlines	Read	435	0.3%
image_blurhash	Read	435	0.3%
lookup_airport	Read	435	0.3%
convert_data	Write	431	0.3%
text_unicode_inspect	Read	426	0.3%
make_qr_code	Read	425	0.3%
convert_units	Write	422	0.3%
cron_next_runs	Execute	420	0.3%
check_solana_token_safety	Read	420	0.3%
denoise_audio	Read	420	0.3%
extract_json_with_schema	Read	419	0.3%
get_erc1155_balance	Read	419	0.3%
agent_index_delta	Write	418	0.3%
classify_zero_shot	Read	416	0.3%
get_wallet_counterparties	Read	415	0.3%
rerank_documents	Read	415	0.3%
search_papers	Read	415	0.3%
vectorize_image	Write	415	0.3%
company_jobs	Read	413	0.3%
airport_distance	Read	412	0.3%
search_podcasts	Read	408	0.3%
render_page	Read	407	0.3%
extract_entities	Read	404	0.3%
search_prediction_markets	Read	403	0.3%
convert_time	Write	402	0.3%
check_text_duplicate	Read	400	0.3%
get_local_crypto_premiums	Read	400	0.3%
text_encode	Read	400	0.3%
hash_text	Write	399	0.3%
get_funding_rates	Read	394	0.3%
get_perp_markets	Read	394	0.3%
token_verdict	Read	393	0.3%
sun_moon_times	Read	392	0.3%
peppol_lookup	Read	390	0.3%
get_fx_rates	Read	389	0.3%
geocode	Read	387	0.3%
get_x402_bazaar_pulse	Read	387	0.3%
pdf_inspect	Read	383	0.3%
image_colors	Read	382	0.3%
get_nft_owner	Read	381	0.3%
image_metadata	Destructive	376	0.3%
text_extract	Read	375	0.3%
get_public_holidays	Read	372	0.3%
compare_stablecoin_transfer_fees	Financial	371	0.3%
convert_color_check_contrast	Write	371	0.3%
compare_funding_rates	Read	369	0.3%
capture_web_evidence	Read	367	0.3%
check_url_phishing	Read	367	0.3%
text_lorem	Read	366	0.3%
check_solana_reward_token_yield	Read	365	0.3%
search_lei	Read	361	0.3%
parse_ics	Execute	360	0.3%
check_domain_availability	Read	360	0.3%
diff_text	Destructive	358	0.3%
get_taf	Read	356	0.3%
check_sanctions_batch	Read	355	0.3%
get_metar	Read	355	0.3%
check_contract_before_interaction	Read	352	0.3%
check_stablecoin_peg	Read	350	0.2%
html_to_text	Write	350	0.2%
pdf_form_fields	Write	350	0.2%
treasury_yield_curve	Read	349	0.2%
get_account_nonce	Read	348	0.2%
generate_ids	Write	348	0.2%
detect_proxy	Read	345	0.2%
get_solana_signatures	Read	344	0.2%
decode_tx_logs	Read	343	0.2%
text_summarize	Read	343	0.2%
repo_info	Read	339	0.2%
check_token_safety	Read	338	0.2%
get_allowance	Read	337	0.2%
check_text_for_secrets	Read	336	0.2%
x402_listing_audit	Read	335	0.2%
check_agent_readiness	Read	334	0.2%
x402_seller_report	Read	334	0.2%
asteroid_close_approaches	Write	331	0.2%
validate_json	Read	329	0.2%
check_text_for_prompt_injection	Read	328	0.2%
decode_vin	Read	328	0.2%
get_verification_code	Read	325	0.2%
rdap_lookup	Read	325	0.2%
check_mcp_server	Read	323	0.2%
get_endpoint_uptime	Read	323	0.2%
check_urls_phishing_batch	Read	321	0.2%
extract_links	Read	320	0.2%
get_airport_delays	Read	319	0.2%
get_gpu_price_index	Read	319	0.2%
aurora_forecast	Destructive	317	0.2%
upscale_image	Read	316	0.2%
render_pages_batch	Read	315	0.2%
text_keywords	Read	314	0.2%
pdf_outline	Write	314	0.2%
make_slug	Read	313	0.2%
export_agent_index	Write	313	0.2%
check_ssd_health	Read	312	0.2%
company_profile	Read	312	0.2%
check_sanctions	Read	311	0.2%
list_tracked_changes	Read	311	0.2%
check_security_headers	Read	310	0.2%
get_ens_records	Read	310	0.2%
web_search	Read	308	0.2%
x402_edge_check	Read	308	0.2%
check_wcag_contrast	Read	307	0.2%
decode_metar_taf	Read	307	0.2%
get_near_account	Read	307	0.2%
parse_rss_feed	Execute	304	0.2%
get_protocol_fees	Read	304	0.2%
get_solana_token_info	Read	304	0.2%
ocr_image	Read	303	0.2%
text_stats	Read	300	0.2%
text_spellcheck	Write	299	0.2%
check_status_page	Read	298	0.2%
recognize_math_image	Read	298	0.2%
check_robots_txt	Read	296	0.2%
get_balance	Read	296	0.2%
get_total_supply	Read	296	0.2%
parse_phone_number	Execute	294	0.2%
get_youtube_comments	Read	292	0.2%
check_apify_store_rules	Read	289	0.2%
lookup_lei	Read	288	0.2%
identify_x402_client	Read	287	0.2%
test_x402_payment	Read	287	0.2%
parse_sitemap	Execute	286	0.2%
markdown_to_html	Read	286	0.2%
get_block_at_time	Read	285	0.2%
decode_lightning_invoice	Read	283	0.2%
get_nft	Read	282	0.2%
audit_mcp_listings	Read	279	0.2%
get_solana_account	Read	278	0.2%
search_with_contents	Read	277	0.2%
get_token_price	Read	275	0.2%
get_endpoint_history	Read	274	0.2%
get_solana_token_price	Read	274	0.2%
inspect_domain	Read	270	0.2%
decode_jwt	Read	269	0.2%
get_transaction_receipt	Read	269	0.2%
get_chain_info	Read	265	0.2%
get_macro_snapshot	Read	265	0.2%
get_space_weather	Read	262	0.2%
x402_well_known_file	Execute	260	0.2%
audit_price_consistency	Read	260	0.2%
text_case	Read	259	0.2%
get_contract_code	Read	254	0.2%
get_solana_token_balances	Read	254	0.2%
get_youtube_transcript	Read	252	0.2%
get_solana_balance	Read	251	0.2%
verify_email	Read	248	0.2%
bulk_agent_index	Execute	247	0.2%
detect_language	Read	242	0.2%
get_page_meta	Read	240	0.2%
ip_lookup	Read	238	0.2%
text_sentiment	Read	238	0.2%
get_endpoint_uptime_bulk	Read	237	0.2%
get_solana_transaction	Read	232	0.2%
get_transaction	Read	230	0.2%
resolve_ens	Write	222	0.2%
decode_calldata	Execute	217	0.2%
search_youtube_videos	Read	216	0.2%
check_header_budget	Read	214	0.2%
get_token_info	Read	211	0.2%
extract_dxf_drawing	Read	206	0.1%
get_crypto_fear_greed_index	Read	206	0.1%
get_block_number	Read	201	0.1%
parse_user_agent	Execute	198	0.1%
get_x402_facilitator_changes	Read	192	0.1%
parse_url	Execute	189	0.1%
get_gas	Read	184	0.1%
list_youtube_videos	Read	170	0.1%
get_readback_watch	Read	169	0.1%
get_block	Read	153	0.1%
get_credit_balance	Read	81	0.1%

// CUT THE COST

Your agent uses a handful of these tools. It pays for all 308.

You don't need all 308 of those definitions in the window. PolicyLayer is an MCP gateway that sits in front of Tanod: only the tools you grant are exposed to the agent, the rest never load. A smaller window means a sharper agent — less noise when it picks a tool — and every request costs less:

Grant scope	Definition cost	Reduction
All 308 tools (no gateway)	140,570 tokens	—
3 granted tools	~1,369 tokens	−99%
5 granted tools	~2,282 tokens	−98%
10 granted tools	~4,564 tokens	−97%

The risk dividend: 10 of these 308 tools are critical-risk (destructive or financial) and cost 5,150 tokens (4% of the definition load). Block them — the recommended starter policy — and you reclaim that context before tuning anything else.

Create a free account and register Tanod — nothing to install.
Grant only the tools you use — ungranted definitions never enter the context window.
Point your MCP client (Claude, Cursor, anything) at your gateway URL.

CUT TANOD TOKEN COST →

Instant setup, no code required.

Model your own stack in the token-cost calculator, or see the Tanod policy for what a sensible grant looks like.

//FAQ

Tanod token-cost questions.

How many tokens does the Tanod MCP server use?+

Its 308 tool definitions total 140,570 tokens — 70% of a 200k context window — measured with tiktoken o200k_base over the serialised tools/list payload. Exact counts vary slightly by client and model.

Why does Tanod consume tokens before I send a message?+

MCP clients load every connected server's tool definitions — name, description, and input schema — into the model's context so it knows what it can call. That payload is charged against your context window on every request, whether or not a tool is used.

How do I reduce Tanod's token usage?+

Expose fewer tools. A PolicyLayer grant scopes Tanod to only the tools you allow — ungranted definitions are filtered out of the tool list, so they never enter the context window. A grant of 3 typical tools costs roughly 1,369 tokens, a 99% reduction.

Does deferred tool loading fix this?+

Partially, in some clients. Claude Code defers MCP tool schemas behind a tool-search step by default, and VS Code has experimental grouping — but you still pay tokens per search and reload, and Cursor, Windsurf and Gemini CLI load definitions upfront. Reducing the exposed tool set cuts the cost in every client.

// METHOD & REVIEW

How these numbers were measured.

01

Serialisation

Each tool is serialised as a tools/list entry — name, description, input schema — from the schemas in the PolicyLayer scan database. Clients differ slightly in framing, so treat counts as close estimates.

02

Tokeniser

tiktoken o200k_base (GPT-4o/o-series). Anthropic's current tokeniser isn't published, so Claude's exact counts will differ; for English text and JSON schemas the totals are close enough to treat these as estimates.

03

Deferred loading

Some clients now defer schema loading (Claude Code's tool search; VS Code experimental grouping). You still pay per search and reload — and Cursor, Windsurf and Gemini CLI load everything upfront.

Computed 04-11-2026 from the PolicyLayer scan database over all 308 catalogued Tanod tools. Counts refresh with every site build.