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The Helius MCP server costs 18,307 tokens before the first call.

Connect Helius and its 63 tool definitions are loaded into the model's context on every request — 9.2% of a 200k window spent before your agent does anything.

QUICK ANSWER The Helius MCP server's tool definitions consume 18,307 tokens — 9.6× the median MCP server (1,905 tokens). A scoped grant exposing only the tools you use cuts that roughly in proportion.

MEASURED FROM SCHEMAS 63 tools · 18,307 tokens · 9.2% of 200k · 1.8% of 1M Method →

What that buys 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 9.2%
1M WINDOW 1.8%

Corpus context: Helius ranks #62 of 3,213 measured MCP servers by definition cost. The median is 1,905 tokens, p90 is 7,952, and the heaviest (Fusionauth) is 183,337 — 92% of a 200k window on its own.

Where the 18,307 tokens go.

Each row is one tool definition as a tools/list entry — name, description and input schema — counted with o200k_base. Average: 291 tokens per tool.

ToolCategoryTokens% of server
getTransactionHistory Read 668 3.6%
laserstreamSubscribe Read 495 2.7%
transactionSubscribe Read 472 2.6%
searchAssets Read 459 2.5%
createWebhook Write 450 2.5%
transferToken Financial 438 2.4%
agenticSignup Write 408 2.2%
getProgramAccounts Read 398 2.2%
getAccountInfo Read 391 2.1%
readSolanaSourceFile Read 369 2.0%
getWalletHistory Read 362 2.0%
getWalletBalances Read 352 1.9%
transferSol Financial 351 1.9%
fetchHeliusBlog Read 348 1.9%
updateWebhook Write 348 1.9%
getTokenAccounts Read 338 1.8%
upgradePlan Write 333 1.8%
getAsset Read 331 1.8%
lookupHeliusDocs Read 326 1.8%
recommendStack Execute 322 1.8%
getBlock Read 321 1.8%
getAssetsByOwner Read 311 1.7%
getAssetsByGroup Read 308 1.7%
getPriorityFeeEstimate Read 304 1.7%
accountSubscribe Read 299 1.6%
parseTransactions Execute 297 1.6%
getTokenHolders Read 280 1.5%
getWalletTransfers Read 280 1.5%
setHeliusApiKey Write 277 1.5%
getHeliusPlanInfo Read 261 1.4%
searchSolanaDocs Read 260 1.4%
previewUpgrade Read 255 1.4%
getAssetProofBatch Read 254 1.4%
getSignaturesForAsset Read 253 1.4%
getTokenBalances Read 253 1.4%
batchWalletIdentity Read 251 1.4%
getNetworkStatus Read 249 1.4%
getAssetProof Read 246 1.3%
troubleshootError Read 245 1.3%
getSIMD Read 243 1.3%
getAccountStatus Read 242 1.3%
getNftEditions Read 239 1.3%
getBalance Read 235 1.3%
getWalletFundedBy Read 234 1.3%
getWalletIdentity Read 232 1.3%
getStarted Read 227 1.2%
compareHeliusPlans Read 224 1.2%
generateKeypair Write 220 1.2%
deleteWebhook Destructive 215 1.2%
checkSignupBalance Read 215 1.2%
payRenewal Financial 214 1.2%
getRateLimitInfo Read 210 1.1%
getWebhookByID Read 209 1.1%
getHeliusCreditsInfo Read 206 1.1%
getPumpFunGuide Read 205 1.1%
getEnhancedWebSocketInfo Read 202 1.1%
getLaserstreamInfo Read 202 1.1%
getAllWebhooks Read 201 1.1%
getLatencyComparison Read 200 1.1%
listSIMDs Read 199 1.1%
getSenderInfo Read 196 1.1%
getWebhookGuide Read 189 1.0%
listHeliusDocTopics Read 185 1.0%

Most agents use a handful of these tools. They pay for all 63.

A PolicyLayer grant exposes only the tools you allow — ungranted definitions are filtered out of the tool list, so they never enter the context window. Estimates below assume typical-weight tools (291 tokens each).

Grant scopeDefinition costReduction
All 63 tools (no gateway) 18,307 tokens
3 granted tools ~872 tokens −95%
5 granted tools ~1,453 tokens −92%
10 granted tools ~2,906 tokens −84%

Helius token-cost questions.

How many tokens does the Helius MCP server use?+

Its 63 tool definitions total 18,307 tokens — 9.2% 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 Helius 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 Helius's token usage?+

Expose fewer tools. A PolicyLayer grant scopes Helius 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 872 tokens, a 95% 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.

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 07-06-2026 from the PolicyLayer scan database over all 63 catalogued Helius tools. Counts refresh with every site build.

Expose only the tools you use — the rest never enter your context.

A PolicyLayer grant scopes Helius to the tools you actually allow. Ungranted definitions never load, and every call that does run is checked against policy first.

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