// MCP TOKEN COST

The Mcp Sitecore MCP server costs 30,417 tokens before the first call.

Connect Mcp Sitecore and its 153 tool definitions are loaded into the model's context on every request — 15% of a 200k window spent before your agent does anything.

QUICK ANSWER The Mcp Sitecore MCP server's tool definitions consume 30,417 tokens — 28× the median MCP server (1,075 tokens). A scoped grant exposing only the tools you use cuts that roughly in proportion.

MEASURED FROM SCHEMAS 153 tools · 30,417 tokens · 15% of 200k · 3.0% of 1M Method →

// CONTEXT WINDOW SHARE

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 15%

1M WINDOW 3.0%

Corpus context: Mcp Sitecore ranks #13 of 1,659 measured MCP servers by definition cost. The median is 1,075 tokens, p90 is 6,119, and the heaviest (Fusionauth) is 183,337 — 92% of a 200k window on its own.

// PER-TOOL BREAKDOWN

Where the 30,417 tokens go.

Each row is one tool definition as a tools/list entry — name, description and input schema — counted with o200k_base. Average: 199 tokens per tool.

Tool	Category	Tokens	% of server
indexing-find-item	Read	8,334	27.4%
security-add-item-acl-by-path	Write	343	1.1%
security-add-item-acl-by-id	Write	325	1.1%
security-set-item-acl-by-id	Write	314	1.0%
security-set-item-acl-by-path	Write	303	1.0%
common-publish-item-by-id	Write	302	1.0%
common-publish-item-by-path	Write	302	1.0%
common-add-item-version-by-path	Write	287	0.9%
security-test-item-acl-by-id	Read	285	0.9%
common-add-item-version-by-id	Write	277	0.9%
common-remove-item-version-by-path	Destructive	248	0.8%
security-set-user	Write	241	0.8%
presentation-set-rendering-by-id	Write	240	0.8%
common-remove-item-version-by-id	Destructive	238	0.8%
logging-get-logs	Read	234	0.8%
presentation-add-rendering-by-id	Write	232	0.8%
presentation-set-rendering-by-path	Write	223	0.7%
presentation-add-rendering-by-path	Write	214	0.7%
security-test-item-acl-by-path	Read	210	0.7%
presentation-set-rendering-parameter-by-id	Write	206	0.7%
presentation-switch-rendering-by-id	Write	205	0.7%
presentation-switch-rendering-by-unique-id	Write	205	0.7%
common-new-item-workflow-event-by-id	Execute	200	0.7%
common-new-item-workflow-event-by-path	Execute	200	0.7%
common-get-item-field-by-id	Read	200	0.7%
common-get-item-field-by-path	Read	200	0.7%
presentation-add-placeholder-setting-by-id	Write	200	0.7%
presentation-remove-rendering-parameter-by-id	Destructive	197	0.6%
presentation-remove-rendering-by-id	Destructive	195	0.6%
presentation-get-rendering-parameter-by-id	Read	190	0.6%
provider-get-item-by-id	Read	190	0.6%
presentation-set-rendering-parameter-by-path	Write	189	0.6%
presentation-switch-rendering-by-path	Write	186	0.6%
presentation-add-placeholder-setting-by-path	Write	183	0.6%
presentation-get-rendering-by-id	Read	181	0.6%
presentation-remove-rendering-parameter-by-path	Destructive	180	0.6%
presentation-get-placeholder-setting-by-id	Read	180	0.6%
presentation-remove-placeholder-setting-by-id	Destructive	178	0.6%
common-update-item-referrer-by-id	Write	178	0.6%
common-update-item-referrer-by-path	Write	178	0.6%
presentation-remove-rendering-by-path	Destructive	174	0.6%
presentation-get-rendering-parameter-by-path	Read	173	0.6%
presentation-set-layout-by-id	Write	173	0.6%
provider-get-item-by-query	Read	171	0.6%
common-new-item-clone-by-id	Execute	169	0.6%
common-new-item-clone-by-path	Execute	169	0.6%
provider-get-item-by-uri	Read	169	0.6%
common-invoke-workflow-by-id	Execute	165	0.5%
common-invoke-workflow-by-path	Execute	165	0.5%
presentation-get-rendering-by-path	Read	165	0.5%
common-set-item-template-by-id	Write	165	0.5%
common-set-item-template-by-path	Write	165	0.5%
presentation-get-placeholder-setting-by-path	Read	163	0.5%
security-set-user-password	Write	162	0.5%
presentation-remove-placeholder-setting-by-path	Destructive	161	0.5%
common-get-item-referrer-by-path	Read	160	0.5%
common-get-item-reference-by-path	Read	156	0.5%
security-get-role-member	Read	156	0.5%
security-lock-item-by-path	Write	156	0.5%
security-get-item-acl-by-path	Read	155	0.5%
item-service-run-stored-search	Execute	154	0.5%
common-reset-item-field-by-id	Destructive	151	0.5%
common-reset-item-field-by-path	Destructive	151	0.5%
common-convert-from-item-clone-by-id	Write	151	0.5%
common-convert-from-item-clone-by-path	Write	151	0.5%
common-get-item-referrer-by-id	Read	150	0.5%
common-get-item-workflow-event-by-id	Read	150	0.5%
common-get-item-workflow-event-by-path	Read	150	0.5%
presentation-set-layout-by-path	Write	148	0.5%
common-get-item-reference-by-id	Read	146	0.5%
security-lock-item-by-id	Write	146	0.5%
security-get-item-acl-by-id	Read	145	0.5%
common-restore-archive-item	Write	144	0.5%
common-get-archive-item	Read	142	0.5%
common-remove-archive-item	Destructive	140	0.5%
security-clear-item-acl-by-path	Destructive	137	0.5%
provider-get-item-by-path	Read	137	0.5%
security-remove-role-member	Destructive	134	0.4%
indexing-initialize-search-index-item-by-id	Execute	134	0.4%
indexing-get-search-index	Read	134	0.4%
security-add-role-member	Write	134	0.4%
item-service-run-stored-query	Execute	131	0.4%
security-unprotect-item-by-path	Read	131	0.4%
item-service-create-item	Write	131	0.4%
item-service-get-item-children	Read	130	0.4%
item-service-get-item-descendants	Read	130	0.4%
indexing-remove-search-index-item-by-id	Destructive	129	0.4%
security-protect-item-by-path	Read	129	0.4%
item-service-get-item-by-path	Read	128	0.4%
security-unlock-item-by-id	Write	128	0.4%
security-unlock-item-by-path	Write	128	0.4%
common-remove-base-template-by-id	Destructive	127	0.4%
common-remove-base-template-by-path	Destructive	127	0.4%
presentation-reset-layout-by-id	Destructive	127	0.4%
presentation-reset-layout-by-path	Destructive	127	0.4%
security-clear-item-acl-by-id	Destructive	127	0.4%
item-service-get-item	Read	126	0.4%
common-add-base-template-by-id	Write	126	0.4%
common-add-base-template-by-path	Write	126	0.4%
indexing-initialize-search-index	Execute	125	0.4%
common-test-base-template-by-id	Read	125	0.4%
common-test-base-template-by-path	Read	125	0.4%
indexing-initialize-search-index-item-by-path	Execute	123	0.4%
presentation-get-layout-by-id	Read	121	0.4%
presentation-get-layout-by-path	Read	121	0.4%
security-unprotect-item-by-id	Read	121	0.4%
security-test-account	Read	120	0.4%
security-protect-item-by-id	Read	119	0.4%
indexing-remove-search-index-item-by-path	Destructive	118	0.4%
item-service-search-items	Read	115	0.4%
item-service-edit-item	Write	111	0.4%
common-get-item-template-by-path	Read	110	0.4%
security-new-user	Execute	109	0.4%
presentation-merge-layout-by-id	Write	109	0.4%
common-get-item-clone-by-id	Read	102	0.3%
common-get-item-clone-by-path	Read	102	0.3%
common-get-item-template-by-id	Read	100	0.3%
item-service-delete-item	Destructive	95	0.3%
common-get-cache	Read	95	0.3%
security-unlock-user	Write	95	0.3%
presentation-merge-layout-by-path	Write	93	0.3%
indexing-resume-search-index	Write	92	0.3%
indexing-suspend-search-index	Write	92	0.3%
indexing-stop-search-index	Execute	91	0.3%
common-get-database	Read	86	0.3%
security-remove-role	Destructive	85	0.3%
security-new-role	Execute	85	0.3%
security-get-role-by-filter	Read	85	0.3%
common-get-archive	Read	82	0.3%
security-get-role-by-identity	Read	82	0.3%
introspection-graphql-edge	Read	75	0.2%
introspection-graphql-master	Read	75	0.2%
query-graphql-edge	Read	73	0.2%
query-graphql-master	Read	73	0.2%
run-powershell-script	Execute	72	0.2%
presentation-get-layout-device	Read	69	0.2%
security-remove-domain	Destructive	67	0.2%
security-new-domain	Execute	67	0.2%
security-get-user-by-identity	Read	62	0.2%
sitecore-cli-documentation	Read	62	0.2%
security-get-domain-by-name	Read	61	0.2%
security-get-user-by-filter	Read	60	0.2%
security-disable-user	Write	58	0.2%
security-enable-user	Write	58	0.2%
security-remove-user	Destructive	57	0.2%
get-powershell-documentation	Read	54	0.2%
common-get-sitecore-job	Read	51	0.2%
common-restart-application	Execute	50	0.2%
config	Read	49	0.2%
security-get-current-user	Read	48	0.2%
item-service-get-languages	Read	47	0.2%
presentation-get-default-layout-device	Read	47	0.2%
security-get-domain	Read	46	0.2%

// SCOPED GRANT

Most agents use a handful of these tools. They pay for all 153.

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 (199 tokens each).

Grant scope	Definition cost	Reduction
All 153 tools (no gateway)	30,417 tokens	—
3 granted tools	~596 tokens	−98%
5 granted tools	~994 tokens	−97%
10 granted tools	~1,988 tokens	−93%

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

//FAQ

Mcp Sitecore token-cost questions.

How many tokens does the Mcp Sitecore MCP server use?+

Its 153 tool definitions total 30,417 tokens — 15% 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 Mcp Sitecore 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 Mcp Sitecore's token usage?+

Expose fewer tools. A PolicyLayer grant scopes Mcp Sitecore 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 596 tokens, a 98% 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 05-06-2026 from the PolicyLayer scan database over all 153 catalogued Mcp Sitecore tools. Counts refresh with every site build.