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The Claude Token Saver MCP server costs 1,510 tokens before the first call.

Connect Claude Token Saver and its 11 tool definitions are loaded into the model's context on every request — 0.8% of a 200k window spent before your agent does anything.

QUICK ANSWER The Claude Token Saver MCP server's tool definitions consume 1,510 tokens — below the median MCP server (1,905 tokens). A scoped grant exposing only the tools you use cuts that roughly in proportion.

MEASURED FROM SCHEMAS 11 tools · 1,510 tokens · 0.8% of 200k · 0.2% 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 0.8%
1M WINDOW 0.2%

Corpus context: Claude Token Saver ranks #1798 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 1,510 tokens go.

Each row is one tool definition as a tools/list entry — name, description and input schema — counted with o200k_base. Average: 137 tokens per tool.

ToolCategoryTokens% of server
offload_work Write 278 18.4%
batch_offload Write 217 14.4%
auto_setup Write 186 12.3%
configure_model_selector Write 183 12.1%
compress_context Write 162 10.7%
recommend_model Read 132 8.7%
preload_model Write 118 7.8%
pull_model Write 82 5.4%
get_metrics Read 72 4.8%
list_loaded_models Read 48 3.2%
cost_dashboard Read 32 2.1%

Most agents use a handful of these tools. They pay for all 11.

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 (137 tokens each).

Grant scopeDefinition costReduction
All 11 tools (no gateway) 1,510 tokens
3 granted tools ~412 tokens −73%
5 granted tools ~686 tokens −55%
10 granted tools ~1,373 tokens −9%

Claude Token Saver token-cost questions.

How many tokens does the Claude Token Saver MCP server use?+

Its 11 tool definitions total 1,510 tokens — 0.8% 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 Claude Token Saver 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 Claude Token Saver's token usage?+

Expose fewer tools. A PolicyLayer grant scopes Claude Token Saver 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 412 tokens, a 73% 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 11 catalogued Claude Token Saver tools. Counts refresh with every site build.

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

A PolicyLayer grant scopes Claude Token Saver 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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4,600+ MCP servers and 31,000+ tools scanned and risk-classified.

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