// MCP TOKEN COST

The Zuckerbot MCP server costs 12,720 tokens before the first call.

Connect Zuckerbot and its 59 tool definitions are loaded into the model's context on every request — 6.4% of a 200k window spent before your agent does anything.

QUICK ANSWER The Zuckerbot MCP server's tool definitions consume 12,720 tokens — 6.7× the median MCP server (1,905 tokens). A scoped grant exposing only the tools you use cuts that roughly in proportion.

MEASURED FROM SCHEMAS 59 tools · 12,720 tokens · 6.4% of 200k · 1.3% 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 6.4%

1M WINDOW 1.3%

Corpus context: Zuckerbot ranks #120 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.

// PER-TOOL BREAKDOWN

Where the 12,720 tokens go.

Each row is one tool definition as a tools/list entry — name, description and input schema — counted with o200k_base. Average: 216 tokens per tool.

Tool	Category	Tokens	% of server
zuckerbot_create_campaign	Write	680	5.3%
zuckerbot_recommend_campaign_structure	Execute	528	4.2%
zuckerbot_generate_static_ad	Write	489	3.8%
zuckerbot_get_campaign_insights	Read	392	3.1%
zuckerbot_upload_creative	Write	387	3.0%
zuckerbot_generate_creatives	Write	376	3.0%
zuckerbot_tag_creative	Execute	375	2.9%
zuckerbot_set_capi_config	Write	362	2.8%
zuckerbot_creative_analysis	Read	348	2.7%
zuckerbot_send_capi_event	Write	346	2.7%
zuckerbot_launch_campaign	Execute	344	2.7%
zuckerbot_create_full_campaign	Write	301	2.4%
zuckerbot_creative_qa	Read	295	2.3%
zuckerbot_create_portfolio	Write	291	2.3%
zuckerbot_generate_video_ad	Write	282	2.2%
zuckerbot_creative_cross_analysis	Read	276	2.2%
zuckerbot_sync_conversion	Write	270	2.1%
zuckerbot_generate_briefs	Write	257	2.0%
zuckerbot_generate_campaign_brief	Write	252	2.0%
zuckerbot_update_portfolio	Write	245	1.9%
zuckerbot_analyse_account_history	Read	228	1.8%
zuckerbot_capi_test	Read	216	1.7%
zuckerbot_request_creative	Read	206	1.6%
zuckerbot_launch_portfolio	Execute	202	1.6%
zuckerbot_create_lookalike_audience	Write	202	1.6%
zuckerbot_activate_campaign	Write	201	1.6%
zuckerbot_research_competitors	Read	199	1.6%
zuckerbot_upload_business_context	Write	196	1.5%
zuckerbot_get_account_insights	Read	192	1.5%
zuckerbot_create_seed_audience	Write	188	1.5%
zuckerbot_research_reviews	Read	182	1.4%
zuckerbot_rebalance_portfolio	Execute	164	1.3%
zuckerbot_approve_campaign_strategy	Write	162	1.3%
zuckerbot_enrich_business	Read	157	1.2%
zuckerbot_preview_campaign	Read	157	1.2%
zuckerbot_research_market	Write	148	1.2%
zuckerbot_pause_campaign	Read	146	1.1%
zuckerbot_lead_forms	Read	142	1.1%
zuckerbot_get_performance	Read	138	1.1%
zuckerbot_ad_accounts	Read	135	1.1%
zuckerbot_refresh_audience	Read	129	1.0%
zuckerbot_get_video_ad_status	Read	127	1.0%
zuckerbot_get_creative_status	Read	121	1.0%
zuckerbot_get_capi_config	Read	118	0.9%
zuckerbot_quickstart	Execute	116	0.9%
zuckerbot_meta_pages	Read	115	0.9%
zuckerbot_pixels	Read	115	0.9%
zuckerbot_portfolio_performance	Execute	114	0.9%
zuckerbot_capi_status	Read	111	0.9%
zuckerbot_list_audiences	Read	109	0.9%
zuckerbot_delete_audience	Destructive	108	0.8%
zuckerbot_get_audience_status	Read	106	0.8%
zuckerbot_get_campaign	Read	105	0.8%
zuckerbot_get_portfolio	Read	103	0.8%
zuckerbot_suggest_angles	Read	103	0.8%
zuckerbot_get_launch_credentials	Read	100	0.8%
zuckerbot_list_business_context	Read	96	0.8%
zuckerbot_meta_status	Read	89	0.7%
zuckerbot_billing_status	Read	78	0.6%

// SCOPED GRANT

Most agents use a handful of these tools. They pay for all 59.

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 (216 tokens each).

Grant scope	Definition cost	Reduction
All 59 tools (no gateway)	12,720 tokens	—
3 granted tools	~647 tokens	−95%
5 granted tools	~1,078 tokens	−92%
10 granted tools	~2,156 tokens	−83%

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

//FAQ

Zuckerbot token-cost questions.

How many tokens does the Zuckerbot MCP server use?+

Its 59 tool definitions total 12,720 tokens — 6.4% 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 Zuckerbot 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 Zuckerbot's token usage?+

Expose fewer tools. A PolicyLayer grant scopes Zuckerbot 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 647 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.

// METHOD & REVIEW

How these numbers were measured.

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.

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.

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 59 catalogued Zuckerbot tools. Counts refresh with every site build.

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

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

SCOPE YOUR GRANT →

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