// MCP TOKEN COST

The Gate MCP server costs 6,006 tokens before the first call.

Connect Gate and its 63 tool definitions are loaded into the model's context on every request — 3.0% of a 200k window spent before your agent does anything.

QUICK ANSWER The Gate MCP server's tool definitions consume 6,006 tokens — 3.2× 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 · 6,006 tokens · 3.0% of 200k · 0.6% 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 3.0%

1M WINDOW 0.6%

Corpus context: Gate ranks #965 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 6,006 tokens go.

Each row is one tool definition as a tools/list entry — name, description and input schema — counted with o200k_base. Average: 95 tokens per tool.

Tool	Category	Tokens	% of server
cex_launch_list_launch_pool_projects	Execute	201	3.3%
cex_fx_get_fx_candlesticks	Read	199	3.3%
cex_square_list_square_ai_search	Read	191	3.2%
cex_launch_get_candy_drop_activity_list_v4	Execute	176	2.9%
cex_spot_get_spot_candlesticks	Read	172	2.9%
cex_spot_get_spot_trades	Read	170	2.8%
cex_fx_get_fx_trades	Read	167	2.8%
cex_launch_get_hodler_airdrop_project_list	Execute	166	2.8%
cex_earn_list_dual_investment_plans	Read	164	2.7%
cex_fx_get_fx_premium_index	Read	158	2.6%
cex_dc_list_dc_candlesticks	Read	151	2.5%
cex_options_list_options_underlying_candlesticks	Read	145	2.4%
cex_dc_list_dc_trades	Read	143	2.4%
cex_dc_list_dc_order_book	Read	141	2.3%
cex_alpha_list_alpha_tokens	Read	138	2.3%
cex_fx_get_fx_order_book	Read	132	2.2%
cex_options_list_options_candlesticks	Read	130	2.2%
cex_options_list_options_trades	Read	121	2.0%
cex_options_list_options_settlements	Read	119	2.0%
cex_square_list_live_replay	Read	119	2.0%
cex_spot_get_spot_order_book	Read	116	1.9%
cex_fx_list_contract_stats	Read	114	1.9%
cex_dc_list_dc_risk_limit_tiers	Read	112	1.9%
cex_fx_list_fx_liq_orders	Read	109	1.8%
cex_fx_get_fx_funding_rate	Read	108	1.8%
cex_earn_list_earn_fixed_term_products	Read	102	1.7%
cex_mcl_get_multi_collateral_current_rate	Read	100	1.7%
cex_options_list_options_order_book	Read	97	1.6%
cex_launch_get_candy_drop_activity_rules_v4	Execute	95	1.6%
cex_options_get_options_settlement	Read	91	1.5%
cex_earn_list_earn_fixed_term_products_by_asset	Read	89	1.5%
cex_spot_get_spot_tickers	Read	88	1.5%
cex_fx_list_batch_fx_funding_rates	Read	80	1.3%
cex_fx_get_fx_risk_limit_table	Read	77	1.3%
cex_dc_list_dc_tickers	Read	76	1.3%
cex_dc_get_dc_contract	Read	75	1.2%
cex_fx_list_fx_contracts	Read	74	1.2%
cex_alpha_list_alpha_tickers	Read	73	1.2%
cex_options_list_options_contracts	Read	72	1.2%
cex_alpha_list_alpha_currencies	Read	71	1.2%
cex_dc_list_dc_insurance_ledger	Read	69	1.1%
cex_fx_get_fx_tickers	Read	65	1.1%
cex_fx_get_index_constituents	Read	63	1.0%
cex_fx_get_fx_contract	Read	61	1.0%
cex_options_list_options_underlying_tickers	Read	61	1.0%
cex_fx_list_fx_insurance_ledger	Read	59	1.0%
cex_margin_get_market_margin_tier	Read	58	1.0%
cex_margin_get_uni_currency_pair	Read	58	1.0%
cex_options_list_options_expirations	Read	58	1.0%
cex_options_list_options_tickers	Read	57	0.9%
cex_spot_get_currency_pair	Read	57	0.9%
cex_dc_list_dc_contracts	Read	50	0.8%
cex_options_get_options_contract	Read	47	0.8%
cex_spot_get_currency	Read	45	0.7%
cex_mcl_get_multi_collateral_ltv	Read	43	0.7%
cex_mcl_get_multi_collateral_fix_rate	Read	38	0.6%
cex_mcl_list_multi_collateral_currencies	Read	37	0.6%
cex_margin_list_uni_currency_pairs	Read	30	0.5%
cex_options_list_options_underlyings	Read	27	0.4%
cex_spot_list_currency_pairs	Read	27	0.4%
cex_earn_list_uni_currencies	Read	26	0.4%
cex_spot_list_currencies	Read	25	0.4%
cex_activity_list_activity_types	Read	23	0.4%

// SCOPED GRANT

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 (95 tokens each).

Grant scope	Definition cost	Reduction
All 63 tools (no gateway)	6,006 tokens	—
3 granted tools	~286 tokens	−95%
5 granted tools	~477 tokens	−92%
10 granted tools	~953 tokens	−84%

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

//FAQ

Gate token-cost questions.

How many tokens does the Gate MCP server use?+

Its 63 tool definitions total 6,006 tokens — 3.0% 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 Gate 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 Gate's token usage?+

Expose fewer tools. A PolicyLayer grant scopes Gate 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 286 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 63 catalogued Gate tools. Counts refresh with every site build.

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

A PolicyLayer grant scopes Gate 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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