// MCP TOKEN COST

The emem — Earth memory protocol MCP server costs 27,931 tokens before the first call.

Connect emem — Earth memory protocol and its 81 tool definitions are loaded into the model's context on every request — 14% of a 200k window spent before your agent does anything.

QUICK ANSWER The emem — Earth memory protocol MCP server's tool definitions consume 27,931 tokens — 15× the median MCP server (1,905 tokens). A scoped grant exposing only the tools you use cuts that roughly in proportion.

MEASURED FROM SCHEMAS 81 tools · 27,931 tokens · 14% of 200k · 2.8% 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 14%

1M WINDOW 2.8%

Corpus context: emem — Earth memory protocol ranks #30 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 27,931 tokens go.

Each row is one tool definition as a tools/list entry — name, description and input schema — counted with o200k_base. Average: 345 tokens per tool.

Tool	Category	Tokens	% of server
emem_eudr_dds	Read	969	3.5%
emem_ask	Read	866	3.1%
emem_edges_recall	Write	776	2.8%
emem_recall	Read	766	2.7%
emem_hunt	Read	725	2.6%
emem_state	Read	650	2.3%
emem_compare_bands	Read	638	2.3%
emem_rice_ch4	Read	601	2.2%
emem_recall_polygon	Read	562	2.0%
emem_find_similar	Read	525	1.9%
emem_memory_contradictions	Read	511	1.8%
emem_at	Write	482	1.7%
emem_jepa_predict	Read	481	1.7%
emem_memory_search	Read	472	1.7%
emem_heat_solve	Read	457	1.6%
emem_jepa_predict_v2	Read	457	1.6%
emem_field_boundaries	Read	443	1.6%
memory_create	Write	427	1.5%
emem_temporal_route	Execute	425	1.5%
emem_trajectory	Execute	418	1.5%
emem_ndvi	Write	416	1.5%
emem_spi	Execute	415	1.5%
memory_view	Read	411	1.5%
emem_air	Read	409	1.5%
emem_backfill	Read	406	1.5%
emem_forest	Read	395	1.4%
emem_memory_bundle	Write	394	1.4%
emem_water	Read	390	1.4%
emem_terrain	Read	389	1.4%
emem_locate	Read	388	1.4%
emem_wave_solve	Destructive	387	1.4%
emem_weather	Read	387	1.4%
emem_lst	Read	381	1.4%
emem_sar_forest_disturbance	Destructive	380	1.4%
emem_soil	Read	379	1.4%
emem_elevation	Read	378	1.4%
emem_cell_scene_rgb	Read	376	1.3%
emem_embedding_diversity	Read	357	1.3%
emem_state_multi	Write	343	1.2%
memory_insert	Write	340	1.2%
emem_embedding_centroid	Read	332	1.2%
memory_str_replace	Write	331	1.2%
emem_burn_severity	Read	329	1.2%
emem_verify_receipt	Read	306	1.1%
emem_recall_many	Write	301	1.1%
emem_region_similarity	Read	300	1.1%
emem_triple_consensus	Read	297	1.1%
emem_deforestation_alert	Read	294	1.1%
memory_delete	Destructive	287	1.0%
emem_memory_token	Read	285	1.0%
memory_list_by_kind	Read	267	1.0%
memory_rename	Write	264	0.9%
emem_fetch	Read	257	0.9%
emem_algorithms	Read	245	0.9%
emem_verify	Read	233	0.8%
emem_coverage_matrix	Read	231	0.8%
emem_query_region	Read	230	0.8%
emem_state_diff	Read	227	0.8%
emem_materializers	Execute	226	0.8%
emem_topics	Read	224	0.8%
emem_capabilities	Execute	223	0.8%
emem_neighborhood_consistency	Read	223	0.8%
emem_data_availability	Read	205	0.7%
emem_explain_algorithm	Read	204	0.7%
emem_coverage_map	Execute	203	0.7%
emem_memory_token_resolve	Write	202	0.7%
emem_cell_geojson	Destructive	195	0.7%
emem_intent	Read	181	0.6%
emem_memory_bundle_resolve	Write	181	0.6%
emem_grid_info	Execute	176	0.6%
emem_benchmark	Execute	152	0.5%
emem_corpus_state_stats	Read	151	0.5%
emem_fleet	Read	144	0.5%
emem_compare	Read	135	0.5%
emem_diff	Read	129	0.5%
emem_sources	Read	78	0.3%
emem_bands	Execute	66	0.2%
emem_manifests	Read	66	0.2%
emem_functions	Read	62	0.2%
emem_schema	Read	62	0.2%
emem_errors	Read	55	0.2%

// SCOPED GRANT

Most agents use a handful of these tools. They pay for all 81.

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 (345 tokens each).

Grant scope	Definition cost	Reduction
All 81 tools (no gateway)	27,931 tokens	—
3 granted tools	~1,034 tokens	−96%
5 granted tools	~1,724 tokens	−94%
10 granted tools	~3,448 tokens	−88%

Model your own stack in the token-cost calculator, or see the emem — Earth memory protocol policy for what a sensible grant looks like.

//FAQ

emem — Earth memory protocol token-cost questions.

How many tokens does the emem — Earth memory protocol MCP server use?+

Its 81 tool definitions total 27,931 tokens — 14% 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 emem — Earth memory protocol 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 emem — Earth memory protocol's token usage?+

Expose fewer tools. A PolicyLayer grant scopes emem — Earth memory protocol 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 1,034 tokens, a 96% 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 07-06-2026 from the PolicyLayer scan database over all 81 catalogued emem — Earth memory protocol tools. Counts refresh with every site build.