MCP Token Optimization
Overview
The Skrills MCP server minimizes token usage by returning targeted summaries rather than full skill metadata payloads.
MCP Tools Token Impact
| Tool | Token Impact | Description |
|---|---|---|
validate-skills | Low-Medium | Returns validation results; scales with skill count |
analyze-skills | Low-Medium | Returns analysis results; scales with skill count |
sync-from-claude | Low | Returns sync summary |
sync-skills | Low | Returns sync summary |
sync-commands | Low | Returns sync summary |
sync-mcp-servers | Low | Returns sync summary |
sync-preferences | Low | Returns sync summary |
sync-all | Low | Returns combined sync summary |
sync-status | Low | Returns diff preview |
When the subagents feature is enabled:
| Tool | Token Impact | Description |
|---|---|---|
list-subagents | Low | Returns list of available subagents |
run-subagent | Variable | Depends on subagent output |
get-run-status | Low | Returns status of running subagent |
Best Practices
Prefer CLI for Batch Operations
For operations involving many skills, the CLI is more efficient than repeated MCP tool calls. A single CLI command like skrills validate --format json can replace hundreds of individual tool invocations.
Filter Output
Use filtering options to reduce payload size. For example, skrills validate --errors-only returns only the skills that failed validation, and skrills analyze --min-tokens 2000 limits the output to only the largest skills.
Preview Before Sync
Use skrills sync-status --from claude to preview changes before running a full sync. This shows the scope of changes without the overhead of a full write operation.
Efficient Workflows
Validation Workflow
# 1. Preview validation (errors only)
skrills validate --errors-only
# 2. Fix issues with autofix
skrills validate --target codex --autofix --backup
# 3. Verify fixes
skrills validate --target codex --errors-only
Sync Workflow
# 1. Preview changes
skrills sync-status --from claude
# 2. Sync if changes look correct
skrills sync-all --from claude --skip-existing-commands