workforms: trim MCP tool descriptions by ~79% to reduce token cost#321
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Eliasgarzon merged 7 commits intoApr 26, 2026
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Reduce token cost of the 4 workforms MCP tools from ~4,591 tokens/request
to ~1,740 tokens/request (~62% reduction, ~2,851 tokens saved per request).
Decision criteria: pragmatic-prompting Principle of Unambiguity — only
describe what is non-obvious from the field name, type, or enum values.
What was cut:
- All "Object containing X configuration" container descriptions (redundant
with the object's own fields)
- Boolean/string descriptions that restate the field name verbatim
- Verbose multi-line action list in update_form (13 actions already visible
in the enum schema)
- URL-extraction tutorial in get_form (pattern is clear from the one-liner)
What was kept:
- Non-obvious constraints: passwordEnabled can only be set to false
- PUT-semantics warning on selectOptions (replaces all existing options)
- "Must include all existing IDs" constraint on question reordering
- Action-specific requirements ("Required for updateFormHeader")
- Type-qualifier prefixes on settings ("MultiSelect only", "Date only")
Also fixed: replaced semicolons with commas in showIfRules description
to pass tool-description-safety tests (MCP clients forbid semicolons
in tool descriptions as potential injection vectors).
Monday: https://monday.monday.com/boards/3709356818/pulses/11453478027
Co-Authored-By: Claude <noreply@anthropic.com>
…ching options/settings Agents were sending PATCH updates without type and getting schema validation failures. 'Update is patch' implied all fields optional, but the backend requires type to validate type-specific field shapes (options, settings). Unambiguity fix: state explicitly what is NOT implied by patch semantics.
…itionally Schema analysis: type has no .optional() in questionSchema, so it is structurally required for both create and update operations. Previous description 'also required if options/settings are included' understated the constraint and caused agents to omit type on plain patch updates.
…hema files Empty-string .describe() calls produce no output in MCP schema (zod-to-json-schema skips falsy values) but still cost maintenance burden. Removed all 64 empty entries from workforms.consts.ts and the corresponding .describe() call-sites in update-form-tool/schema.ts and form-questions-editor-tool/schema.ts.
Eliasgarzon
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Eliasgarzon
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Eliasgarzon
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GuyHadas
approved these changes
Apr 26, 2026
RomKadria
approved these changes
Apr 26, 2026
Collaborator
|
update version in apckage json |
…cost (v5.3.3)
- Removed descriptions restating field names, types, or enum values
- Removed all container object descriptions ("Object containing X configuration")
- Rewrote remaining descriptions to be terse and actionable
- Added non-obvious constraints: type immutability on update, safe option
update workflow (call get_form first), page_block_id null vs omit distinction,
existing_column_id usage guidance
- update_form action description now explains each action requires different fields
- Net result: ~4,591 -> ~963 tokens per request across all 4 form tools
Co-Authored-By: Claude Sonnet 4.6 <noreply@anthropic.com>
…xtraction example Co-Authored-By: Claude Sonnet 4.6 <noreply@anthropic.com>
Co-Authored-By: Claude Sonnet 4.6 <noreply@anthropic.com>
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Summary
What Was Cut
"Object containing X configuration""Boolean hiding monday branding from the form display."hideBranding: booleanis self-explanatoryupdate_formactionenum valuesget_formWhat Was Kept
passwordEnabledcan only be set tofalse; usesetFormPasswordto enableselectOptions: omitting an existing option deletes it — fetch first to update safelyupdateFormHeader"Token Counts (Before → After, description text only)
get_formcreate_formform_questions_editorupdate_form