# MCP Server Token Estimates

Approximate token usage for common MCP servers when loaded.

## Official Anthropic Servers

| Server | Tools | Tokens (est.) | Recommendation |
|--------|-------|---------------|----------------|
| Playwright | 20+ | 13,500 | Keep if testing |
| Filesystem | 8 | 4,000 | Essential |
| Memory | 5 | 3,000 | Optional |
| Brave Search | 2 | 1,500 | Alternative to web |
| Fetch | 2 | 1,200 | Keep for web access |

## Third-Party Servers

| Server | Tools | Tokens (est.) | Recommendation |
|--------|-------|---------------|----------------|
| Notion | 10 | 5,000 | Keep if using Notion |
| GitHub | 25+ | 18,000 | Lazy load only |
| PostgreSQL | 15 | 8,000 | Lazy load only |
| Slack | 12 | 6,000 | Lazy load only |
| Figma | 15 | 10,000 | Lazy load only |
| Zapier | 50+ | 25,000+ | **Avoid** |
| Firecrawl | 5 | 3,500 | Useful for SEO |
| Perplexity | 2 | 1,500 | Alternative to web |

## Token Budget Guidelines

### Conservative Setup (High Available Context)
```
2-3 essential MCP servers
Total: ~10,000-15,000 tokens
Available: 185,000+ tokens (92%+)
```

### Standard Setup
```
4-5 MCP servers
Total: ~20,000-30,000 tokens
Available: 170,000+ tokens (85%+)
```

### Heavy Setup (Risk Zone)
```
6+ MCP servers
Total: 40,000+ tokens
Available: <160,000 tokens (<80%)
⚠️ Higher chance of "Exceed response limit"
```

## Reduction Strategies

### If using GitHub MCP heavily:
- Start conversation specifically for GitHub work
- Don't load other heavy servers simultaneously

### If using multiple API servers:
- Choose ONE per category:
  - Web search: Brave OR Perplexity (not both)
  - Automation: Zapier OR n8n (not both)
  - Database: PostgreSQL OR MySQL (not both)

### If testing/development:
- Playwright OR Puppeteer (not both)
- Load only when actively testing

## Impact of serverInstructions

**Without serverInstructions:**
- Full tool schemas loaded (~500 tokens per tool)
- Discovery overhead on each interaction

**With serverInstructions:**
- Reduced discovery queries
- More efficient tool selection
- Saves ~30-50% on tool-related tokens

## Quick Reference

**Token estimation formula:**
```
Server tokens ≈ (number of tools × 400) + 500 base
```

**Example:**
- 10 tools = (10 × 400) + 500 = 4,500 tokens
- 25 tools = (25 × 400) + 500 = 10,500 tokens