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Tool descriptions do not tell an agent when to stop

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#424 4 comments 0 reactions 1 assignee View on GitHub

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@rupesh-kumar-sah is already working on this.

Since Oct 17, 2026.

  • #435 by @sparkysolutions10-pixel — open
  • #445 by @rupesh-kumar-sah — open

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Description

area:mcp difficulty:easy help wanted points:100 Stellar Wave
Background
'Search for resources in a Stellar Bazaar node'
'Make a paid API call to a Bazaar resource, handling the 402 loop automatically.'

A tool description is the only instruction an agent gets. The second one says
payment is handled automatically and says nothing about cost, limits, or the
fact that real funds move — so an agent reasoning about whether to call it has
no basis to hesitate, and "automatically" actively encourages it not to.

The descriptions also do not say what the tools cannot do, which is what stops
an agent calling the wrong one repeatedly.

What to build
  • Rewrite both descriptions to state what the tool does, what it costs, what it
    requires, and when not to use it.
  • paid_call must say that it spends real funds and name the per-call limit.
  • Describe each argument in its schema, including the format expected.
  • Where L209's allow-list exists, say that only permitted hosts can be paid — an
    agent that knows the rule will not waste turns discovering it.
Acceptance criteria
  • Each description states purpose, cost and preconditions
  • paid_call explicitly says real funds move, and names the limit
  • Every argument has a description and a stated format
  • Descriptions say when not to use the tool
  • No description promises behaviour the code does not implement

Drips Wave · Complexity: Easy · 100 points

Repo: Divinity-Labs/Lens. The MCP server is src/mcp/server.ts
(BazaarMcpServer) with error codes in src/mcp/codes.ts. It is started by
npm run mcp:server → examples/mcp-server/run.ts, and there is an agent
example at examples/mcp-server/agent.ts. Tests are tests/mcp.test.ts.

Run the tests: npm test. The tests are vitest, not jest. A single file
is npx vitest run tests/mcp.test.ts.

Load test (prices) is already failing on main. Not your PR.

This surface signs with a real mainnet key. examples/mcp-server/run.ts
requires MCP_AGENT_SECRET_KEY_MAINNET and builds a signer for
stellar:pubnet. Anything you change here can move real money, so prefer
failing closed, and never log, echo or test with a real secret key.

Never elide an address, a contract id or a key in code, comments or
fixtures. A previous batch shortened a contract id and five contributors
invented plausible-looking ids to fill the gap. Write it in full or not at all.

An agent is the least able caller to notice a wrong answer. It will reason
over whatever it is handed, confidently. Prefer a structured error over a
best-effort result.

Required: Before submitting, join the contributor Telegram so your work can be tracked and counted toward the Stellar Wave: https://t.me/+fxHXq8f1SwlkZDBk

Dominant language
TypeScript
Stars
4
Forks
71
Avg merge
1d 9h
Merged PRs (30d)
34

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