The to_mcp spec was describing one MCP tool per alknet operation — the
tool-bloat problem. An LLM connecting to a node with 200 operations gets
200 MCP tools dumped into its context, degrading reasoning and wasting
context budget.
ADR-041 replaces this with the tool-gateway pattern (same pattern as
opencode's memory and worktree tools): to_mcp exposes 4 fixed meta-tools
(search, schema, call, batch) that gate access to the full operation
registry. The LLM has a few tools in context, discovers operations on
demand through search + schema, then calls. Same principle as Linux's
man command — don't preload all documentation; query on demand.
Gateway tool set:
- search -> services/list (names + descriptions, AccessControl-filtered)
- schema -> services/schema (full OperationSpec for a specific op)
- call -> call.requested (Query/Mutation only, request/response)
- batch -> multiple call.requested (correlated IDs, OQ-14)
Subscription operations are excluded — MCP tool calls are
request/response by protocol design (the client blocks until
CallToolResult returns); streaming subscriptions don't fit. Subscriptions
are filtered out of search results and cannot be invoked via call.
http-mcp.md to_mcp section rewritten: the gateway tool set, Subscription
exclusion, and the service behavior (tools/list returns 4 fixed tools,
tools/call dispatches through the gateway). The 'Why' section adds the
tool-bloat rationale and the memory/worktree tool pattern that informed
the design.
README/overview ADR tables and the top-level README current-state note
updated for ADR-041.
