See and cut what your MCP servers cost in context
Saying hi cost 40,000 tokens with every tool loaded. How to see what your session loads and switch off what you do not use.
See what is loaded
Open a fresh session and run this before you type anything. It shows context usage as a colored grid, with suggestions for context-heavy tools. Add all to expand the per-item list. Note: current Claude Code defers MCP tool definitions by default, so only tool names and server instructions load at start. A hello costs tens of thousands of tokens only when tools load upfront (ENABLE_TOOL_SEARCH=false, an older model, some gateways) or in agents without tool search.
/context
/context allSwitch off what this project does not need
A disabled server keeps its configuration, but Claude Code stops connecting to it, so its tools leave your context. The choice is saved per project. Run /mcp with no argument for the interactive list, or name a server. Mail, Calendar and Notion connectors from claude.ai show up in the same list, named like claude.ai Slack: toggle them off in the /mcp panel.
/mcp
/mcp disable notion
/mcp enable notionRemove it for good, or switch off all connectors
Outside a session, list, inspect and remove servers you added yourself. Scope decides who is affected: local (the default) is you in this project, project is shared through .mcp.json in version control, user is you across all projects. Removing a project server changes it for your team. Connectors from claude.ai are not removed here. To stop Claude Code fetching all of them, add {"disableClaudeAiConnectors": true} to .claude/settings.json.
claude mcp list
claude mcp get notion
claude mcp remove notionCheck it worked
Start a new session and run /context again. The tools part of the grid should be smaller. On Pro, Max, Team and Enterprise plans, /usage also shows each MCP server's share of your recent usage, so you can see which one matters most.
/context
/usagePro tip: tool search is the default
Claude Code defers MCP tool definitions, so only tool names and server instructions load at start, and details load when Claude needs a tool. ENABLE_TOOL_SEARCH changes this: auto:5 loads tools upfront until their definitions pass 5% of the window, false loads every tool upfront. Anthropic also notes CLI tools like gh and aws add no per-tool listing at all.
ENABLE_TOOL_SEARCH=auto:5 claude
ENABLE_TOOL_SEARCH=false claudeCommon mistake
Counting only the tool list. Results of MCP calls land in context too. Claude Code warns when one result passes 10,000 tokens and caps it at 25,000 by default. Raise or lower the cap with MAX_MCP_OUTPUT_TOKENS, for example MAX_MCP_OUTPUT_TOKENS=50000.
Official docs
One fix of twenty: the whole Claude Code survival kit.
Follow @whyshouldaicareA new disaster and its fix every day. Comment the word under a reel to get its guide.