Which Metadata Matters for LLM Tool Selection in MCP? Evidence from Controlled Factor-Level Interventions

arXiv:2610.14334v1 Announce Type: new Abstract: In Model Context Protocol (MCP) systems, LLMs select tools from metadata rather than from their implementations. Names and descriptions summarize what a tool does, while the parameter schema specifies the fields a tool accepts and how they are organized. Our analysis of metadata for 367,174 MCP tools reveals substantial schema variation among functionally similar tools. Many of these tools share names and similar descriptions but expose different parameter schemas. This raises a key question: can parameter-schema differences influence tool select

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