# Tools context to high with no plugins and no MCPs

**URL:** <https://forum.cursor.com/t/tools-context-to-high-with-no-plugins-and-no-mcps/160301>\
**Category:** Help\
**Tags:** context\
**Created:** [May 11, 2026, 2:56pm UTC](https://forum.cursor.com/t/tools-context-to-high-with-no-plugins-and-no-mcps/160301 "2026-05-11T14:56:18Z")\
**Posts on this page:** 1\
**Showing post:** 7

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**Author:** ![kevinn](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/cursor1/user_avatar/forum.cursor.com/kevinn/32/101206_2.png) [@kevinn](https://forum.cursor.com/u/kevinn)\
**Post date:** [May 11, 2026, 11:40pm UTC](https://forum.cursor.com/t/tools-context-to-high-with-no-plugins-and-no-mcps/160301/7 "2026-05-11T23:40:48Z")

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Hey @adangnzlz, thanks for the detailed write-up and screenshot. Here’s some more info on the new context usage breakdown we recently shipped.

The tools bucket contains the serialized definitions (name + description + JSON parameter schema) of Cursor’s built-in agent tools — Read, Write, Edit, Shell, Grep, Task, etc. We send those to the model on every turn, so the agent knows what it can call, which is why they show up before you’ve typed anything.

MCP tools live in a different bucket. MCP server tools are tracked under a separate “MCP” category, not “Tools.” So having no plugins and deactivating MCPs wouldn’t lower the “Tools” number — those two buckets count entirely different things.

 ![Screenshot 2026-05-11 at 4.37.50 PM](https://us1.discourse-cdn.com/cursor1/original/3X/c/a/cad66a12e675a925fb68214b54e00ce893b8db4e.png)

Why your teammate’s number is lower a gap that size between two people on the same project is not small, but it could be explained by the following:

- Different Cursor version — we roll new and refined tools out gradually, so different builds can have meaningfully different toolsets. Worth comparing `Cursor → About Cursor` on both machines.
- Different agent mode — Agent mode ships the full toolset; Ask is much leaner. If their screenshot was from Ask, that alone could explain most of the gap.

For background, this breakdown UI shipped in [Cursor 3.3](https://forum.cursor.com/t/context-usage-breakdown/159913) and is documented [here](https://cursor.com/docs/agent/prompting#context-usage) — it’s surfacing prompt overhead that’s always been there, just newly visible.

If you’re still concerned, you can send a screenshot from your teammates Cursor instances (as well as the respective versions that you’re both on) and we can take a closer look if you’d like.

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_[View the full topic](https://forum.cursor.com/t/tools-context-to-high-with-no-plugins-and-no-mcps/160301)._