VetAid — VA Claim Intelligence

VA M21-1 manual change log

va_manual_changes

Read-onlyIdempotent

Recent changes to the VA M21-1 adjudication manual and its sibling VBA manuals — the changelog VA does not publish. VetAid archives every KnowVA article version weekly and diffs them; each change carries what was added and removed, a link to the current official article, and the conditions and claim topics it touches. Use this when asked whether a VA rule changed recently, or when a claim's stage (exams, nexus, TDIU, SMC, effective dates, Higher-Level Review, Supplemental Claims, Board appeals) may be affected.

Args:
    condition: optional condition keyword to filter by (e.g. 'ptsd', 'hearing').
    topic: optional claim topic: tdiu, smc, effective_date, cue, hlr, supplemental_claim,
        board_appeal, intent_to_file, presumption, secondary, exams, nexus, lay_evidence,
        strs, dic, pension, pact, reduction, duty_to_assist, rating_schedule.
    since: optional ISO date (YYYY-MM-DD); only changes whose new version is dated on/after it.

Input Schema

TableJSON Schema

Name	Required	Description	Default
`since`	No
`topic`	No
`condition`	No

Schema Changelog

Changes observed during successful MCP inspections. Dates show when Glama detected each change.

First observedSep 6, 2026

TDQS

A4.8/5.0

Behavior5/5

Does the description disclose side effects, auth requirements, rate limits, or destructive behavior?

Annotations already mark the tool as readOnly, idempotent, and non-destructive, and the description adds meaningful provenance and behavior: VetAid archives and diffs KnowVA articles weekly, and each change includes additions, removals, a link, and related conditions/topics. It also clarifies that this is a changelog VA itself does not publish, which sets accurate expectations.

Agents need to know what a tool does to the world before calling it. Descriptions should go beyond structured annotations to explain consequences.

Conciseness5/5

Is the description appropriately sized, front-loaded, and free of redundancy?

The description is front-loaded with the core purpose, then a concise use-case sentence, then a structured Args section. The topic list is long but necessary given the schema has no enum, and every sentence contributes information.

Shorter descriptions cost fewer tokens and are easier for agents to parse. Every sentence should earn its place.

Completeness5/5

Given the tool's complexity, does the description cover enough for an agent to succeed on first attempt?

With no output schema, the description still explains what each returned change contains and how the since filter behaves, giving an agent enough to invoke and interpret the tool. Minor details like ordering or pagination are not essential for this read-only lookup.

Complex tools with many parameters or behaviors need more documentation. Simple tools need less. This dimension scales expectations accordingly.

Parameters5/5

Does the description clarify parameter syntax, constraints, interactions, or defaults beyond what the schema provides?

Despite 0% schema description coverage, the Args section fully compensates: condition gets keyword semantics and examples, topic gets an explicit list of valid values, and since gets format and filter semantics. This is exactly the meaning the bare schema string fields lack.

Input schemas describe structure but not intent. Descriptions should explain non-obvious parameter relationships and valid value ranges.

Purpose5/5

Does the description clearly state what the tool does and how it differs from similar tools?

The description names the exact resource (VA M21-1 and sibling VBA manual changes) and the operation (reading a changelog of weekly diffs). It clearly distinguishes itself from sibling tools by centering on change history rather than condition intelligence or evidence guidance.

Agents choose between tools based on descriptions. A clear purpose with a specific verb and resource helps agents select the right tool.

Usage Guidelines4/5

Does the description explain when to use this tool, when not to, or what alternatives exist?

It explicitly states when to use the tool: when asked whether a VA rule changed recently or when a claim's stage may be affected, with a concrete list of affected stages. It does not provide explicit when-not or alternative tool routing, so it stops short of a 5.

Agents often have multiple tools that could apply. Explicit usage guidance like "use X instead of Y when Z" prevents misuse.

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TDQS

A4.4/5.0

Disambiguation3/5

Most tools have clear individual roles, and the personal workflow tools are unambiguous. However, va_condition_intelligence overlaps with va_denial_stats, va_evidence_that_wins, and va_top_authorities, since it also reports outcome shares, evidence associations, and cited authorities, so selecting the right tool often depends on carefully reading the long descriptions.

Naming Consistency4/5

All names use lower_snake_case and are readable, with a consistent verb-first pattern for personal tools (get_my_*, list_my_*, run_my_*) and a va_ prefix for public data tools. The mix of verb-first and noun-phrase names is a minor inconsistency, but the two families are predictable and internally consistent.

Tool Count5/5

Nine tools is a well-scoped count for this domain. Each tool maps to a meaningful operation: four cover the personal case-analysis workflow and five cover aggregate VA data intelligence, with no obvious bloat at the tool-count level.

Completeness4/5

The surface covers the core lifecycle: list cases, check credits, run an analysis, retrieve the analysis summary, and query the main public intelligence areas (outcomes, evidence, authorities, and manual changes). Minor gaps exist, such as no explicit analysis-status endpoint for the 5-8 minute run and no separate condition-level denial-reason tool, but agents can work around these.

Resources

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