Colour Memory

Search Colours by Concept or Culture

query_conceptual

Read-only

Ask a cultural, historical, or material colour question. Returns named archive colours with provenance and cultural context. Works for abstract queries like 'grief' (returns Ophelia Violet, Titan's Grief), 'toxic Victorian pigments' (returns Nightshade Poison Berry Purple, Victorian Arsenic Mirror Silver), or 'the sea at dusk' (returns Evening Sea, Thames Blue Dusk). Even a vague or personal-sounding query never comes back empty -- result_path in the response tells you honestly whether this was a 'direct' hit, a 'broadened' retry (relaxed match threshold), or a 'redirected' fallback (dropped an archive restriction or switched to full-corpus semantic search).

Input Schema

TableJSON Schema

Name	Required	Description
`query`	Yes	The colour concept or cultural question to search for
`archive`	No	Optional: restrict to a named archive e.g. 'Japan', 'Pigment', 'OttomanEmpire'
`n_results`	No	Number of results (default 5)

Output Schema

TableJSON Schema

Name	Required	Description	Default
No arguments

TDQS

A4.7/5.0

Behavior5/5

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

Beyond the readOnlyHint, the description reveals that vague queries never come back empty and that result_path distinguishes 'direct', 'broadened', and 'redirected' hits. It discloses fallback strategies such as relaxing match threshold, dropping archive restriction, or switching to full-corpus semantic search. This is rich behavioral context with no annotation contradiction.

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 purpose in the first two sentences and uses examples efficiently to illustrate abstract queries. Every sentence earns its place, including the behavioral fallback note about result_path. Length is justified by the need to convey nuanced behavior.

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?

Given the simple 3-parameter schema, the presence of an output schema, and the readOnlyHint, the description is sufficiently complete. It covers purpose, usage context, and behavioral fallback logic without needing to explain return values. An agent can reliably predict tool behavior for both concrete and abstract queries.

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

Parameters4/5

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

Schema coverage is 100%, so the baseline is 3. The description enriches the query parameter with realistic examples and clarifies that the archive parameter can be dropped during a redirected fallback. It does not add much about n_results, but the schema already describes that parameter adequately.

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?

Description clearly states the tool accepts cultural, historical, or material colour questions and returns named archive colours with provenance and cultural context. Concrete examples like 'grief' and 'toxic Victorian pigments' differentiate it from sibling tools such as query_hex or archive_search. This is a specific verb+resource with strong sibling differentiation.

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?

The opening 'Ask a cultural, historical, or material colour question' plus numerous query examples provide clear context for when to use this tool. It does not explicitly name alternatives or exclusions, so it falls short of a perfect score, but the examples and fallback description make the intended usage obvious.

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

All Colour Memory tools Inspect

Try in Browser

RayrunBuild, deploy, and operate MCP servers without becoming an infrastructure team.ray.runAd

Glama MCP Gateway

Add one secure layer between your agents and this server.

TDQS

A3.6/5.0

Disambiguation2/5

Several tool clusters perform near-identical functions: extract_image_colours, image_palette and palette_extract all extract dominant colours from images; colour_passport, colour_dna, colour_metrics and colour_cultural_risk all profile a single hex; and at least six compound 'complete package' tools (agent_brief, archive_report_brief, brand_report, design_session, image_brief, session_brief) overlap heavily in scope. The descriptions try to differentiate -- some even point to tool_guide for routing -- but the volume and similarity of clusters makes misselection likely.

Naming Consistency4/5

The vast majority of tools follow a clear domain_prefix_suffix pattern (colour_, palette_, archive_, brand_, accessibility_, project_) and within families naming is very disciplined (brand_guideline_specify/select/pdf/claims/status, project_get/list/versions/delete). However, a handful of outliers invert the order (extract_image_colours, ingest_image, render_colour_result, query_hex) and some descriptions reference tools that don't exist as endpoints (palette_from_concept, match_paint_system, get_colour_metrics).

Tool Count1/5

88 tools is far beyond any reasonable single-server surface, even for a platform spanning archives, branding, interiors and accessibility. The sheer number forces agents into a massive decision space, and many tools exist purely as convenience wrappers that replace chains of 3-6 other tools, suggesting aggressive consolidation was needed.

Completeness4/5

The surface covers an unusually broad domain -- archive search, colour science, palettes, branding, interiors, accessibility, image extraction, projects, and PDF/Word/Excel exports -- with very few dead ends for end-user workflows. Minor gaps: several compound-tool descriptions reference tools that no longer exist, and valid archive names are only discoverable via error messages rather than a dedicated listing endpoint.

Resources

Need Help?