Printablesmith

Tracing worksheet

make_tracing_worksheet

Read-onlyIdempotent

Make a printable handwriting tracing worksheet: names, words or short sentences in dotted or gray letters to trace, on handwriting lines, in print or cursive. Perfect for a child’s name, sight words or letters. Up to 20 lines of up to 30 characters.

Tool call template

Replace each placeholder with a value matching the input schema. Only required parameters are included; add optional parameters as needed.

{
  "id": 1,
  "jsonrpc": "2.0",
  "method": "tools/call",
  "params": {
    "arguments": {
      "lines": "<lines>"
    },
    "name": "make_tracing_worksheet"
  }
}

Input Schema

Name	Required	Description
`size`	No	Letter size: large (preschool), medium or small.
`lines`	Yes	What to trace, one line each (a name, a word or a short sentence). Every line, a name included, is part of the link.
`model`	No	Start each row with a solid model to copy.
`paper`	No	Paper size: letter (US Letter, the default; US and Canada) or a4 (everywhere else).
`style`	No	dots: dotted letters; gray: light gray letters to trace over.
`title`	No	The title printed at the top of the sheet, e.g. "Practice My Name". Keep it short.
`guides`	No	Handwriting guide lines.
`repeat`	No	Repeat the word along the row.
`letters`	No	print or cursive.
`blank_row`	No	Add an empty row after each, to write on their own.
`decoration`	No	A themed border with matching pictures, drawn around the sheet: "line" for a plain border, "none" for nothing, or a theme such as halloween, christmas, thanksgiving, spring, dinosaurs, space, ocean, animals, birthday, back-to-school (95 themes; find_printables shows a theme’s name). Leave out for no border.
`letter_case`	No	As typed, all upper or all lower case.
`dyslexia_font`	No	Print in OpenDyslexic, a typeface some readers with dyslexia find easier.
`rows_per_line`	No	How many tracing rows each line gets (0 fills the page).

Output Schema

Name	Required	Description
`url`	Yes	The sheet on printablesmith.com, every setting filled in: open it to adjust, download the PDF or print
`seed`	No	The seed that rebuilds this exact sheet
`maker`	Yes	Which maker drew it, e.g. wordSearch
`notes`	Yes	Things worth knowing about this sheet
`title`	Yes	The sheet title
`playUrl`	No	Where a child can solve it on a screen (word search, crossword, maze, sudoku)
`summary`	Yes	What the sheet is
`settings`	Yes	The address settings, as the maker reads them

Schema Changelog

Changes observed during successful MCP inspections.

First observedNov 11, 2026

TDQS

A3.5/5.0

Behavior3/5

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

Annotations already declare readOnlyHint, idempotentHint, destructiveHint=false and openWorldHint=false, so the safety profile is covered and the bar is lower. The description adds the output format (printable worksheet) and the capacity ceiling, but mostly restates option choices already in the schema and says nothing about cost, generation time, or how decoration themes are resolved.

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

Conciseness4/5

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

Three short sentences, front-loaded with the core purpose, then the audience, then the hard limits. The middle 'Perfect for a child's name...' sentence is the weakest — mildly promotional — but it still carries usage signal, so little is wasted.

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

Completeness4/5

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

An output schema exists and annotations are rich, so the description needn't explain return values or safety. Between the description and the fully documented 14-parameter schema, an agent has what it needs; only the absence of sibling routing and the vague decoration-theme handoff to find_printables keep it from 5.

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

Parameters3/5

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

Schema description coverage is 100% with 14 well-documented parameters including 5 enums, so the schema carries the semantic load and baseline 3 applies. The description's prose ('dotted or gray letters', 'handwriting lines', 'print or cursive') gives a useful mental grouping of style, guides and letters, but adds no format or interaction detail beyond the schema.

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

Purpose4/5

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

Names a concrete verb and artifact — 'Make a printable handwriting tracing worksheet' — and specifies the content domain (names, words, short sentences in dotted or gray letters on handwriting lines, print or cursive). That is enough to separate it from make_spelling_worksheet or make_math_worksheet by resource alone, though it never explicitly contrasts with a sibling.

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

Usage Guidelines3/5

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

Provides use-case framing ('Perfect for a child's name, sight words or letters') and hard limits (up to 20 lines of up to 30 characters), which implies when it fits. It gives no when-not guidance and never points to an alternative tool such as make_spelling_worksheet for drill-style practice.

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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