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Treasury Tic

by io.github.pipeworx-io
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Tic Foreign Holdings

tic_foreign_holdings
Read-onlyIdempotent

Foreign holdings of U.S. long-term securities by country and month, from U.S. Department of the Treasury's Treasury International Capital (TIC) System, Table 1: U.S. Long-Term Securities Held by Foreign Residents. Covers Treasury securities, agency bonds, corporate bonds and corporate equity, each with holdings, net U.S. purchases/sales and a valuation-change breakdown. Pass "country" for one country's recent history (e.g. "Japan", "China"); omit it for a ranking of the largest foreign holders of U.S. securities in a given month (default: most recently published). Monthly cadence, published with roughly a 6-week lag. Answers "how much does Japan hold in US securities", "who are the biggest foreign holders of US stocks and bonds", "has China been buying or selling US Treasuries".

Example tool call

This call uses example arguments supplied in the tool’s input schema.

{
  "id": 1,
  "jsonrpc": "2.0",
  "method": "tools/call",
  "params": {
    "arguments": {
      "limit": 5
    },
    "name": "tic_foreign_holdings"
  }
}

Input Schema

NameRequiredDescriptionDefault
limitNoRanking mode: how many countries to return (1-50, default 20). Country mode: how many recent months of history (1-60, default 12).
monthNoYYYY-MM. Omit for the most recently published month.
countryNoCountry name, e.g. "Japan", "China", "United Kingdom". Omit for a cross-country ranking.

Schema Changelog

Changes observed during successful MCP inspections.

  1. First observed

TDQS

A4.3/5.0
Behavior4/5

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

Annotations already declare read-only, idempotent, non-destructive, open-world behavior, so the safety profile is covered. The description adds genuinely useful context beyond them: monthly cadence, a roughly 6-week publication lag, and the default-to-most-recent-month behavior, which matters for interpreting recency.

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?

Front-loaded with the dataset identity, then mode behavior, then cadence, then example questions. Dense and mostly waste-free, though the enumerated security categories and the trailing question list make it longer than strictly necessary.

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?

With no output schema, the description does the work of explaining what is returned (holdings, net purchases/sales, valuation-change breakdown per security type). Combined with the mode and cadence notes, an agent has enough to call it correctly; only the relationship to the sibling tool is unaddressed.

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 baseline is 3, but the description adds meaning by explaining that "limit" means different things per mode (country count in ranking mode vs months of history in country mode) and that omitting "country" switches modes entirely. This mode-switching semantics is the key invocation insight.

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?

States a specific resource (foreign holdings of U.S. long-term securities by country and month), names the exact source table (TIC Table 1), and enumerates the security categories and metrics covered. An agent can tell precisely what data comes back without opening the schema.

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?

Explicitly explains the two operating modes: pass "country" for one country's history, omit it for a cross-country ranking of largest holders, and gives worked example queries. It does not, however, distinguish itself from the sibling tic_major_treasury_holders, which appears to cover overlapping ground.

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

All Treasury Tic toolsInspect
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