Flat Earth Science

Flight distance

get_flight_distance

Read-onlyIdempotent

Calculates the great-circle distance between two places in kilometres, miles and nautical miles, with the initial and final compass bearings. Each end is one of the website's 20 cities or a latitude and longitude.

Tool call template

This tool declares no required parameters. Add optional parameters from the input schema as needed.

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

Input Schema

Name	Required	Description
`to`	No	Arrival city, one of Anchorage, Auckland, Buenos Aires, Cape Town, Dubai, Johannesburg, Lima, London, Los Angeles, Mexico City, Moscow, Mumbai, Nairobi, New York, Perth, Santiago, São Paulo, Singapore, Sydney or Tokyo. Not needed when toLatitude and toLongitude are given.
`from`	No	Departure city, one of Anchorage, Auckland, Buenos Aires, Cape Town, Dubai, Johannesburg, Lima, London, Los Angeles, Mexico City, Moscow, Mumbai, Nairobi, New York, Perth, Santiago, São Paulo, Singapore, Sydney or Tokyo. Not needed when fromLatitude and fromLongitude are given.
`toLatitude`	No	Arrival latitude in degrees, north positive: -90 to 90.
`toLongitude`	No	Arrival longitude in degrees, east positive: -180 to 180.
`fromLatitude`	No	Departure latitude in degrees, north positive: -90 to 90.
`fromLongitude`	No	Departure longitude in degrees, east positive: -180 to 180.

Output Schema

Name	Required	Description	Default
`item`	Yes
`view`	Yes
`request`	Yes

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 safety is well covered. The description adds the closed-world constraint of 20 named cities, but it does not disclose anything beyond that, and its output summary is largely redundant with the existing output schema.

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?

Two sentences with no filler, leading with the core action and outputs before the input constraint. Slightly overloaded by listing every output unit, but still tight and front-loaded.

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 full schema coverage, an output schema, and annotations covering safety and world-openness, the description covers what an agent needs to call it correctly. The only shortfall is lack of routing guidance relative to siblings like compare_flat_map_distance.

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%, including the full city enumeration and lat/long ranges, so the baseline is 3. The description restates the city-or-coordinates choice without adding format details such as units or precedence rules beyond what the schema already states.

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?

States a specific verb and resource ('Calculates the great-circle distance between two places') and names the outputs (km, miles, nautical miles, initial and final bearings). It implicitly contrasts with compare_flat_map_distance via 'great-circle' but never names or distinguishes siblings explicitly.

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?

The sentence 'Each end is one of the website's 20 cities or a latitude and longitude' tells the agent what inputs are valid, which is usage-relevant. However, it gives no when-to-use versus alternatives guidance (e.g. flat-map comparison vs great-circle) and no exclusions.

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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