common-publish-item

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

Annotations only declare readOnlyHint=false and destructiveHint=false; the description adds genuinely new context by explaining that on SitecoreAI publishing goes to Edge on Sitecore's cloud servers and silently fails to have a target on a local dev CM. That is meaningful behavioral information beyond the structured fields. It stops short of covering permissions, async/job behavior, or failure modes, so it is not a 5.

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

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

Two sentences, with the core action front-loaded and the environment caveat second, so nothing is buried. The second sentence is somewhat long and dash-laden, but every clause carries information an agent needs, so it earns its place.

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

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

For a 12-parameter mutation tool with no output schema, the description covers the environment caveat but says nothing about what the call returns (e.g., whether a job id comes back when asJob is set), nor does it differentiate from the near-duplicate publishing sibling. It is adequate but has clear gaps given the tool's complexity.

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

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

Schema description coverage is 100%, so the schema already documents all 12 parameters (id/path, target, publishMode, asJob, etc.), which sets the baseline at 3. The description's Edge/cloud remark indirectly illuminates the 'target' parameter (the default 'web' database does not exist on SitecoreAI), but it adds no syntax or parameter-level guidance beyond that.

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

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

The description uses a specific verb+resource ('Publishes a Sitecore item'), so the core action is unambiguous. However, the sibling list contains a near-identical tool, 'authoring-publish-item', and the description does nothing to distinguish the two, leaving the agent unable to choose between them from the text alone.

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

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

It gives a useful environmental condition ('works on deployed environments but a local development CM has no publishing target'), which is an implicit when-not. But it offers no positive when-to-use guidance and no routing to alternatives such as authoring-publish-item or authoring-publishing-status, so the sibling-selection problem is left open.

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