list_agents

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

With no annotations, the description carries the full behavioral burden. It discloses sort order (newest first) and implies pagination, but says nothing about permissions, rate limits, or what happens to the archived/active split. The word "List" weakly implies read-only, which is the only safety signal available.

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 compact fragments, front-loaded with the core action and scope. Nothing is padded, though the dangling "Filter triage queue" clause is under-specified rather than economical.

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 simple, fully-schema-documented list tool with no output schema, the description is minimally adequate: ordering and version are covered. It is incomplete in that the triage-queue filtering claim is never operationalized and no return-shape or pagination behavior is described.

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 limit, cursor, and includeArchived are already fully documented in the schema — the baseline of 3 applies. The description adds no parameter-level meaning and never connects "triage queue" to any of the three fields.

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?

States a specific verb and resource ("List Cloud Agents") and adds scope detail (v1, newest first) that distinguishes it from the sibling list_agents_v0. The trailing "Filter triage queue" fragment is too terse to fully explain what the tool does, but the core purpose is unambiguous.

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?

No explicit when-to-use or when-not-to-use guidance, and no alternative is named despite list_agents_v0, get_agent, and archive_agent being plausible siblings. "Filter triage queue" hints at a triage use case but never explains the condition or which parameter triggers it.

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