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ebay_find_active_items

Read-only

Search active eBay marketplace listings by keyword, with filters for category, condition, buying option, and price, plus sorting and pagination to find items to bid on or buy.

Instructions

Search active eBay listings marketplace-wide (not the seller's own inventory). Uses the Buy Browse API item_summary/search with the application access token eBay requires for Browse, minted from client credentials under the basic api_scope. Supports pagination (limit/offset), sort (price, -price, newlyListed, endingSoonest), category restriction, and condition/buying-option/price filters plus a raw Browse filter passthrough. eBay documents that a search without a buying-option filter returns only listings that still offer FIXED_PRICE, so pass buyingOptions: ["AUCTION"] (or ["AUCTION", "FIXED_PRICE"] for both) to be sure of reaching auctions that have taken a bid. Returns cleaned summaries: itemId (feed into ebay_get_item_details), title, price (an auction's current bid when there is no fixed price, with bidCount), condition, buyingOptions, seller and feedback, first advertised shipping cost, auction end date, and listing URL. hasNext is the authoritative pagination signal, derived from the next link in eBay's paged-collection response: page forward by advancing offset in whole limit-sized steps while hasNext is true, and stop as soon as it is false. Neither total nor a short page is a pagination signal — total is eBay's match count for the query and in live testing came back as 0 once offset ran past the available result window, and a page can hold fewer items than limit without being the last one.

Input Schema

NameRequiredDescriptionDefault
sortNoSort order: "price" (asc, price+shipping), "-price" (desc), "newlyListed", or "endingSoonest". Omit for best-match relevance.
limitNoMaximum items to return (1–200). Defaults to 20.
queryYesSearch keywords for active listings (e.g. "iphone 14 pro 256")
filterNoRaw Browse filter expression appended to the generated filters for advanced cases (e.g. "sellers:{user1|user2}").
offsetNoZero-based result offset for pagination. Must be zero or a multiple of limit (eBay pages in whole limit-sized steps). Defaults to 0.
priceMaxNoMaximum price (inclusive).
priceMinNoMinimum price (inclusive).
conditionsNoCondition filters, e.g. ["NEW"], ["USED"], ["CERTIFIED_REFURBISHED"].
categoryIdsNoComma-separated eBay category ids to restrict the search (e.g. "9355").
buyingOptionsNoBuying option filters, e.g. ["FIXED_PRICE"], ["AUCTION"], ["BEST_OFFER"]. eBay documents that a search without this filter returns only listings that still offer FIXED_PRICE, and an auction loses that option once it takes a qualifying bid, so pass ["AUCTION"] (or ["AUCTION", "FIXED_PRICE"] for both) to be sure of reaching auctions.
priceCurrencyNoCurrency for priceMin/priceMax as a 3-letter code (e.g. "USD", "EUR"). Defaults to USD when a bound is set. eBay converts across currencies, but silently drops the entire price filter when the code is not one it recognises: an unsupported code returns unfiltered results rather than an error.

Schema Changelog

Changes observed during successful MCP inspections.

  1. Addedv1.16.0

TDQS

A4.6/5.0
Behavior5/5

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

Annotations only declare readOnlyHint, yet the description discloses auth requirements (application access token minted from client credentials under basic api_scope), the eBay quirk that unbounded searches only return FIXED_PRICE listings, and contradicts naive pagination assumptions by flagging that `total` returned 0 past the result window. This is exactly the behavioural context the annotation does not carry.

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?

Purpose is front-loaded and follows with return shape, paging, and pitfalls in a sensible order. It is dense with no filler, though the pagination paragraph runs long and includes live-testing anecdote that could be tightened without losing meaning.

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

Completeness5/5

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

For an 11-parameter search tool with no output schema, the description covers auth, the API used, the returned fields, pagination contract, and filter pitfalls. An agent has everything needed to call, page, and interpret results correctly.

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 already 100%, so baseline is 3, but the description adds real semantics: how offset interacts with limit and hasNext during paging, and why hasNext (derived from the `next` link) is authoritative over total or short pages. The auction/buyingOptions interaction is reinforced beyond the schema field text.

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 verb and resource — 'Search active eBay listings marketplace-wide' — and immediately disambiguates from the seller's own inventory, which is the key distinguishing axis against siblings like ebay_get_active_listings and ebay_get_inventory_items. It also names the underlying API (Buy Browse item_summary/search), making the tool's behaviour predictable.

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?

Gives concrete conditional guidance: use buyingOptions: ["AUCTION"] to actually reach auctions, and feed itemId into ebay_get_item_details. It excludes the seller-inventory case without naming the sibling tool, so routing is clear but not fully explicit.

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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