List OneNote sections

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

readOnlyHint=true and openWorldHint=true already tell the agent this is a safe, live-data read, so the description's burden is lower. It adds one genuinely useful behavioral nuance — that notebook scope includes nested section groups while section_group scope is direct-only — but says nothing about result ordering, volume, or pagination.

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?

A single sentence that front-loads the verb and resource and stacks the optional scopes in order of breadth. No filler sentences; every clause carries scoping information.

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 zero-required-parameter read tool with three fully documented parameters and annotations covering safety and open-world access, only the shape of the returned section list is left implicit (and there is no output schema to inherit it from). That is a minor, not blocking, gap.

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 coverage is 100%, so the baseline is 3; the description goes slightly further by clarifying that the notebook path recurses into nested section groups whereas the section_group path does not, a distinction the schema text ('Only sections in this notebook') leaves ambiguous.

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 ('Lists sections') plus the three scoping modes: a whole notebook, a single section group, or a name filter. It is distinguishable from onenote_list_pages and onenote_list_notebooks by resource, though it never names them explicitly.

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?

The description implies its use cases (enumerating sections in a notebook or group, narrowing by name) but gives no explicit when-to-use/when-not guidance and does not point to sibling tools such as onenote_create_section for the write path.

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