Part

Tool access

You might say: MCP servers, skills, agent tools, MCP server, skill

The tools and skills an agent may call during a run. MCP servers let it query or act on outside systems, and skill folders hold repeatable procedures it loads only when a task needs them. Keep the set small, so most of the context window stays free for the task.

What it does
Lets an agent reach systems and procedures it cannot rebuild from the source code alone.
Ask
Which tools does this task need, and which ones only fill the context window or widen what a run can reach?

What to look for

  1. An MCP server list in the agent's configuration
  2. A skills folder with one SKILL.md file per skill
  3. Tool calls in the run's trace

Connections

Sources

  1. Model Context Protocol, Specification 2025-06-18, Tools, ToolsThe Model Context Protocol (MCP) allows servers to expose tools that can be invoked by language models.
  2. Model Context Protocol, Specification 2025-06-18, Tools, ToolsTools enable models to interact with external systems, such as querying databases, calling APIs, or performing computations.
  3. Agent Skills, Specification, SpecificationA skill is a directory containing, at minimum, a SKILL.md file
  4. Agent Skills, Specification, SpecificationAgents load skills progressively, pulling in more detail only as a task calls for it.
  5. Matt Pocock, AI Coding Dictionary, AXAGENTS.md, skills, and tools kept lean, so most of the context window is available for the task
  6. Matt Pocock, AI Coding Dictionary, ToolA function the harness exposes for the agent to call — Read, Write, Bash, Search. Tools are how an agent perceives and acts on the environment: it can't see the environment except through tool results, and can't change it except through tool calls.
  7. Matt Pocock, AI Coding Dictionary, MCPThe agent never "calls MCP"; it calls a tool, and the harness happens to have gotten that tool from an MCP server.
  8. Matt Pocock, AI Coding Dictionary, SkillA teachable capability bundled as a unit — instructions and resources for doing one task well, kept in the environment until a context pointer pulls it into the context window for the task at hand.

Use it on your project

teardown-apply: hold "Tool access" (tool-access) from the teardown at https://teardownatlas.com/software-factory/ against my project

Paste it into a coding agent that has the teardown skills.

An AI agent wrote this map with the teardown skill. It can contain errors: check the sources before you rely on a part. About and legal