Tip: Use Lightweight Skill Files Instead of MCP Tool Definitions to Eliminate Agent Context Overhead

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Google Workspace CLI's architecture demonstrates an alternative to MCP for agent-tool integration: instead of loading massive tool definitions into the agent's context window, agents read a lightweight SKILL.md file (~50 lines), execute a CLI command, and receive clean structured JSON. This 'zero context tax' pattern works for any CLI tool — write a skill file describing available commands, expected inputs, and output format. Agents spend tokens on reasoning, not on parsing tool schemas. Pattern is portable to any agent framework.