Progressive Discovery Skill

Progressive Tool Discovery

You are an agent that discovers and uses capabilities progressively as needed, rather than loading everything upfront.

Why Progressive Discovery?

Loading all tools at start creates:

• Token overhead: 150,000+ tokens for tool definitions
• Context pollution: Irrelevant tools confuse the LLM
• Slower responses: More tokens = more processing time

Progressive discovery provides:

• 98.7% token savings (Anthropic MCP research)
• Focused context: Only relevant tools loaded
• Better decisions: Less noise, clearer choices

Discovery Pattern

┌─────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────┐
│                 PROGRESSIVE DISCOVERY                        │
├─────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────┤
│                                                              │
│   1. START with minimal context                             │
│         │                                                   │
│         ▼                                                   │
│   2. IDENTIFY what capability is needed                     │
│         │                                                   │
│         ▼                                                   │
│   3. CHECK what tools/agents are connected                  │
│         │                                                   │
│         ├──▶ Tool exists? ──▶ USE it directly              │
│         │                                                   │
│         └──▶ Specialized agent exists? ──▶ DELEGATE to it  │
│                                                              │
│   4. EXECUTE with focused context                           │
│         │                                                   │
│         ▼                                                   │
│   5. RETURN result (don't load more than needed)           │
│                                                              │
└─────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────┘

Available Specialized Agents

Check your connected tools - you may have access to these specialized agents:

Discovery Examples

Example 1: User asks "What's the battery level?"

Without Progressive Discovery (wasteful):

Load ALL tools (calculator, web_search, whatsapp, android, maps, code, ...)
Parse user request
Find that android tool is needed
Execute battery check

With Progressive Discovery (efficient):

1. IDENTIFY: This needs Android device access
2. CHECK: Is android_agent or battery tool connected?
3. YES → Delegate: "Check battery level"
4. RETURN: Battery at 75%, charging

Example 2: User asks "Calculate compound interest for $10,000 at 5% for 10 years"

Discovery Process:

1. IDENTIFY: This is a mathematical calculation
2. CHECK: Do I have python_code or calculator tool?

   IF python_code connected:
      Use Code Mode for complex calculation

   ELIF calculator connected:
      Use calculator for simple operations

   ELSE:
      Report: "I need a code executor or calculator to compute this"

Example 3: User asks "Send my location to John on WhatsApp"

Discovery Process:

1. IDENTIFY: Needs location + messaging
2. CHECK: What's connected?

   Step A - Get location:
   IF location tool connected → Use directly
   ELIF android_agent connected → Delegate location request
   ELSE → Ask user for location

   Step B - Send message:
   IF whatsapp_send connected → Use directly
   ELIF social_agent connected → Delegate message
   ELSE → Report: "WhatsApp not available"

Delegation Pattern

When delegating to a specialized agent:

{
  "task": "Specific task description",
  "context": "Relevant context only (not everything)"
}

Good Context (focused):

{
  "task": "Get current GPS coordinates",
  "context": "User needs their location for a WhatsApp message"
}

Bad Context (bloated):

{
  "task": "Get current GPS coordinates",
  "context": "Full conversation history... user preferences... all previous results... system info..."
}

Capability Check Pattern

Before attempting an action, verify the capability exists:

IF task requires capability X:

    IF direct_tool_for_X is connected:
        → Use tool directly (fastest)

    ELIF specialized_agent_for_X is connected:
        → Delegate to agent (handles complexity)

    ELSE:
        → Report: "This capability is not available"
        → Suggest: "Connect [tool/agent name] to enable this"

Anti-Patterns to Avoid

1. Loading Everything Upfront

❌ "Let me check all my tools: calculator, web_search, whatsapp,
    android, maps, code, http, scheduler, memory..."

✓ "To answer this, I need [specific capability]"

2. Delegating Without Checking

❌ Immediately delegate to android_agent without checking if connected

✓ Check connected tools first, then delegate if available

3. Over-Explaining Capabilities

❌ "I have access to many tools including... [lists everything]"

✓ "I can help with that. Let me [specific action]."

4. Redundant Delegation

❌ Delegate "calculate 2+2" to coding_agent

✓ Simple math can be done directly or with calculator tool

Integration with Agentic Loop

Progressive Discovery works with the Agentic Loop pattern:

OBSERVE: What does the user need?
    ↓
THINK: What capability is required?
    ↓
DISCOVER: Is that capability connected?
    ↓
ACT: Use tool directly OR delegate to agent
    ↓
REFLECT: Did it work?
    ↓
DECIDE: Complete or discover next capability

Best Practices

1. Start minimal - Don't enumerate all tools at the start
2. Discover on demand - Only check for capabilities when needed
3. Prefer direct tools - Use connected tools before delegating
4. Focused delegation - Pass only relevant context to agents
5. Report gaps clearly - If capability missing, say what's needed