From f0994c1219acc89b01cbbb3aeddc43b561c6de4a Mon Sep 17 00:00:00 2001
From: Sawyer Cutler <sawyer@dirtroad.dev>
Date: Wed, 30 Sep 2026 16:38:25 -0700
Subject: [PATCH] refactor(tools): shorten web_fetch and web_search
 descriptions

---
 src/tools/web-fetch.ts  | 2 +-
 src/tools/web-search.ts | 3 +--
 2 files changed, 2 insertions(+), 3 deletions(-)

diff --git a/src/tools/web-fetch.ts b/src/tools/web-fetch.ts
index caa78a4a8..857ab31ec 100644
--- a/src/tools/web-fetch.ts
+++ b/src/tools/web-fetch.ts
@@ -77,7 +77,7 @@ function fetchTimeoutMessage(url: string, seconds: number): string {
 export const webFetchDefinition: ToolDefinition = {
   name: "web_fetch",
   description:
-    "Fetch a web page over HTTP(S) and return its content. Uses built-in Exa MCP by default, or a direct in-process fetch when that built-in is disabled or overridden. Converts HTML to markdown by default. Use for documentation, articles, and other external references. If a pasted URL belongs to a host covered by a connected MCP server, route it through that server via tool_search first, extracting the item identifier from the host-plus-path. web_fetch is for public docs, articles, and external references, not authenticated app surfaces. Use web_fetch when no covering MCP server exists, the MCP call fails, or the page is genuinely public.",
+    "Fetch a public web page (docs, articles) and return it as markdown by default. For a URL on a host a connected MCP server covers, use that server via tool_search first; web_fetch is for public pages, not authenticated apps.",
   inputSchema: {
     type: "object",
     properties: {
diff --git a/src/tools/web-search.ts b/src/tools/web-search.ts
index 73d2949e6..f47541d82 100644
--- a/src/tools/web-search.ts
+++ b/src/tools/web-search.ts
@@ -25,8 +25,7 @@ const WebSearchArgs = type({
 
 export const webSearchDefinition: ToolDefinition = {
   name: "web_search",
-  description:
-    "Search the web. Backed by a keyless hosted MCP provider (Exa by default) — no local API key required unless a provider override with credentials is configured. Returns ranked results as text.",
+  description: "Search the web; returns ranked results as text.",
   inputSchema: {
     type: "object",
     properties: {