Product Hunt · AIJun 21, 2026, 01:14 UTC+8

Conduit: a local gateway that cuts AI agent tool-list overhead by ~90%

Conduit

Adding more MCP servers slows AI agents because every server dumps its full tool list into context on each request—3 servers cost ~24k tokens before any prompt. Conduit sits as a local gateway between the agent and MCP servers, exposing 3 meta-tools the agent searches on demand instead of loading every tool. Measured: 97% less tool overhead per request, ~90% fewer total tokens, same task success rate. API keys stay in the OS keychain, no phoning home. Works with 17 clients across Windows, macOS, and Linux. Free and open source. The post doesn't list which MCP servers or clients are supported, nor the full benchmark setup.

Why it matters: A practical fix for MCP tool-list bloat with measured 97% overhead reduction, directly useful for developers building MCP agents. Score capped because it's a Product Hunt launch rather than a formal product release, and the post doesn't disclose the gateway's own compute overh...

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Take

This caught my eye because it fixes a problem anyone using multiple MCP servers runs into: every server dumps its full tool list into context on every request. Three servers cost about 24k tokens before you even type a prompt. At Claude Sonnet pricing, that's a few cents per request just for tool definitions, and the model forgets them between calls so you pay again next time.

Conduit's fix is straightforward—a local gateway between the agent and MCP servers that exposes only 3 meta-tools the model searches on demand, instead of loading everything upfront. Measured: 97% less tool overhead per request, ~90% fewer total tokens, same task success rate. API keys stay in the OS keychain, no phoning home. Free, open source, works on Windows, macOS, Linux, and supports 17 clients.

I'd discount this a bit: the post doesn't list which MCP servers or clients are supported, and the full benchmark setup isn't shown. But the idea is solid—MCP's tool discovery really needs a smarter routing layer if you're running more than a couple servers. If you're already at 3+ MCP servers, this is worth a try.

Source: Product Hunt · AI · producthunt.com
Published: Jun 21, 2026, 01:14 UTC+8 · Jun 21, 2026