Code Mode

What it does

When you connect many MCP servers (8-10 servers, 150+ tools), every request would otherwise carry all those tool definitions in the model’s context - burning most of the budget on reading tool catalogs.

Code Mode keeps the context compact: instead of exposing every tool definition, the model discovers tools on demand and writes a short script that orchestrates them in a single request. In the example workload documented below, this reduced token cost and execution time. Those figures are illustrative, not guaranteed; results depend on the model, tools, prompts, sandbox, network, and cache state.

When to Use Code Mode

Enable Code Mode if you have:

✅ 3+ MCP servers connected
✅ Complex multi-step workflows
✅ Concerned about token costs or latency
✅ Tools that need to interact with each other

Keep Classic MCP if you have:

✅ Only 1-2 small MCP servers
✅ Simple, direct tool calls
✅ Latency-sensitive use cases after benchmarking both modes with your workload

You can mix both: Enable Code Mode for “heavy” servers (web, documents, databases) and keep small utilities as direct tools.

Enabling Code Mode

Code Mode must be enabled per MCP client. Once enabled, that client’s tools are discovered on demand and orchestrated through generated code rather than exposed directly.

Best practice: Enable Code Mode for 3+ servers or any “heavy” server (web search, documents, databases).

Enable Code Mode for a Client

Navigate to Agentic → MCP Registry in the workspace sidebar
Click on a client row to open the configuration sheet

In the Basic Information section, toggle Code Mode Client to enabled
Click Save Changes

Once enabled, this client’s tools are no longer exposed directly. Instead, the model discovers them on demand and orchestrates them by writing a short script, keeping the request context compact.

Binding Levels

Code Mode supports two binding levels that control how the model discovers tool definitions. This is a global setting that affects context efficiency, not how you call tools.

Server-Level Binding (Default)

Tool definitions are grouped per server. Best for servers with few tools, or when you want simpler discovery (5-20 tools per server).

Tool-Level Binding

Each tool’s definition is loaded individually. Best for servers with many tools (30+ per server) or large/complex schemas, where you want minimal context bloat.

Configuring Binding Level

Binding level is managed from the Settings tab under Agentic → MCP Registry, and can be viewed in the MCP configuration overview:

Server-level (default): tool definitions grouped per MCP server
Tool-level: tool definitions loaded per individual tool

Auto-Execution with Code Mode

When you run Code Mode under Agent Mode, generated code is eligible for autonomous execution only if every nested tool it calls is listed in tools_to_auto_execute for its server. If the code touches an unlisted tool, the outer request is returned to your application for review.

That list is not an authorization verdict. When canonical GAF is enabled, the outer code-mode meta-call and every nested tool call each require an exact Allow. A Deny, Require-approval, or unavailable dependency aborts execution; shadow mode is not a bypass. In the example below, code that only calls search is eligible for the autonomous loop, while code that calls delete_video is returned to the application for review:

Example:

{
  "name": "youtube",
  "tools_to_execute": ["*"],
  "tools_to_auto_execute": ["search"],
  "is_code_mode_client": true
}

Expected savings at scale

In an illustrative workflow spanning ~10 servers and 150 tools (for example, “find matching products, check inventory, compare prices, get a shipping estimate, create a quote”), Code Mode reduced the example from 8–10 model turns to 3–4 and avoided repeatedly sending thousands of tool-definition tokens. Do not generalize that result without measuring your servers, prompts, selected model, generated code, failures, and concurrency. Include sandbox startup and tool-network time in the comparison.

Next Steps

Agent Mode

Combine Code Mode with auto-execution

Open →

MCP Gateway URL

Expose your tools to external clients

Open →