AnthropicTool Design and MCP Integration

Tool Design & Schema — CCAR-F Practice Question

A representative Claude Certified Architect - Foundations (CCAR-F) exam question on Tool Design & Schema. Work through it below, then read why each option is right or wrong.

Short answer

The correct answer is C. Split it into narrow intent-revealing tools with typed parameters, validation, and explicit error contracts.

Narrow tools reduce ambiguity and make authorization and validation specific to each operation. A broad free-form mutation surface is difficult to reason about safely.

The Question

A tool named `manage_account` accepts a free-form action string and a large untyped payload. Claude frequently forms unsafe calls. What redesign is best?

AAdd more optional fields
BMake the description longer but keep the interface
CSplit it into narrow intent-revealing tools with typed parameters, validation, and explicit error contractsCorrect
DAllow arbitrary shell commands instead

Why C is correct

Narrow tools reduce ambiguity and make authorization and validation specific to each operation. A broad free-form mutation surface is difficult to reason about safely.

Why the other options are wrong

Option A: Add more optional fields

Option A does not satisfy the requirement in the scenario. Review the explanation above: the correct choice (C) is the only one that fully meets every constraint stated in the question.

Option B: Make the description longer but keep the interface

Option B does not satisfy the requirement in the scenario. Review the explanation above: the correct choice (C) is the only one that fully meets every constraint stated in the question.

Option D: Allow arbitrary shell commands instead

Option D does not satisfy the requirement in the scenario. Review the explanation above: the correct choice (C) is the only one that fully meets every constraint stated in the question.

Key idea: Tool Design & Schema

Narrow tools reduce ambiguity and make authorization and validation specific to each operation. A broad free-form mutation surface is difficult to reason about safely. On the CCAR-F exam, questions in the "Tool Design and MCP Integration" domain test whether you can map a scenario's constraints to the right choice. Read the requirement carefully, eliminate options that violate any single constraint, and pick the one that satisfies all of them with the least operational overhead.

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