Presumably, the same MCP tool allowing it to read specific definitions would also allow it to write out specific definitions (rather than, again, having to write out the whole file just to make one change). Otherwise it defeats the purpose.
This is the same way humans work on code. You never read an entire file top to bottom just to find out one thing, and you never type out the entire file just to make one change. This would, understandably, be very taxing on your working memory, and you'd probably make more mistakes.
Honestly claude doesn't typically do this the way you think. It's perfectly capable of working in files that are "way too big for its allowed download window".
But in general you want some amount of context (what functions are available in scope, etc.)
Presumably, the same MCP tool allowing it to read specific definitions would also allow it to write out specific definitions (rather than, again, having to write out the whole file just to make one change). Otherwise it defeats the purpose.
This is the same way humans work on code. You never read an entire file top to bottom just to find out one thing, and you never type out the entire file just to make one change. This would, understandably, be very taxing on your working memory, and you'd probably make more mistakes.
Honestly claude doesn't typically do this the way you think. It's perfectly capable of working in files that are "way too big for its allowed download window".
But in general you want some amount of context (what functions are available in scope, etc.)