[Critical DX Issue] Antigravity IDE Hardcoded MCP Tool Limit (100) & Configuration Fragmentation with Gemini CLI

Google Antigravity
1

Labels: bug, dx, architecture, mcp, antigravity

  1. Environment

  • Gemini CLI Version: v0.41.2
    • Antigravity IDE Version: v1.107.0 (15487b3041e65228cae24980a3f796c905ef582c, x64)
      • OS: Linux (Ubuntu/Server)

      1. Description

    • Currently, there is a critical discrepancy in the Model Context Protocol (MCP) implementation and configuration management between the Gemini CLI and the Antigravity IDE. This causes severe Developer Experience (DX) degradation and prevents the use of official, large-scale MCP servers.
  • There are two main issues:
  1. Hardcoded Max Limit in Antigravity IDE: Antigravity IDE enforces a hard limit of 100 tools per MCP server.
    1. Fragmented Configuration: Gemini CLI and Antigravity IDE do not share the same MCP configuration file.

    1. Detailed Breakdown & Steps to Reproduce

  4. Issue A: The 100-Tool Hardcoded Limit in Antigravity IDE
  5. When loading an MCP server that exposes more than 100 tools (e.g., the official google-workspace-mcp, which has around 110 tools), Antigravity IDE abruptly rejects the server load with an error (e.g., “enabled tools would exceed max limit of 100”).
  • Gemini CLI Behavior: Successfully parses, loads, and utilizes servers with >100 or even >300 tools without any memory or context issues.
    • Antigravity IDE Behavior: Blocks the load entirely. It appears there is a hardcoded MAX_LIMIT = 100 implemented as a safeguard for UI rendering/IntelliSense overhead, which fundamentally breaks enterprise-level MCP usage.
  • Issue B: Siloed Configuration Files
  • To use the same MCP server in both environments, developers are forced to maintain redundant configurations:
  • Gemini CLI: Reads from ~/.gemini/settings.json (under the “mcpServers” block).
    • Antigravity IDE: Reads from a completely isolated path ~/.gemini/antigravity/mcp_config.json. This siloed approach creates synchronization issues, config drift, and unnecessary overhead for developers.

    1. Steps to Reproduce

    1. Install an MCP server containing >100 tools (e.g., google-workspace-mcp).
      1. Add the server config to ~/.gemini/antigravity/mcp_config.json.
        1. Launch Antigravity IDE and observe the connection failure/rejection error regarding the 100-tool limit.
          1. Add the exact same server config to ~/.gemini/settings.json.
            1. Launch Gemini CLI and observe that all 110+ tools are perfectly connected and functional.

            1. Expected Behavior

            • Unified Configuration: Both Gemini CLI and Antigravity IDE should look at a single source of truth for configurations (e.g., a shared omnibus_config.json or syncing settings.json globally).
              • Scalable Tool Limits: Antigravity IDE should remove the hardcoded 100-tool limit. If UI performance is a concern, it should gracefully paginate the UI or load tools dynamically rather than completely rejecting the server initialization.

              1. Business Impact (Why this matters)

            • In an Enterprise / DevSecOps environment, combining Cloud, Workspace, and internal DB MCP servers easily exceeds hundreds of tools. The current fragmentation feels like an incomplete architecture, forcing developers into tedious workarounds (like using jq to merge JSON files manually). Addressing this will drastically improve the developer adoption of Antigravity IDE.