Fix MCP search tools using outdated dates in date-range parameters
The SEARCH instruction in the tool preprompt contained the phrase "use actual
year for past events, not today's year" which LLMs interpreted as a blanket
prohibition against using the current year. This caused search tools (e.g. Exa)
to fill date-range parameters like startPublishedDate/endPublishedDate with
stale dates from the model's training data instead of the current date.
Changes:
- Add ISO 8601 formatted date (e.g. 2026-02-25) alongside the human-readable
date so models can directly use it in tool parameters without reformatting
- Replace ambiguous "not today's year" phrasing with clear positive directives:
use historical years for past events, use today's year for current topics
- Explicitly instruct models to use today's date as the end date for any
date-range parameters unless the user specifies otherwise
https://claude.ai/code/session_01DmqK4Lmm7Uv41oHV3HqWpT