Continue + Corcava MCP: Plan Tasks and Keep Context Inside Your Dev Loop

Use Continue with Corcava MCP over SSE to plan and execute tasks efficiently. This guide shows you how to create weekly plans, keep context minimal, and reduce tool calls for optimal performance with Continue's SSE-based MCP transport.

What This Workflow Accomplishes

Weekly planning with Continue and Corcava MCP enables efficient task management:

Key Outcomes

SSE-based planning: Use Server-Sent Events for efficient communication
Minimal context: Keep prompts focused to reduce overhead
Reduced tool calls: Batch operations to minimize requests
Dev loop integration: Plan and execute within your development workflow
Efficient workflows: Optimized for Continue's SSE transport

Prerequisites

Before using this workflow, ensure you have:

Continue installed and configured with Corcava MCP
Corcava API key with read/write access to tasks
SSE transport configured for remote MCP server
Tasks with due dates set in Corcava

Set up Continue with Corcava MCP →

Step-by-Step Workflow

Step 1: Create Weekly Plan (Minimal Context)

Generate a weekly plan with a focused prompt:

Efficient Weekly Plan Prompt

"List tasks due this week. Group by project. Show: title, due date, status. Prioritize top 5."

What Continue does:

Calls list_tasks with due date filter
Groups results by project
Presents focused weekly plan
Minimal tool calls, efficient SSE streaming

✓ Optimized: Single list_tasks call, focused output

Step 2: Execute Tasks (Reduced Tool Calls)

Work on tasks with minimal tool call overhead:

Efficient Task Execution Prompt

"Get task [ID]. Update status to in_progress. Add comment: 'Starting implementation'."

What Continue does:

Calls get_task for task details
Calls update_task to change status
Calls add_task_comment with progress note
All operations streamed efficiently over SSE

✓ Optimized: Batched operations, minimal context

Keeping Context Minimal

Best Practices for Minimal Context

Be Specific: Use task IDs instead of descriptions when possible
Single Purpose: One prompt, one goal—avoid multi-step requests
Batch Operations: Group related operations in one prompt
Avoid Redundancy: Don't repeat information already in task data
Use Filters: Filter tasks at the tool level, not in prompts

Example: Minimal vs Verbose

✓ Good (Minimal Context):

"List tasks due this week. Top 5 priorities."

→ 1 tool call, focused output

⚠ Avoid (Too Verbose):

"First, list all my projects. Then for each project, list all tasks. Then filter for tasks due this week. Then group them. Then prioritize them. Then show me the top 5."

→ Multiple tool calls, unnecessary context

Reducing Tool Calls

Strategies to Reduce Tool Calls

Use Filters: Filter at tool level (e.g., due_date: "this_week")
Batch Operations: Combine multiple updates in one prompt
Avoid Loops: Don't ask AI to iterate—use tool filters instead
Single Queries: One comprehensive query vs multiple small ones

Example: Efficient vs Inefficient

✓ Efficient (1 Tool Call):

"List tasks due this week with status 'open' or 'in_progress'."

→ Single filtered query

⚠ Inefficient (Multiple Calls):

"List all tasks. Then filter for due this week. Then filter for open or in_progress."

→ Multiple tool calls, inefficient

Complete Workflow Prompts

Here are optimized prompts for Continue's SSE transport:

Weekly Plan (Optimized)

"Tasks due this week. Group by project. Top 5 priorities."

Use this when: Creating weekly plan with minimal overhead

Task Execution (Batched)

"Task [ID]: update to in_progress, add comment 'Starting work'."

Use this when: Starting work on a task

Progress Update (Minimal)

"Task [ID]: add comment 'Completed [summary]'."

Use this when: Logging progress

Continue-Specific Considerations

SSE Transport Best Practices

Streaming Responses: SSE streams responses, so keep prompts focused
Connection Stability: SSE connections can drop—handle reconnects gracefully
Minimal Context: Less context = faster streaming = better performance
Tool Call Efficiency: Reduce tool calls to minimize SSE overhead
Error Handling: Be prepared for SSE disconnects and retries

Handling SSE Disconnects

⚠️ SSE Connection Issues

If SSE connection drops during planning:

Retry Prompt: Simply re-run the same prompt
Check Connection: Verify Continue can reach Corcava MCP server
Network Issues: Check firewall/proxy settings
Timeout Handling: Use shorter, focused prompts to avoid timeouts

SSE troubleshooting guide →

Troubleshooting

SSE Connection Failed

Symptom: Tool calls fail or timeout

Possible causes:

Network connectivity issues
Firewall blocking SSE connections
Proxy configuration problems

Fix: Check network, verify SSE endpoint accessible

SSE troubleshooting →

Too Many Tool Calls

Symptom: Slow responses, timeouts

Possible causes:

Verbose prompts causing multiple tool calls
Not using filters at tool level
Iterating over tasks instead of filtering

Fix: Use focused prompts, filter at tool level, batch operations

Related Resources

Continue Setup

Configure Corcava MCP in Continue

Weekly Planning Use Case

General weekly planning workflow

SSE Troubleshooting

Fix SSE connection issues

Pagination Guide

Reduce tool calls with pagination

Plan Efficiently with Continue

Use Continue with Corcava MCP over SSE for efficient weekly planning

Set Up Continue →Weekly Planning Guide