My README said 80 tools. My code had 96. Nobody noticed for weeks.

I run an open-source MCP server. It exposes browser-automation tools to AI coding agents — click this, read that page, fill this form. The README has a big proud table: "80 tools." It's in the tagline. It's in the nav anchor. It's in the alt text of the social-preview image. It's in two comparison tables. It's even in the pre-written tweet text for the share button.

Eighty. Eighty everywhere.

Last week I ran a boring audit — just diffing what the README claims against what the code actually registers at startup. The code registered 96.

Not 80. Ninety-six. The number had been wrong in nine different places, and I'd been the one typing it each time.

How a number rots