diff --git a/Makefile b/Makefile
index 77cc29e7..dd0a7de9 100644
--- a/Makefile
+++ b/Makefile
@@ -27,9 +27,8 @@ build: $(VENDOR_STAMP)
 	GOFLAGS=$(GOFLAGS) go build ./...
 
 lint: $(VENDOR_STAMP)
-	@command -v golangci-lint >/dev/null || (echo "golangci-lint not found; use nix develop" && exit 1)
-	GOFLAGS=$(GOFLAGS) golangci-lint run ./...
-	GOFLAGS=$(GOFLAGS) golangci-lint fmt --diff
+	GOFLAGS=$(GOFLAGS) go tool golangci-lint run ./...
+	GOFLAGS=$(GOFLAGS) go tool golangci-lint fmt --diff
 
 vuln: $(VENDOR_STAMP)
 	@command -v govulncheck >/dev/null || (echo "govulncheck not found; use nix develop" && exit 1)
diff --git a/internal/app/mcpapp/server_test.go b/internal/app/mcpapp/server_test.go
new file mode 100644
index 00000000..4189bbcb
--- /dev/null
+++ b/internal/app/mcpapp/server_test.go
@@ -0,0 +1,29 @@
+package mcpapp
+
+import (
+	"testing"
+
+	k8sfake "k8s.io/client-go/kubernetes/fake"
+)
+
+func TestNewServerDoesNotPanic(t *testing.T) {
+	t.Helper()
+
+	k8sClient := mustNewFakeClient(t)
+	clientset := k8sfake.NewClientset()
+	if clientset == nil {
+		t.Fatal("expected non-nil clientset")
+	}
+
+	defer func() {
+		recovered := recover()
+		if recovered != nil {
+			t.Fatalf("expected NewServer not to panic, got %v", recovered)
+		}
+	}()
+
+	server := NewServer(k8sClient, clientset)
+	if server == nil {
+		t.Fatal("expected non-nil MCP server")
+	}
+}
diff --git a/internal/app/mcpapp/tools.go b/internal/app/mcpapp/tools.go
index e6c853ae..6c65778f 100644
--- a/internal/app/mcpapp/tools.go
+++ b/internal/app/mcpapp/tools.go
@@ -50,12 +50,24 @@ type getControlPlaneStatusInput struct {
 	Name      string `json:"name"`
 }
 
+// NOTE: We cannot return metav1.Condition directly because metav1.Time embeds
+// time.Time, which causes jsonschema-go schema inference to fail for MCP tool
+// schemas.
+type controlPlaneConditionSummary struct {
+	Type               string `json:"type"`
+	Status             string `json:"status"`
+	Reason             string `json:"reason,omitempty"`
+	Message            string `json:"message,omitempty"`
+	ObservedGeneration int64  `json:"observedGeneration,omitempty"`
+	LastTransitionTime string `json:"lastTransitionTime,omitempty"`
+}
+
 type getControlPlaneStatusOutput struct {
-	ObservedGeneration int64              `json:"observedGeneration"`
-	ReadyReplicas      int32              `json:"readyReplicas"`
-	URL                string             `json:"url"`
-	Phase              string             `json:"phase"`
-	Conditions         []metav1.Condition `json:"conditions"`
+	ObservedGeneration int64                          `json:"observedGeneration"`
+	ReadyReplicas      int32                          `json:"readyReplicas"`
+	URL                string                         `json:"url"`
+	Phase              string                         `json:"phase"`
+	Conditions         []controlPlaneConditionSummary `json:"conditions"`
 }
 
 type listControlPlanePodsInput struct {
@@ -293,7 +305,7 @@ func registerTools(server *mcp.Server, k8sClient client.Client, clientset kubern
 			ReadyReplicas:      controlPlane.Status.ReadyReplicas,
 			URL:                controlPlane.Status.URL,
 			Phase:              controlPlane.Status.Phase,
-			Conditions:         controlPlane.Status.Conditions,
+			Conditions:         summarizeMetav1Conditions(controlPlane.Status.Conditions),
 		}, nil
 	})
 
@@ -873,6 +885,29 @@ func desiredReplicas(replicas *int32) int32 {
 	return *replicas
 }
 
+func summarizeMetav1Conditions(in []metav1.Condition) []controlPlaneConditionSummary {
+	if len(in) == 0 {
+		return nil
+	}
+
+	out := make([]controlPlaneConditionSummary, 0, len(in))
+	for _, cond := range in {
+		summary := controlPlaneConditionSummary{
+			Type:               cond.Type,
+			Status:             string(cond.Status),
+			Reason:             cond.Reason,
+			Message:            cond.Message,
+			ObservedGeneration: cond.ObservedGeneration,
+		}
+		if !cond.LastTransitionTime.IsZero() {
+			summary.LastTransitionTime = cond.LastTransitionTime.Time.UTC().Format(time.RFC3339Nano)
+		}
+		out = append(out, summary)
+	}
+
+	return out
+}
+
 func sanitizeControlPlanePodListLimit(limit int64) int64 {
 	if limit <= 0 {
 		return defaultControlPlanePodListLimit