Readit Newsath_ray commented on MCP explained without hype or fluff blog.nilenso.com/blog/202... · Posted by u/captn3m0
Can we not just point LLMs at OpenAPI documents and achieve the same result? All of the example functions in the article look like very very basic REST endpoints.
author of the article here.
You can use OpenAPI as well. With MCP however, there's an aspect of AI-nativity that MCP offers that reifies patterns that show up in building integrations that helps building and adoption (Tools, Prompts, Resources etc). It's a different layer of abstraction. There's some things like Sampling that I cannot find an OpenAPI equivalent of easily.
I definitely barely scratched the surface with my example, but it's true that most MCP Servers I have seen and used are basic REST endpoints exposed as tool calls.
That said, the MCP server layer has some design considerations as well, since it's a different layer of abstraction from a REST API. You may not want to expose all the API endpoints, or you may want to encode specific actions in a way that is better understood by an LLM rather than an application that parses OpenAPI.
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I don't intend to induce FOMO into anyone for keeping up. If you don't want to keep up, that's your prerogative.
AI has always been one of the most interesting parts of computer science to me, and watching its capabilities rapidly improve in recent years has been energising for the Hacker in me (the Hacker that this site is named after!). And also the sci-fi nerd in me. But there's a lot of sludge out there, and so this blog started as a list to give a starting point for enthusiastic colleagues and other folks in my circles.
Aside, I generally lament the general cynicism that has taken over this site, and in the industry in general. As technologists, we should be excited about technology. And I don't mean in a performative, uncritical way. It should be a joyful dissection, a desire to learn new things and be there for the breakthroughs. It's also on us to make sure we're trying to do Good with it. I also believe that knowledge is (some) power, and it helps us reclaim some agency that will help us steer technology into a Good place. It doesn't make sense to be anti-technology and anti-curiosity as a tech worker.
We really can make technology fun again. We just have to allow ourselves to be curious about it and I want to enable some of that :)
PS: I have a section in the article that mentions what "reading this list" looks like. It's usually 15-20 minutes of my time every day.