Thread

1. simonw · 1789935881 · focus · HN ↗

   This article entirely misses the value that MCP brings today.

   Sure, there's almost no reason to use MCPs if you are running a full-blown terminal agent (Claude Code, Codex, Meta Muse, OpenClaw etc) with unfettered internet access - just let it call APIs directly.

   If you want to operate something that's less YOLO than that, you'll find yourself wanting:

   1. Control over exactly which external services it can access

   2. A way to handle authentication that doesn't allow the agent to directly access API keys

   3. A sensible UI to allow users to connect and authenticate further services

   4. Strong audit logging for what's going on

   MCP makes all of that so much easier to provide.

   Thinking MCP is obsolete because full coding agents don't need it misses out on all of the other things we might want to build.

   1. 0x696C6961 · 1789936974 · focus · HN ↗

      Even if your agent has internet access, why waste tokens having it re-discover and re-implement its own API client each time? It doesn't make any sense.

      1. jimbokun · 1790002040 · focus · HN ↗

         Did you know that computer programs, once written, can be stored to disk once and run many times?

         1. estetlinus · 1790005439 · focus · HN ↗

            I love the level of sassiness this debate brings forward in people
         2. 0x696C6961 · 1790005740 · focus · HN ↗

            People like you can't seem to comprehend that there are use-cases other than your little local claude code workflow.
         3. nitwit005 · 1790014512 · focus · HN ↗

            Sure, but if you have a staff of 10000, you're doing this 10000 times. Unless you share that in a common place, and now you're re-inventing the thing we're claiming not to need.

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