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Hot take: is MCP just a wrapper over the REST API?
Genuine question, not trolling. If a platform already has a good REST API, what does an MCP server add other than a different envelope? My agent can already call the API.
#mcp#api#agents
3 comments
data_driven_devEngineer· 5 days ago
It's a wrapper, but the wrapper is the point. MCP gives the agent tool discovery (it learns what actions exist), consistent auth (OAuth 2.1 + PKCE), and a uniform interface across vendors. You stop hand-writing per-API glue and the agent reasons about tools instead of endpoints.
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Replyskeptic_sam· 5 days ago
Tool discovery is a fair point. I hadn't thought about the agent not knowing the schema up front.
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Replymcp_maxxerDiscussion· 4 days ago
Also read-only mode is a first-class concept in the good MCP servers. That alone makes it safer than handing an agent a raw API key.
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