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Hot take: is MCP just a wrapper over the REST API?

@skeptic_samjoined Feb 2025, 48 posts5 days agoDebate

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 replies

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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skeptic_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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mcp_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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