[oneseventwonine]

For the Agent to use CLI, don't we have to install CLI in the run-time environment first? Instead for the MCP over streamable HTTP we don't have to install anything and just specify the tool call in the context in't it?

[tptacek]

This rolls up to my original point. I get that if you stipulate the agent can't run code, you need some kind of systems solution to the problem of "let the agent talk to an API". I just don't get why that's a network protocol coupling the agent to the API and attempting to capture the shape of every possible API. That seems... dumb.

[kasey_junk]

Environments where it’s hard to install and configure cli tools and where you want oauth flows.

That is mcp for coding agents is dumb. For gui apps installed at non-cli using non-permissive endpoints it makes a lot of sense.

[tptacek]

Right, this is the part of the problem I get, but a universal meta-API seems like they're overshooting it by a lot.

[kasey_junk]

The argument that mcp is poorly designed is different than “just use cli” which is further different than mcp is a dead end.

I agree mcp is bad as a protocol and likely not what solves the problem long term. But clearly the cli focus is an artifact of coding agents being the tip of the iceberg that we are seeing for llm agent use cases.