🤖 Is MCP Really Dead?#
Model Context Protocol (MCP) was hailed as the “USB-C of the AI ecosystem”, but developers using it daily are starting to think differently. 🤔
❌ The Problems with MCP#
1. It Devours the LLM Context Window 🪟 Connecting 4 MCP servers (Linear, Notion, Slack, Postgres) consumes 10.5% of the available context just in tool definitions — before writing a single line of real work.
2. Low Operational Reliability 🐛
- Initialization failures and repeated re-authentication
- Process crashes mid-session
- Slower responses: MCP is 3x slower per call and 9.4x slower on the first call
3. Overlaps with What Already Exists 🔁 LLMs already learned from man pages and StackOverflow. The CLI is already installed, debuggable, and composable.
✅ The Alternatives#
- CLI-First: Give the LLM the commands directly. No definition overhead.
- Skills Pattern: Load only the instructions needed, only when they’re needed.
💡 Explanation in a nutshell#
Imagine that before you can order a coffee, the waiter forces you to read the menus of all 10 restaurants in the building. MCP does something similar: it loads all its tool definitions into the model’s “mind” before you start working. The CLI approach is more direct: you just ask for the coffee you want.
More information at the link 👇
