5 ms·

> The fact that you need to write a client for your client is... correct me if im wrong, but isnt that a proxy? why is everyone calling it a server

mooreds 1y ago
Yes! It's a proxy that might modify results on the way in or out, which proxies can do. Could also be called a gateway, which feels a bit more accurate. The same way API gateways perform additional services like rate-limiting and authentication and billing, an MCP gateway abstracts the services behind it and adds context such that an LLM can more easily interact with them.
- mooreds 1y ago
  More here (not my post, someone I know wrote this): https://hookdeck.com/blog/mcp-gateway https://hookdeck.com/blog/mcp-gateway
- cyanydeez 1y ago
  in this case, people are arguing it's a MITM attack, obscured by the MCP
eddythompson80 1y ago
Yeah it is a proxy. I feel that in general we always use the term proxy as short for transparent proxy, while "server" is a bit more general purpose. If you squint hard enough you can call almost any server a proxy. An FTP server is a proxy for data on disk. Github.com is a proxy for a git repo. But yeah, saying "MCP is a proxy to your application" might be more insightful than "MCP is a client to your application"
- lazystar 1y ago
  "server" implies that the content being served has the same owner/same scope of control and trust. the sysadmin of an ftp server is the one owning the disk that the ftp server uses; github.com controls the repos that are available on the github site. i think this whole "mcp security is terribad" thing spawns from the incorrect categorization of the thing as a "server" - if it were instead called a proxy, the rabble would die down.
runeb 1y ago
In relation to the client (AI Agent), the MCP server is serving resources like tools, but in relation to your platform that hosts the API those tools call, it is a client.
- lazystar 1y ago
  exactly, a proxy has tools but no content.

mooreds 1y ago

Yes! It's a proxy that might modify results on the way in or out, which proxies can do. Could also be called a gateway, which feels a bit more accurate. The same way API gateways perform additional services like rate-limiting and authentication and billing, an MCP gateway abstracts the services behind it and adds context such that an LLM can more easily interact with them.

mooreds 1y ago
More here (not my post, someone I know wrote this): https://hookdeck.com/blog/mcp-gateway https://hookdeck.com/blog/mcp-gateway
cyanydeez 1y ago
in this case, people are arguing it's a MITM attack, obscured by the MCP

eddythompson80 1y ago

Yeah it is a proxy. I feel that in general we always use the term proxy as short for transparent proxy, while "server" is a bit more general purpose. If you squint hard enough you can call almost any server a proxy. An FTP server is a proxy for data on disk. Github.com is a proxy for a git repo. But yeah, saying "MCP is a proxy to your application" might be more insightful than "MCP is a client to your application"

lazystar 1y ago
"server" implies that the content being served has the same owner/same scope of control and trust. the sysadmin of an ftp server is the one owning the disk that the ftp server uses; github.com controls the repos that are available on the github site. i think this whole "mcp security is terribad" thing spawns from the incorrect categorization of the thing as a "server" - if it were instead called a proxy, the rabble would die down.

runeb 1y ago

In relation to the client (AI Agent), the MCP server is serving resources like tools, but in relation to your platform that hosts the API those tools call, it is a client.

lazystar 1y ago
exactly, a proxy has tools but no content.