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    MCP is "uninteresting" for software development

    Kent C. Dodds
    Kent C. Dodds

    A summary of the video is below (written by AI):

    People sometimes assume that because I’m excited about MCP, I must be most excited about using it for coding tools. I get it. There is a lot happening there right now, and some of it is genuinely impressive.

    Cloudflare’s latest MCP server work is a great example. Reducing token usage dramatically and supporting code mode in the server is a big deal. Improvements like that address real shortcomings people have been pointing out from the beginning.

    So when I say MCP for software development is "uninteresting," I mean that relatively. It is still interesting. I’m just comparing it to something I think is much bigger.

    The part I find most compelling is MCP for consumer and B2B products, where non-technical users get the benefit through agents. That’s where this gets wild.

    Tools like ChatGPT and Claude are making it easier to bring MCP servers directly into conversations. In the right moments, they can also surface UI to support the workflow. Sometimes that UI is custom-built. Sometimes it could be generated. Sometimes you don’t need it at all.

    That flexibility matters because modern models are multimodal. You can do things like take a photo of a label, let the model understand what it sees, and then call your MCP server to store or transform the right data. That’s a really powerful user experience I don’t have to fully build by hand if I adopt the protocol well.

    This is why software-development use cases, while cool, feel like "meh" in comparison for me personally. Developer tooling will keep improving, and I’m glad it is. But the larger upside is what MCP enables for end users and businesses.

    I do use MCP in developer contexts too. I’ve built servers for my learning material, including one for Epic Workshop, and I’m actively working on another project called Epic Agent. But I’m also waiting for larger platforms to keep deepening agent integrations so these systems can collaborate more seamlessly.

    And that’s already happening.

    If you look at ChatGPT apps and what Anthropic is doing with Claude and MCP apps, you can feel the direction. The future here is not subtle. MCP is becoming a practical bridge between models, products, and real workflows.

    So yes, MCP for development is interesting. But compared to what’s opening up in consumer and B2B experiences, it’s not the main event.

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    Hey, my name is Kent C. Dodds, and you might know me as the MCP guy because I'm always talking about how MCP is going to take over the world and everything. Well, I try to avoid being hyperbolic, but I am very excited about MCP. And I wanted to talk a little bit about why I think that MCP for software development is a little bit relatively uninteresting to me. Now, I know there are a lot of really cool things that are coming out, even just today as I record this, Cloudflare came out with their new MCP server that is just amazing, reduces token use by a huge amount, using code mode in the server, Very cool stuff.

    And I knew that this was going to happen. I've been talking about that on epicai.pro. You look at my post there. And I acknowledge the shortcomings that exist with MCP. But I know that those things are things that can be resolved, and that's happening.

    It's very exciting. So why do I say that MCP for software development is uninteresting? Well, I'm saying it's relatively uninteresting, because it is still pretty interesting. But what makes it relatively uninteresting is I'm comparing it to MCP for consumer or MCP for business to business sort of products. So things that are intended to be used by agents of non-technical users.

    Now there are lots of use cases for MCP, but the one that I focus on is that. And what's so interesting about that is, especially what ChatGPT and Cloud are both doing with MCP apps in particular, in making it really easy to bring an MCP server into the conversation and in situations where it makes sense, show some UI. That is really exciting to me. And like potentially that UI could be generated or maybe not. Sometimes UI is not necessary, Sometimes it is.

    Because the model is multi-modal, you can do all kinds of things. You could look at a couple of my demos recently of some MCP servers that I've made where I use chat GPT to take a picture of a label and then have chat GPT call my MCP server to put some information in. That's a pretty cool thing that I didn't have to build for my app, but I have that user experience offered because I'm using this standard protocol. So that's why I'm really excited about it. Yes, it's cool for development stuff, but it's way, way more powerful and has way more potential for end users.

    And so when people ask me, hey Kent, what are the MCP servers that you're using all the time? Well, I'm using a couple and I've actually made some for my learning material and stuff. There's an Epic Workshop MCP server. I'm actively working on another really cool one called Epic Agent that you're going to hear about in the future. And so yeah, I do have some that are kind of developer focused, but I'm waiting primarily for the bigger players to build their own integrations with agents to make that, like your people talk to my people and like make that experience a lot better.

    And that's happening. It is happening. You take a look at what's going on with chat GPT and chat GPT apps and what Anthropic is doing with Clawd and the MCP apps there. This is going to be a pretty exciting future. So yeah, MCP for development is a big meh for me compared to what's happening in the consumer and B2B world right now.

    So anyway, look forward to that.