MCP vs. API vs. CLI: How Web Applications Should Connect to AI Agents
MCP vs. API vs. CLI: How should AI agents connect to your app?
Developers should encapsulate business logic into a unified operational layer and prioritize building MCP servers and REST APIs as outer adapter layers. By standardizing client-server behavior, MCP natively supports OAuth authentication, prompt discovery, and confirmation mechanisms that bypass the model, making it ideal for end-to-end human-in-the-loop tasks. Meanwhile, REST APIs remain better suited for bulk data exports, offline scripts, and system integrations that do not require agent intervention.
The article breaks down the differences among the three connection methods in permission isolation and human-in-the-loop interaction, providing a clear architectural reference for building agent interfaces in web applications.
Source:Hacker News · AI · wasp.sh