When does MCP make sense?

Bill Doerrfeld | September 11, 2025

When does using MCP make sense? My latest for The New Stack cuts through the hype to answer this loaded question head-on.


The general consensus is that MCP is a "force multiplier" for indeterministic workflows, novel integrations, and giving AI coding agents context on the fly.


But for more predictable automation, typical CLI commands or API integrations are going to be more reliable in the long run. Anything else is probably overengineering.


Also, one key best practice: You shouldn't be mapping APIs one-to-one — MCP tools should model user intents and consider natural language.


My piece goes a bit deeper and looks at some emerging MCP server success stories at GitHub, Atlassian, Red Hat, and beyond.


This is definitely an evolving area, but I hope this piece tries to make sense of when it's best to put MCP to use!

Read: When Is MCP Actually Worth It?

5 official MCP servers from major clouds

By Bill Doerrfeld • February 18, 2026
My latest on InfoWorld reviews MCP servers from 5 major cloud providers

6 agentic knowledge base styles in practice

By Bill Doerrfeld • February 18, 2026
How are organizations actually using agentic knowledge bases in practice? My article for The New Stack looks at six emerging patterns.
eBPF in Production Report

Report: eBPF In Production

By Bill Doerrfeld • February 12, 2026
My report for the eBPF Foundation explores enterprise eBPF case studies, production deployments, and real business outcomes across cloud-native environments.
Close-up of whole bean coffee Bottomless

I’m a fan of Bottomless coffee

By Bill Doerrfeld • February 10, 2026
Longtime Bottomless user sharing why I love automated coffee delivery triggered by a smart scale, plus a referral link for a free first bag.

Tips and tricks to reduce MCP token bloat

By Bill Doerrfeld • February 5, 2026
MCP servers can quickly drain context windows without guardrails. Thankfully, there are ways around this, say the experts.

The state of AI agents in finance

By Bill Doerrfeld • February 4, 2026
It may seem like AI agents are suddenly doing everything across industries. But in reality, the pace of agentic AI is moving carefully, and very deliberately, in highly regulated environments like finance and banking.

Should AI agents scrape or integrate external data?

By Bill Doerrfeld • February 3, 2026
My latest feature for InfoWorld explores when it makes sense to scrape public web sources, and when official API integrations are the better choice for external data.

Going nano with software updates

By Bill Doerrfeld • January 30, 2026
What does it mean to go nano with your software updates — to "carve with a scalpel" instead of swinging a hammer? For my latest DirectorPlus piece, I caught up with Chainguard VP Dustin Kirkland to dig into that idea.

API standards: foundational for agentic AI

By Bill Doerrfeld • January 27, 2026
I recently moderated a webinar that brought together three luminaries in the API community to discuss the importance of API standards in agentic AI development.

Reviewing Port of Context (pctx)

By Bill Doerrfeld • January 26, 2026
The more folks use MCP servers in development, the more they’re realizing it can lead to runaway token usage, unpredictable response sizes, and flooded context windows.