Teaching MCP Servers New Tricks: Challenges in Tool Discovery – AI Native Dev
July 24, 2025
You’ve probably noticed a pattern when you try new LLM-backed or adjacent tools, especially in the developer space. Once you get oriented, the first few interactions are delightful. You start to gain an instinct for what the tool can do. Then you begin to explore the boundaries, either out of curiosity or necessity, and you find them faster than you’d like. Suddenly, the delight wears off, and the boundaries feel a bit constraining.
I felt this way writing an MCP server for a CLI tool I recently built. Having used a few and gone through Anthropic’s quickstart tutorial, I still wasn’t 100% sure what to expect. I found the process equal parts magical and frustrating. I want to share a few things I learned along the way that might help anyone approaching MCPs for the first time.
Source: Teaching MCP Servers New Tricks: Challenges in Tool Discovery – AI Native Dev
Whether you’re stil contemplating your first MCP server, or have been exploring the possibilities already, Macey Baker’s piece will provide food for thought about the value they can deliver and how to achieve it.
