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One confusing thing to me was the word "server". An "MCP server" is a server to the LLM "client". But the MCP server itself is a client to the thing it's connec
by defaultcompany 1y ago
One confusing thing to me was the word "server". An "MCP server" is a server to the LLM "client". But the MCP server itself is a client to the thing it's connecting the LLM to. So it's more like an adapter or proxy. Also I was confused because often this server runs on your local system (although it doesn't have to). In my mind I thought if they're calling it a server it must be run in the cloud somewhere but that's often not the case.
- ljlolel 1y agoReminds me of X11server
- iLoveOncall 1y agoMCP is supposed to support both concepts of a local and a remote server, but in practice most have opted to build local servers and the tooling basically only supports that which is a shame and, in my opinion, a nonsensical choice that basically only has downsides (you need to maintain the local server, your customers need to install it, you have to remain retro-compatible with your local server, etc.). This just continues to reinforce my feeling that everything around vibe coding and GenAI-first work is extremely shortsighted and poor quality.
- throwaway314155 1y agoRemote server implementations would naturally invite a number of jailbreak data exfiltration exploits, no?
- iLoveOncall 1y agoNot more than what local servers do. You don't seem to understand what MCP is. Regardless of whether the MCP "server" is local or remote, it is JUST a wrapper around APIs. It's basically a translation layer to make your APIs adhere to the MCP spec, that's it. Whether that wrapper's code runs on your laptop or a remote server changes nothing in terms of data exfiltration capabilities. If anything, it would make it more secure to have a remote server since at least you'd have full control over the code that's calling your API.
- throwaway314155 1y agoRight but at least in the case of a local instance, the risk profile is shifted to the use of the computer. A less than ideal situation for sure, but on the other hand a user should be able to do just about anything they want to with hardware they own.
- iLoveOncall 1y agoI'm talking about MCP servers that call 3rd party APIs, like your local MCP server calling the Jira instance of your company, the Google Maps API, etc. Obviously local MCP servers make sense to interact with applications that you have installed locally, but that's by far not their only use.