CIO questions · Data, legacy & integration
Does MCP replace APIs?
The short answer
No. MCP standardizes how models and agents discover and use tools and resources. APIs remain fundamental system-to-system contracts. In enterprise architecture, MCP can expose a capability to an agent while an API, event or driver performs the underlying integration.
How to decide
- MCP: how agents discover and use tools
- APIs, events and drivers: how systems talk
- MCP exposes the capability; the integration runs underneath
The Onni principle
Protocols change. Capabilities remain.
The architecture behind it
- Agent
- MCP
- Capability
- API · Driver
- System