Make your product’s capabilities accessible to AI clients
Picture this: Your customer is working in ChatGPT, trying to pull data from your API to complete a task. They know your service has exactly what they need, but ChatGPT responds with “I can’t access external APIs directly.” Frustrated, they switch to a competitor who’s made their capabilities AI-accessible.
This scenario is becoming increasingly common as AI agents become a primary interface for how people interact with software. The problem? Most APIs aren’t designed for AI clients, creating a gap in the modern software ecosystem.
The Great Disconnect: APIs vs. AI Agents
Traditional REST APIs were designed for human developers who read documentation, understand authentication flows, and can interpret complex response schemas. AI agents operate differently—they need:
- Semantic descriptions of what each endpoint does
- Structured tool definitions that map to their function-calling capabilities
- Clear parameter specifications with examples and constraints
- Streamlined authentication that doesn’t require manual OAuth flows
Your OpenAPI specification might be perfectly documented for developers, but it’s not optimized for AI consumption. This creates a translation gap that makes your capabilities invisible to the fastest-growing segment of software users.
Enter the Model Context Protocol (MCP)
The industry has recognized this problem, and the solution is emerging: the Model Context Protocol (MCP). Open-sourced by Anthropic and rapidly adopted across major AI platforms, MCP provides a standardized way for AI agents to discover and interact with external tools and services.
Think of MCP as the bridge between your existing APIs and the AI ecosystem. It translates your REST endpoints into agent-consumable tools, complete with:
- Rich semantic descriptions that help agents understand when and how to use each tool
- Structured schemas that ensure reliable function calls
- Built-in error handling that provides meaningful feedback to both agents and users
- Security patterns designed for automated, programmatic access
Try Summon’s playground with your own OpenAPI spec! It takes less than 5 minutes to set up.
Growing Platform Support
Major AI clients are implementing MCP support:
- ChatGPT can connect to MCP servers for enhanced capabilities
- Claude natively supports MCP through Desktop apps
- Microsoft Copilot is integrating MCP for enterprise scenarios
- Google Gemini has announced MCP compatibility
Services that implement MCP gain access to these platforms as users increasingly rely on AI agents for complex workflows.
The Challenge: Building and Maintaining MCP Servers
Creating MCP servers isn’t trivial. It requires:
- Mapping API endpoints to agent-friendly tool definitions
- Crafting effective prompts that guide AI behavior
- Handling authentication securely in automated contexts
- Continuous optimization as APIs evolve and AI models improve
- Testing and debugging agent interactions
Building these integrations requires specialized AI engineering knowledge, and maintaining optimal performance as APIs and LLM behaviors evolve presents an ongoing challenge.
Introducing Summon: Your Bridge to the AI Ecosystem
This is exactly why we built Summon! It’s an open-source, local-first desktop application that eliminates the complexity of creating and maintaining AI-ready integrations.
For Developers
- Automatic generation from OpenAPI specs—no manual mapping required
- Local testing environment with mock servers and debugging tools
- Secure credential management using your OS keychain
- Support for both local and remote MCP connections
For Teams
- Collaboration features for sharing and iterating on tool definitions
- GitHub integration for version control and CI/CD workflows
- Advanced testing across multiple AI clients
- Observability and monitoring for production deployments
For Businesses
- New distribution channels through AI client marketplaces
- Stickier customers whose workflows depend on your integrations
- Reduced engineering overhead with automated optimization
- Enterprise-grade security with audit logs and compliance features
The Opportunity Ahead
AI agents are becoming an increasingly important interface for complex workflows, similar to how mobile apps and cloud APIs transformed software interaction in previous decades. As this trend continues, services that adapt to support AI clients will have an advantage.
The infrastructure is being built now. MCP is gaining momentum and major platforms are implementing support.
Getting Started
The beauty of this transition is that you don’t need to rebuild your entire API. MCP works as a layer on top of your existing infrastructure, translating your current capabilities into AI-accessible tools.
Whether you’re a developer curious about MCP, a product manager evaluating AI readiness, or a business leader planning for the agent economy, now is the time to experiment and prepare.
For Developers & PMs: Download Summon (Open Source) - Generate a first version of your MCP servers from your OpenAPI specs.
For Teams & Enterprises: Contact us - Advanced collaboration, observability, and security features for production deployments.
Join the Community: Star us on GitHub - Help shape the future of AI-API integration.
The shift toward AI agents is underway. Making your APIs accessible to these clients opens new possibilities for how users interact with your service.