API Evangelist Paper · Agentic APIs
Publishing a Public MCP Server
A provider's guide to shipping Model Context Protocol as part of API operations.
About this paper
The Model Context Protocol went from a November 2024 announcement to the default way AI assistants reach external tools faster than almost anything I’ve watched in sixteen years of doing this. This paper is a provider’s guide to shipping MCP as a first-class part of your API operations — not a weekend science project bolted onto the side, but a governed, authenticated, curated surface you publish and maintain like any other interface.
It places you in one of three provider archetypes, then walks the full publishing lifecycle — build, authentication, tool curation, hosting, governance, and distribution — grounded in real public servers rather than the hype. You get the anti-patterns I watch for, a provider self-assessment you can run before you ship, and appendices pointing at live servers and the broader tooling and registry landscape.
What's inside
- Why this belongs in your API operations
- Locate yourself — the three archetypes
- The publishing lifecycle: build, auth, curate, host, govern, distribute
- Anti-patterns I'll be watching for
- Provider self-assessment
- Where this is going
- Appendix A — Servers referenced, on APIs.io
- Appendix B — Tooling, registries, and the broader field
What you get for $25.00
These papers are experience-based and vendor-neutral, distilled from the API Evangelist research at apievangelist.com. Questions before buying? [email protected].
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