[Ep 081] What Is an MCP App? MCP’s First Official Extension, Explained

MCP Apps let an MCP server return a working interface along with the data: a sortable table, a forecast model, a diagram, a button that kicks off the next step. 𝗧𝗶𝗺 𝗛𝗮𝗿𝘁𝗶𝗻𝗴 and 𝗚𝗮𝘃𝗶𝗻 𝗙𝗿𝗮𝗻𝗸𝗹𝗶𝗻 of Cirrius Solutions explain what the extension does, what runs under the hood, and where it is already showing up in real work. 𝗪𝗮𝘁𝗰𝗵 𝗡𝗲𝘅𝘁 For more on MCP, orchestration, and building agents that hold up in production, head to the 𝗖𝗶𝗿𝗿𝗶𝘂𝘀 𝗧𝗮𝗹𝗸: 𝗔𝗴𝗲𝗻𝘁𝗶𝗰 𝗔𝗜 playlist. 𝗞𝗲𝘆 𝘁𝗮𝗸𝗲𝗮𝘄𝗮𝘆𝘀 🎯 A plain MCP call returns data the model has to format on its own. An MCP App returns the data plus an HTML interface, with filtering, sorting, search, and interactive buttons, defined by whoever hosts the server. 🎯 Under the hood it is the server injecting returned data into HTML, and that interface can talk to the model and back to the server without leaving that same locked-down loop. 🎯 On token cost, Gavin’s observation so far is that the extra input is small, and a well-designed interface can remove follow-up turns entirely, since a user filters a table instead of asking the model to re-read a CSV. 🎯 Early use cases: data exploration across large sets, scenario and sales-forecast modeling, media and diagram rendering, and interfaces where 𝒚𝒐𝒖 𝒅𝒐𝒏’𝒕 𝒆𝒗𝒆𝒏 𝒏𝒆𝒄𝒆𝒔𝒔𝒂𝒓𝒊𝒍𝒚 𝒏𝒆𝒆𝒅 𝒕𝒐 𝒌𝒏𝒐𝒘 𝒘𝒉𝒂𝒕 𝒕𝒐 𝒂𝒔𝒌. 00:00 Introduction to MCP Apps and Agentic AI 00:36 Introduction to MCP Apps 02:07 Understanding MCP Apps and Their Functionality 05:12 Use Cases and Examples of MCP Apps 09:11 Security and Token Usage in MCP Apps 12:36 Future of MCP Apps and Their Impact 16:53 Conclusion and Reflections on AI Evolution 17:47 Introduction to Cirrius Talk and GenTic AI 18:16 Understanding Token Spend and User Interaction 𝗟𝗶𝗻𝗸𝘀 & 𝗿𝗲𝘀𝗼𝘂𝗿𝗰𝗲𝘀 Tim Harting on LinkedIn:   / timothy-harting   Gavin Franklin on LinkedIn:   / gavin-franklin-067247170   Episode page (access to the artifact) https://cirriussolutions.com/podcast/... Greg Banks on LinkedIn:   / greg-banks-9785197   Jason Fowler Music: https://www.jasonfowlermusic.com/ Cirrius Solutions: https://cirriussolutions.com/podcast Agentic AI Episodes: https://cirriussolutions.com/podcast/... For follow-up questions: CirriusTalk@CirriusSolutions.com 𝗚𝘂𝗲𝘀𝘁 𝗶𝗻𝗳𝗼 𝗧𝗶𝗺 𝗛𝗮𝗿𝘁𝗶𝗻𝗴 is COO of Cirrius Solutions and 𝗚𝗮𝘃𝗶𝗻 𝗙𝗿𝗮𝗻𝗸𝗹𝗶𝗻 is its Head of Custom Development, the two regular voices on 𝗖𝗶𝗿𝗿𝗶𝘂𝘀 𝗧𝗮𝗹𝗸: 𝗔𝗴𝗲𝗻𝘁𝗶𝗰 𝗔𝗜. Cirrius is a Salesforce shop working through Salesforce’s hosted MCP service, and Gavin’s team is already implementing scenario-modeling and forecasting interfaces on 𝗠𝗖𝗣 𝗔𝗽𝗽𝘀.