Universal Tool Calling Protocol (UTCP)

What was covered

• The cost of MCP. Every tool needs its own server, which means upkeep, string-based communication and limits on how far it scales.
• The UTCP idea. There is no wrapper. The agent reads a manual that lists the available tools and how to use them, then calls each tool’s API directly.
• Why it is simple. One configuration file declares the tools, maintenance and risk stay low, and the approach builds on open specifications such as Swagger/OpenAPI.

What came up

• Authentication is the open concern. An agent may need read-only or write-only permissions. The UTCP documentation has a section on it.
• MCP or UTCP? They are not exclusive. Use MCP when you need more control, UTCP when you want something general with little upkeep, and a hybrid when only some parts need control.

Takeaway

If your tools already publish an OpenAPI description, UTCP is worth a trial run before you stand up an MCP server for each one.