GitHub MCP lead pushes back: 12M tool calls a week say the context problem is implementation, not protocol
marlene_zw · x · 2026-09-17
Sam Morrow, who works on the GitHub MCP Server, responds to Mario Zechner's "What if you don't need MCP?", arguing critics conflate the laziest MCP implementation with the protocol itself.
The critique: Zechner showed two MCP servers exposing 47 tools consuming 32k tokens could be replaced by four bash scripts and a 225-token README.
The rebuttal: MCP doesn't force dumping every tool into the system prompt or prevent piping results — those were default implementation choices made because almost nobody applied serious context engineering to MCP.
First-hand numbers: The GitHub MCP Server has 100+ tools (40 by default) and serves nearly 12 million tool calls a week. The team watched agents get worse at using GitHub as tools proliferated, and constantly hears "why not just use gh CLI?".
His Pi-MCP fork demos the fix: progressive disclosure everywhere, checkpointed tool calls, and skills that can load tools. He sees value in CLIs, Skills and MCP alike.
Related event: GitHub MCP maintainer defends MCP: 12M weekly calls, no context problem(4 posts)→
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