https://floconnector.com/blog Writing on MCP, tool design, and connecting AI to the software your business runs on. en Fri, 17 Jul 2026 00:00:00 GMT https://floconnector.com/blog/sql-instead-of-a-sandbox https://floconnector.com/blog/sql-instead-of-a-sandbox Context engineering for MCP has two named answers: deferred loading for too many tools, code execution for too much data. Code execution buys its savings with an agent sandbox. Here's the third answer I built FloConnector on instead, why I think it's the right default, and where it loses. David List Engineering Fri, 17 Jul 2026 00:00:00 GMT https://floconnector.com/blog/what-is-an-mcp-server https://floconnector.com/blog/what-is-an-mcp-server An MCP server is the piece that lets an AI like Claude actually do things in your other software: read a spreadsheet, send an email, raise an invoice. Here's what that means, how it works, and why you probably shouldn't build one yourself. David List Explainer Wed, 15 Jul 2026 00:00:00 GMT https://floconnector.com/blog/deferred-mcp-context-window https://floconnector.com/blog/deferred-mcp-context-window Loading every tool a business might need costs ~72K tokens before the model reads a word. Deferred tools flip that: the model pays only for what it reaches for. How it works, why it isn't part of MCP, and what a server can actually do about its own context cost. David List Engineering Mon, 13 Jul 2026 00:00:00 GMT https://floconnector.com/blog/the-ai-never-sees-your-passwords https://floconnector.com/blog/the-ai-never-sees-your-passwords Connecting an AI to the software your business runs on means handing over the keys to your inbox, your CRM, your calendar. The one thing that should never happen is the AI ever holding those keys. Here's the credential architecture that keeps them out of the model's reach. David List Security Sat, 11 Jul 2026 00:00:00 GMT https://floconnector.com/blog/skills-or-mcp https://floconnector.com/blog/skills-or-mcp The 2026 debate frames Agent Skills and MCP servers as rivals: pick one. They're not rivals. MCPs are verbs; Skills are playbooks. The interesting systems use both, and understanding why tells you a lot about where a hosted connector layer fits. David List Perspective Thu, 09 Jul 2026 00:00:00 GMT https://floconnector.com/blog/tool-overload-progressive-disclosure https://floconnector.com/blog/tool-overload-progressive-disclosure There's a counter-intuitive failure mode in agent design: adding tools past a point makes the model less reliable, not more. Here's why it happens, the numbers behind it, and the progressive-disclosure pattern that lets a workspace run dozens of connectors without paying for it. David List Engineering Sat, 04 Jul 2026 00:00:00 GMT