Question 1

What is MCP elicitation?

Accepted Answer

MCP elicitation is a standardized feature (elicitation/create) that lets a server pause mid-task and ask the connected user for structured, schema-validated information through the client, instead of guessing a missing value or failing the request outright.

Question 2

Is MCP elicitation a bad practice?

Accepted Answer

No, but it's easy to overuse. Elicitation is the right tool for confirming a destructive action or asking for something only the user can know. It's the wrong tool for filling in a required field your API already knows is required, or for chaining together a multi-step process — both of those are design problems elicitation just papers over.

Question 3

How do I reduce the need for elicitation in my MCP tools?

Accepted Answer

Design each API operation to be atomic and explicit about its required parameters in the OpenAPI spec, so an agent can see what's required before it calls the tool instead of finding out mid-call. For processes that genuinely need multiple steps, define the sequence explicitly with HAPI Workflows (Arazzo) instead of letting the model improvise it through back-and-forth elicitation.

Question 4

What's the difference between elicitation and a multi-step workflow?

Accepted Answer

Elicitation asks a human for one flat, primitive value mid-call, at runtime, on demand. A workflow defines the dependency between steps — 'this step's input comes from that step's output' — as an explicit, deterministic sequence the server executes, with no back-and-forth with the user needed to figure out what comes next.

Question 5

Can HAPI Workflows replace MCP elicitation for multi-step processes?

Accepted Answer

For the class of elicitation that exists only to chain calls together — 'what's the ID from the last step?' — yes. HAPI Workflows, built on the Arazzo specification, let you define that dependency once as data, so the sequence runs deterministically instead of relying on the model to ask and remember it correctly every time.

Question 6

What data can I request through MCP elicitation?

Accepted Answer

The MCP spec restricts elicitation's requestedSchema to flat objects with primitive properties only — strings, numbers, booleans, and enums, no nested objects or arrays of objects. It also explicitly forbids requesting sensitive information through elicitation.

2 publicaciones etiquetados con "Arazzo"

MCP Elicitation Is a Symptom, Not a Strategy

When Not to Use AI: Deterministic Workflows in Production Systems