I find the state of MCPs with OpenAI quite confusing:
- As an end-user, you can connect MCPs only with `search` and `fetch` that only work in deep research mode.
- As a developer, you can use MCP with the API and that supports the full set of MCP tools - all tools become available; this shows in the dev playground.
- For Custom GPTs, they support any action, but not MCPs. So if you had a layer to translate MCP to their API spec, it will work. But Custom GPTs with actions only support models 4o and 4.1; so you don't get the benefit of the o-series of models.
Figuring out what works when is harder than it needs to be.
randomjoe2 · 22h ago
OpenAI has fallen behind, way behind. Stop trying to benchmark off openai, it's pointless imo. They're not even playing the same game as everyone else.
lherron · 20h ago
The lack of MCP support in their desktop client is especially disappointing considering everything Anthropic has shipped on Claude Code the last few weeks.
ChatGPT desktop client with only search/fetch MCPs is far, far inferior to CC from a utility/value perspective.
jimmydoe · 18h ago
It feels like they don’t have a good product strategy that matches their engineering throughput.
ascorbic · 23h ago
Has something changed? That seems to be the same page they've had for a couple of months. It's only for deep research mode, and is restricted to Pro and Enterprise.
wunderwuzzi23 · 15h ago
I thought the same, a possible change from past might be the detailed data leakage and attack explanations?
Ironically, I have a blog post drafted that explains this also in detail, and should probably still publish it.
jimmydoe · 17h ago
Same. I thought it’s now available for Plus, but apparently not the case
It’s disappointing they are gating this and browser agent for $100 users, and even for 100, it’s only two tool methods.
cube2222 · 23h ago
The support here is really weird.
If I understand correctly, it requires your MCP server to have exactly two tools - search and fetch.
So this is not really support for MCP in general, as in all the available MCP servers. It’s support for their own custom higher-level protocol built on top of MCP.
asabla · 22h ago
For ChatGPT and DeepResearch yes, not when using the API. I guess you could just return empty results if you want to offer other tools as well (can't test it now, since custom connectors only supports Workspace or PRO accounts for this moment).
Quote we're talking about:
> To work with ChatGPT Connectors or deep research (in ChatGPT or via API), your MCP server must implement two tools - search and fetch.
Yeah I hope they open up support to all MCP tools - this is lame as-is.
varunneal · 23h ago
this guide is just for an example of how to build a single mcp (e.g. a vector store). chatgpt connectors implement mcps in general now
cube2222 · 23h ago
I don’t believe this is the case. Do you have a link for that?
Cause from TFA “To work with ChatGPT Connectors or deep research (in ChatGPT or via API), your MCP server must implement two tools - search and fetch.”
Also, this page is actually the only docs site about MCP they have, and their help articles link to it too.
maxwellg · 23h ago
It is very nice to get MCP support in ChatGPT. OpenAI really fumbled the bag with the OpenAPI-based Custom Actions (or was it Custom GPTs?). The web editor experience was always incredibly buggy, even months after initial release. MCP servers allow us to move nearly all of the tool definition bits into the server codebase itself, so we can change things on the fly / version control / feature flag tools etc. much better.
babyshake · 23h ago
Is it safe to say that MCP has "won" vs. A2A? Or is this a misreading of the situation?
d_watt · 23h ago
They're not directly solving the same problem. MCP is for exposing tools, such as reading files. a2a is for agents to talk to other agents to collaborate.
MCP servers can expose tools that are agents, but don't have to, and usually don't.
That being said, I can't say I've come across an actual implementation of a2a outside of press releases...
miguelxpn · 23h ago
I think they have different use cases. MCP is for tool calling, A2A for agents communicating between themselves.
kinduff · 20h ago
I like how they plugged the MCP support into their existing tools. Pretty smart!
DiabloD3 · 22h ago
I love how they don't actually explain why I (or anyone else) would ever implement their API.
Given how disastrous the AI 'industry' has been, between misappropriating data from customers, performing actions on behalf of customers that lead to data and/or financial loss, and then seeking protection from the law in one or more cases of these, isn't providing an MCP service essentially requiring you to notify customers of a GDPR-or-similar data compromise event at some point in the future when it suddenly but inevitably betrays you?
Like, isn't OpenAI just leading people to a footgun and then kindly asking them to use it, for the betterment of OpenAI's bottom line, which was significantly in the red for FY24?
randomjoe2 · 22h ago
You think they need to convince you on the concept of AIs in this article?
abletonlive · 21h ago
Ah yes, “disastrous” not quoted but felt the need to put into quotation “industry” as if it’s not the biggest shift that has happened in your entire lifetime. That is intellectually dishonest and incongruent with the reality that you live in
DiabloD3 · 17h ago
They said the same thing about crypto. We're still transacting in fiat.
lurking_swe · 17h ago
i guess the big difference is normal people are using LLM’s now in the form of google search AI overview, chatgpt, etc. Do you know “normal” people that use crypto for buying and selling goods?
I know 0. And i work in tech lol.
DiabloD3 · 5h ago
That's not the "big difference" you're looking for, though. I'm the tech person in the lives of many normal people, and they ask me, "Hey, why does Google search suck now? How do I turn off this AI thing that keeps giving wrong information?", as if I know some magic secret switch to turn that off (adding udm=14 to the query URL is too difficult for normal people).
I don't hear anything from people I actually know who are exposed to this stuff being like, "Oh my God, this has massively improved my life and I can't live without it!" No its stuff like, "How do I uninstall Siri off my iPhone? It doesn't work right anymore and can't understand me, and keeps turning itself back on when there is an iOS update."
I don't think any amount of marketing is going to change the fact that the service doesn't work and isn't up to user expectations.
It's undercooked and now its too late to put it back in the oven, so to speak.
abletonlive · 15h ago
This boring comparison keeps being made but you’re orders of magnitude off in terms of adoption and investment already in a few years time. What a lazy observation parroted by someone that literally can’t see the reality that they live in. To spout off such inane nonsense on hackernews of all places, the place where almost every project is now an AI project is incredible levels of mental gymnastics
ipsum2 · 23h ago
Title is mildly misleading, is only available for the API, not the web/mobile interface.
- As an end-user, you can connect MCPs only with `search` and `fetch` that only work in deep research mode.
- As a developer, you can use MCP with the API and that supports the full set of MCP tools - all tools become available; this shows in the dev playground.
- For Custom GPTs, they support any action, but not MCPs. So if you had a layer to translate MCP to their API spec, it will work. But Custom GPTs with actions only support models 4o and 4.1; so you don't get the benefit of the o-series of models.
Figuring out what works when is harder than it needs to be.
ChatGPT desktop client with only search/fetch MCPs is far, far inferior to CC from a utility/value perspective.
Eg how I described here a while ago: https://x.com/wunderwuzzi23/status/1930899939737166075?s=46&...
Ironically, I have a blog post drafted that explains this also in detail, and should probably still publish it.
It’s disappointing they are gating this and browser agent for $100 users, and even for 100, it’s only two tool methods.
If I understand correctly, it requires your MCP server to have exactly two tools - search and fetch.
So this is not really support for MCP in general, as in all the available MCP servers. It’s support for their own custom higher-level protocol built on top of MCP.
Quote we're talking about: > To work with ChatGPT Connectors or deep research (in ChatGPT or via API), your MCP server must implement two tools - search and fetch.
Reference links:
- Using remote MCP servers with the API: https://platform.openai.com/docs/guides/tools-remote-mcp
- Which account types can setup custom connectors in ChatGPT: https://help.openai.com/en/articles/11487775-connectors-in-c...
Cause from TFA “To work with ChatGPT Connectors or deep research (in ChatGPT or via API), your MCP server must implement two tools - search and fetch.”
Also, this page is actually the only docs site about MCP they have, and their help articles link to it too.
MCP servers can expose tools that are agents, but don't have to, and usually don't.
That being said, I can't say I've come across an actual implementation of a2a outside of press releases...
Given how disastrous the AI 'industry' has been, between misappropriating data from customers, performing actions on behalf of customers that lead to data and/or financial loss, and then seeking protection from the law in one or more cases of these, isn't providing an MCP service essentially requiring you to notify customers of a GDPR-or-similar data compromise event at some point in the future when it suddenly but inevitably betrays you?
Like, isn't OpenAI just leading people to a footgun and then kindly asking them to use it, for the betterment of OpenAI's bottom line, which was significantly in the red for FY24?
I know 0. And i work in tech lol.
I don't hear anything from people I actually know who are exposed to this stuff being like, "Oh my God, this has massively improved my life and I can't live without it!" No its stuff like, "How do I uninstall Siri off my iPhone? It doesn't work right anymore and can't understand me, and keeps turning itself back on when there is an iOS update."
I don't think any amount of marketing is going to change the fact that the service doesn't work and isn't up to user expectations.
It's undercooked and now its too late to put it back in the oven, so to speak.