Most teams that want their data to be operated programmatically expose an API. For who does this solve a problem?

Mainly for web browser plugin authors implementing AI assistants (Gemini/Claude/OpenAI/Copilot).

Instead of parsing or screen-shooting the current page to understand the context, an AI agent running in the browser can query the page tools to extract data or execute actions without dealing with API authentication.

It's a pragmatic solution. An AI agent, in theory, can use the accessibility DOM to improve access to the page (or some HTML data annotation); however, it doesn't provide it with straightforward information about the actions it can take on the current page.

I see two major roadblocks with this idea:

1. Security: Who has access to these MCPs? This makes it easier for browser plugins to act on your behalf, but end users often don't understand the scope of granting plugins access to their pages.

2. Incentive: Exposing these tools makes accessing website data extremely easy for AI agents. While that's great for end users, many businesses will be reluctant to spend time implementing it (that's the same reason social networks and media websites killed RSS... more flexibility for end users, but not aligned with their business incentives)