Wrapping REST APIs as MCP Tools
· 8 min read
Most APIs weren't built for AI agents. Stripe has 300+ endpoints. GitHub's API returns paginated results that change between requests. Slack rate-limits you after 20 calls per minute. None of them were designed for Claude to use directly.
We wrapped dozens of REST APIs into MCP tools and learned that a thin wrapper doesn't work. You need to rethink the interface completely—actions instead of CRUD, consolidated search instead of endless list endpoints, and server-side resilience for pagination and rate limits.
Here's what actually works.