Traditional Tooling

Tooling is essentially a set of directions that tells an LLM how to kick off a specific action when you ask for it.

Imagine it as handing your AI a bunch of tasks to do, it wasn’t built for, like pulling in the latest info or automating a process. The catch? Historically, tooling has been a walled garden. Every provider think OpenAI, Cursor, or others, has their own implementation of tooling, which creates a mismatch of setups that don’t play nice together. It’s a hassle for users and vendors alike.

MCP: The better tooling

Which is what MCP solves. MCP is like a universal connector, a straightforward protocol that lets any LLM, agent, or editor hook up with tools from any source.

It’s built on a client-server setup: the client (your LLM or agent) talks to the server (where the tools live). When you need something beyond the LLM’s cutoff knowledge, like up-to-date docs, it doesn’t flounder. It pings the MCP server, grabs the right function’s details, runs it, and delivers the answer in plain English.

Here’s a practical example-

1. Imagine you’re working in Cursor (the client) and need to implement a function using the latest React hooks from the React 18 documentation.
2. You request, “Please provide a useEffect setup for the current version.”

The challenge? The LLM powering Cursor has a knowledge cutoff, so it’s limited to, say, React 17 and unaware of recent updates.

With MCP, this isn’t an issue. It connects to a search MCP server, retrieves the latest React documentation, and delivers the precise useEffect syntax directly from the source.

It’s like equipping your AI with a seamless connection to the most up-to-date resources, ensuring accuracy without any detours.

MCP’s a game-changer, no question. But it’s not perfect. It often locks tools to single apps, requires hands-on setup for each one, and can’t pick the best tool for the job on its own. That’s where we at ACI.dev step in — to smooth out those rough edges and push things further.

Why ACI.dev Takes MCP to the Next Level

MCP lays a strong groundwork, but it’s got some gaps. Let’s break down where it stumbles and how ACI.dev steps up to fix it.

With standard MCP:

• One server, one app. You’re stuck running separate servers for each tool — like one for GitHub, another for Gmail — which gets messy fast.
• Setup takes effort. Every tool needs its own configuration, and dealing with OAuth for a bunch of them is a headache for a normal or enterprise user
• No smart tool picks. MCP can’t figure out the right tool for a task — you’ve got to spell it all out ahead of time in the prompt to let the LLM know what tool to use and execute.

With these headaches in mind, ACI.dev and built something better. Our platform ties AI to third-party software through tool-calling APIs, making integration and automation a breeze.

It does this by introducing two ways to access MCP servers

1. the Apps MCP Server and the
2. Unified MCP Server to give your AI a cleaner way to tap into tools and data.

This setup gives you access to 600+ MCP servers in the palm of your hand and make it easy for you to access any tool via both these methods

How ACI.dev Levels Up MCP

1. All Your Apps, One Server — ACI Apps MCP Server lets you set up tools like GitHub, Vercel, Cloudflare, and Gmail in one spot. It’s a single hub for your AI’s toolkit, keeping things simple.
2. Tools That Find Themselves - Forget predefining every tool. Unified MCP Server uses functions like ACI_SEARCH_FUNCTION and ACI_EXECUTE_FUNCTION to let your AI hunt down and run the perfect tool for the job.
3. Smarter Context Handling — MCP can bog down your LLM by stuffing its context with tools you don’t need. ACI.dev keeps it lean, loading only what’s necessary, when it’s necessary, so your LLM has enough memory for actual token prediction.
4. Smooth Cross-App Flows — ACI.dev makes it linking apps seamless without jumping between servers.
5. Easy Setup, and Authentication- Configuring tools individually can be time-consuming, but ACI simplifies the process by centralizing everything. Manage accounts, API keys, and settings in one hub. Just add apps from the ACI App Store, enable them in Project Settings, and link them with a single linked-account-owner-id. Done

Tutorial: Configuring an MCP Server with CAMEL AI and ACI for a Demo Project

Alright, we’ve covered how MCP and ACI.dev make LLMs way more than just word generators.
Now, let’s get our hands dirty with a practical demo using CAMEL AI, a slick framework for building AI agents that can tap into MCP servers. We’re going to set up a CAMEL AI agent with ACI’s MCP server to create a GitHub repo and drop a file in it.

This tutorial shows you how to wire up CAMEL AI with ACI to use a create a project: creating a GitHub repository called my-ski-demo with a README.md that lists top US skiing spots. Let’s dive in.

Step 1: Signing Up and Setting Up Your ACI.dev Project

First things first, head to ACI.dev and sign up if you don’t have an account. Once you’re in, create a new project or pick one you’ve already got. This is your control hub for managing apps and snagging your API key.

Step 2: Adding Apps in the ACI App Store

• Zip over to the ACI App Store.
• Search for the GitHub app, hit “Add,” and follow the prompts to link your GitHub account. During the OAuth flow, you’ll set a linked-account-owner-id (usually your email or a unique ID from ACI). Jot this down—you’ll need it later.
• For this demo, GitHub is our star player. Want to level up? You can add Brave Search or arXiv apps for extra firepower, but they’re optional here.

Step 3: Enabling Apps and Grabbing Your API Key

• Go to Project Settings and check the “Allowed Apps” section. Make sure GitHub is toggled on. If it’s not, flip that switch.
• Copy your API key from this page and keep it safe. It’s the golden ticket for connecting CAMEL AI to ACI’s MCP server.

Step 4: Setting Up Your Local Environment

Now, let’s get your machine ready to run the CAMEL AI agent. Here’s the setup:

• Install Dependencies: You’ll need Python (3.8 or later) installed. Then, fire up your terminal and install the required packages:

pip install camel-ai python-dotenv rich uv

• The uv package is key for running thhe uvx command that powers the MCP server.
• Create a .env file: In your project folder, create a file named .env with these variables:

GOOGLE_API_KEY="your_google_api_key_here" 
ACI_API_KEY="your_aci_api_key_here" 
LINKED_ACCOUNT_OWNER_ID="your_linked_account_owner_id_here"

• Replace your_google_ api_ key_ here with your Google API key for the Gemini model (get it from Google’s API console).
• Replace your_aci_ api_ key_ here with the API key from ACI.dev’s Project Settings.
• Replace your_linked_accout_ owner_ id_ here with the ID from the GitHub app setup.
• Set Up the Scripts: We’ll use two Python scripts — one to configure the MCP server and another to run the CAMEL AI agent. Save these in your project folder.

Here's the config.py script to set up the MCP server connection:

import os
import json
from dotenv import load_dotenv

def create_config():
    """Create MCP config with proper environment variable substitution"""
    load_dotenv() # load variables from the env
    aci_api_key = os.getenv("ACI_API_KEY")

    if not aci_api_key:
        raise ValueError("ACI_API_KEY environment variable is required")
    linked_account_owner_id = os.getenv("LINKED_ACCOUNT_OWNER_ID")
    if not linked_account_owner_id:
        raise ValueError("LINKED_ACCOUNT_OWNER_ID environment variable is required")
    config = {
        "mcpServers": {
            "aci_apps": {
                "command": "uvx",
                "args": [
                    "aci-mcp",
                    "apps-server",
                    "--apps=GITHUB",
                    "--linked-account-owner-id",
                    linked_account_owner_id,
                ],
                "env": {"ACI_API_KEY": aci_api_key},
            }
        }
    }
    with open("config.json", "w") as f:
        json.dump(config, f, indent=2)
    print("✓ Config created successfully with API key")
    return config

if __name__ == "__main__":
    create_config()

And here’s the main.py script to run the CAMEL AI agent:

#!/usr/bin/env python3
import asyncio
import os
from dotenv import load_dotenv
from rich import print as rprint
from camel.agents import ChatAgent
from camel.messages import BaseMessage
from camel.models import ModelFactory
from camel.toolkits import MCPToolkit
from camel.types import ModelPlatformType

load_dotenv()

async def main():
    try:
        from create_config import create_config # creates config.json
        rprint("[green]CAMEL AI Agent with MCP Toolkit[/green]")
        # Create config for MCP server
        create_config()
        # Connect to MCP server
        rprint("Connecting to MCP server...")
        mcp_toolkit = MCPToolkit(config_path="config.json")

        await mcp_toolkit.connect()
        tools = mcp_toolkit.get_tools() # connects and loads the tools in server
        rprint(f"Connected successfully. Found [cyan]{len(tools)}[/cyan] tools available")
        

        # Set up Gemini model
        model = ModelFactory.create(
            model_platform=ModelPlatformType.GEMINI, # you can use other models here too
            model_type="gemini-2.5-pro-preview-05-06",
            api_key=os.getenv("GOOGLE_API_KEY"),
            model_config_dict={"temperature": 0.7, "max_tokens": 4000},
        )
        system_message = BaseMessage.make_assistant_message(
            role_name="Assistant",
            content="You are a helpful assistant with access to GitHub tools via ACI's MCP server.",
        )


        # Create CAMEL agent
        agent = ChatAgent(
            system_message=system_message,
            model=model, # encapsulate your model tools and memory here
            tools=tools,
            memory=None
        )
        rprint("[green]Agent ready[/green]")


        # Get user query
        user_query = input("\\\\nEnter your query: ")
        user_message = BaseMessage.make_user_message(role_name="User", content=user_query)
        rprint("\\\\n[yellow]Processing...[/yellow]")
        response = await agent.astep(user_message) # ask agent the question ( async ) 


        # Show response
        if response and hasattr(response, "msgs") and response.msgs:
            rprint(f"\\\\nFound [cyan]{len(response.msgs)}[/cyan] messages:")
            for i, msg in enumerate(response.msgs):
                rprint(f"Message {i+1}: {msg.content}")
        elif response:
            rprint(f"Response content: {response}")
        else:
            rprint("[red]No response received[/red]")
        
        # Disconnect from MCP
        await mcp_toolkit.disconnect()
        rprint("\\\\n[green]Done[/green]")
    except Exception as e:
        rprint(f"[red]Error: {e}[/red]")
        import traceback
        rprint(f"[dim]{traceback.format_exc()}[/dim]")

if __name__ == "__main__":
    asyncio.run(main())

Step 5: Running the Demo Task

With everything set up, let’s fire up the CAMEL AI agent and give it a job.

• Run the Script: In your terminal, navigate to your project folder and run:

python main.py

• This generates the config.json file, connects to the MCP server, and starts the agent. You’ll see a prompt asking for your query.
• ‍Enter the Query: Type this into the prompt:

Create a new GitHub repository named 'my-ski-demo' with the description 'A demo repository for top US skiing locations' and push a README.md file with the content: '# Epic Ski Destinations\\\\nBest spots: Aspen, Vail, Park City.'

• The agent will use the GitHub tool via the MCP server to create the repo and add the README.md file.

Step 6: Checking the Results

Once the agent finishes, head to your GitHub account

• Look for a new repository called my-ski-demo with the description “A demo repository for top US skiing locations.”
• Open the repo and verify that README.md exists with the content:

# Epic Ski Destinations Best spots: Aspen, Vail, Park City.

‍

Step 7: Troubleshooting and Tips

• No Repo Created? Double-check that your GitHub app is linked in ACI.dev and that your .env file has the correct ACI_API_KEY and LINKED_ACCOUNT_OWNER_ID.
• Event Loop Errors? If you hit a “RuntimeError: Event loop is already running,” try adding import nest_asyncio; nest_asyncio.apply() at the top of main.py to handle async conflicts.
• More Tools? The config supports Brave Search and arXiv, too. Want to fetch ski resort data? Tweak the query to use Brave Search, like: “Search for recent articles on top US ski resorts and summarize them.”

That’s it! You’ve got a CAMEL AI agent hooked up to ACI’s MCP server, ready to tackle tasks easily. Want to push it further? Try adding more apps or tweaking the query for bigger projects.

Conclusion

The world of AI agents and tooling is buzzing with potential, and MCP is a solid step toward making LLMs more than just clever chatbots.

As new ideas and implementations pop up in the agentic space, it’s worth staying curious and watching for what’s next. The future’s wide open, and tools like these are just the start.

Happy coding!

ACI.dev and its docs
Docs — CAMEL AI
CAMEL AI — https://www.camel-ai.org/
MCP Python SDK — Here
MCP Anthropic Docs

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