01
AI Agent Use Cases for Small Teams: Where to Start
Practical, low-risk AI agent use cases for small teams across engineering, research, data, operations, and support, with tips for rolling them out safely.
- ai agents
- use cases
- small teams
/blog
Guides to AI agents and MCP
Plain explanations and practical how-tos for choosing, installing, and safely using AI agents and Model Context Protocol servers.
02
Build vs Use: Should You Build Your Own AI Agent or Use an Existing One?
A practical framework for deciding whether to build a custom AI agent or use an existing agent with MCP servers, covering cost, control, maintenance, data, and a middle path.
- ai agents
- strategy
- mcp
03
Security Checklist: Before You Connect an AI Agent to Your Tools
A practical security checklist for connecting AI agents and MCP servers to real systems: permissions, secrets, prompt injection, approvals, sandboxing, and logging.
- security
- mcp
- ai agents
04
How to Install and Use an MCP Server with an AI Coding Assistant
Generic, step-by-step instructions for adding an MCP server to an AI coding assistant: prerequisites, local vs remote servers, config file shapes, testing, and troubleshooting.
- mcp
- how-to
- coding assistants
05
What Is MCP (Model Context Protocol) and Why It Matters
A technically accurate introduction to the Model Context Protocol: hosts, clients and servers, tools, resources and prompts, transports, and what MCP does and does not solve.
- mcp
- protocol
- explainer
06
What Is an AI Agent? Agents vs Chatbots vs Workflows, Explained Simply
A plain-language explanation of what an AI agent is, how it differs from a chatbot and from an automated workflow, and how to tell which one you actually need.
- ai agents
- basics
- explainer