The Microservice Debt Collectors Have Arrived
AI agents expose the integrity, rollback, query and context-window costs of over-applied microservices in systems that never needed that complexity.
Series
APIs in the Age of Agents
A series on why agents, MCP, and dynamic tool use make APIs, semantic contracts, and governed integration more important.
Agents do not replace APIs. They expose whether the contracts underneath are explicit, meaningful, and safe enough to compose dynamically.
Agents Don't Replace APIs. They Expose How Weak Most APIs Already Are
Agents and MCP do not replace APIs. They expose whether the execution layer underneath them is explicit, stable and safe enough to compose dynamically.
We've Seen This Before: What SOA Teaches Us About APIs in the Age of Agents
SOA's real lesson for agent-era APIs is that structural contracts are not enough. Interfaces need meaning, behaviour, authority and governance built into the contract.
APIs Expose Data, Not Meaning
Schemas describe shape, but agents need meaning. API contracts need domain intent, authority, provenance and behaviour, not just valid payloads.
Not Everything Should Be an API
APIs are right for business interaction, but audit, analytics, synchronisation, active-active operation and recovery need patterns chosen by purpose.