The comparison tool
Compare SDKs head to head
Set the two sides and the criteria. The page address updates as you go, so the link you copy opens exactly this matchup for anyone on your team.
Verdict
Microsoft Kiota wins, 9 to 5, over MCP server over your API.
Microsoft Kiota 9/12 MCP server over your API 5/12
Microsoft Kiota takes typing, auth handling, error handling and maintenance. Not scored until verified: mCP readiness.
| Criterion | Microsoft Kiota | MCP server over your API |
|---|---|---|
| TypingEdge: Microsoft Kiota | Strong Its docs describe strongly typed clients with models generated from the JSON Schema in your description, and IDE autocomplete for every resource. Check: Kiota overview | Solid Each tool declares its inputs as JSON Schema, which the agent reads. How tight those schemas are depends on how the server was built. Check: Model Context Protocol specification |
| Auth handlingEdge: Microsoft Kiota | Solid Auth plugs in through authentication providers on the request adapter; an authorization handler ships for some languages only. Check: Kiota middleware handlers | Partial The protocol defines authorization for HTTP transports, but scoping each agent's credentials and tying calls to a person is yours to design. Check: Model Context Protocol specification |
| Error handlingEdge: Microsoft Kiota | Solid Error responses described in your API become error models the client can raise. Check how your language surfaces them. Check: Kiota overview | Partial Tool errors are returned to the agent as results it can read; how useful they are depends on the server. Check: Model Context Protocol specification |
| MaintenanceEdge: Microsoft Kiota | Solid Regenerate from the description; the generated code stays small because shared behaviour lives in versioned core libraries you also keep up to date. Check: Kiota overview | Partial Tool definitions must track the API. Generating them from the same API description keeps them in step; writing them by hand does not. |
| MCP readinessNot scored | Not verified Not verified here. Check Kiota's docs for anything that produces MCP tools from your description. Check: Kiota overview | Strong It is the MCP interface: agents discover the tools and call them directly. Check: Model Context Protocol specification |
What you can compare
Every option is judged on the same criteria. For anything not listed, choose “Your own SDK” and rate it yourself.
Approach
Hand-written SDK
An SDK your team writes and maintains by hand, one codebase per language.
Generator
OpenAPI Generator
The open-source, community-maintained generator that turns an OpenAPI description into clients from templates.
openapi-generator.techGenerator
Microsoft Kiota
Microsoft's open-source command-line generator for API clients from OpenAPI descriptions, built on shared core libraries.
Kiota on Microsoft LearnGenerator
Speakeasy
A commercial generator that builds SDKs, Terraform providers, CLIs and MCP servers from an OpenAPI description.
speakeasy.comApproach
No SDK (raw HTTP)
Callers use their language's HTTP client (fetch, requests, net/http) against your API docs.
Agent interface
MCP server over your API
An MCP server that exposes your API's operations as tools AI agents can discover and call.
modelcontextprotocol.io