Best Practices

Production-ready guidelines for deploying and managing your Tydli MCP servers.

OpenAPI Spec Guidelines

The quality of your OpenAPI specification directly impacts how well AI agents understand and use your API.

Use Clear Operation IDs

Bad: operation1, op2, endpoint_3 Good: getUserById, createOrder, listProducts AI agents use operation IDs to understand what each endpoint does. Make them descriptive and follow a consistent naming convention.

Add Detailed Descriptions

paths:
  /users/{id}:
    get:
      summary: "Get user by ID"
      description: "Retrieves detailed information about a specific user including profile data, preferences, and account status. Requires authentication and read:users permission."
      operationId: getUserById

AI agents use these descriptions to determine when to call your API. The more context you provide, the better.

Define All Schemas

Include complete request and response schemas:

components:
  schemas:
    User:
      type: object
      required:
        - id
        - email
      properties:
        id:
          type: string
          description: "Unique user identifier (UUID format)"
          example: "123e4567-e89b-12d3-a456-426614174000"
        email:
          type: string
          format: email
          description: "User's primary email address"
          example: "[email protected]"

This helps AI agents validate requests before sending them.

Document Parameters

Explain what each parameter means and provide examples:

parameters:
  - name: limit
    in: query
    description: "Maximum number of results to return (1-100). Defaults to 20."
    required: false
    schema:
      type: integer
      minimum: 1
      maximum: 100
      default: 20
    example: 50

Include Examples

Provide example requests and responses:

responses:
  '200':
    description: "Successful response"
    content:
      application/json:
        schema:
          $ref: '#/components/schemas/User'
        example:
          id: "123e4567-e89b-12d3-a456-426614174000"
          email: "[email protected]"
          name: "Jane Doe"
          created_at: "2024-01-15T10:30:00Z"

Version Your API

Use versioning in your spec to manage changes:

openapi: 3.1.0
info:
  title: "My API"
  version: "2.1.0"
  description: "Version 2.1 adds support for batch operations"
servers:
  - url: https://api.example.com/v2
    description: "Production API v2"

Security Recommendations

Protect your APIs and MCP servers from unauthorized access and abuse.

Use Environment-Specific Credentials

Never use production credentials in development. Create separate API keys for:

Development: Limited permissions, test data only
Staging: Mirror production setup with dummy data
Production: Full permissions, real data, strict monitoring

Implement Rate Limiting

Protect your underlying APIs from abuse:

# In your OpenAPI spec
paths:
  /users:
    get:
      x-rate-limit:
        limit: 100
        period: "1 minute"

Tydli respects rate limit headers from your API and can enforce additional limits.

Monitor Access Logs

Review who’s accessing your MCP servers regularly:

Check Tydli deployment logs for unusual patterns
Set up alerts for failed authentication attempts
Monitor for excessive API calls from single sources

Rotate Credentials Regularly

Update API keys on a schedule:

Production: Every 90 days
Development: Every 180 days
After employee departure: Immediately
After suspected compromise: Immediately

Use Scoped Permissions

Give AI agents minimum required access: Bad: Full admin API key with all permissions Good: Scoped key with only:

Read access to users
Write access to tickets
No access to billing or admin functions

Enable Audit Logging

Track all API calls for compliance and debugging:

Log request timestamps
Record which tool/resource was accessed
Track success/failure rates
Monitor for data access patterns

Performance Optimization

Ensure your MCP servers respond quickly and efficiently.

Use Pagination

Limit large result sets to improve response times:

parameters:
  - name: page
    in: query
    schema:
      type: integer
      default: 1
  - name: per_page
    in: query
    schema:
      type: integer
      default: 20
      maximum: 100

AI agents can automatically handle paginated responses when properly documented.

Implement Caching

Cache frequently accessed data:

Server-side caching: Use Redis or similar for API responses
HTTP caching headers: Set appropriate Cache-Control headers
Tydli caching: Tydli can cache responses based on your headers

Example:

responses:
  '200':
    headers:
      Cache-Control:
        schema:
          type: string
        example: "public, max-age=300"  # 5 minutes

Batch Operations

Combine multiple requests when possible: Instead of:

GET /users/1
GET /users/2
GET /users/3

Use:

GET /users?ids=1,2,3

Document batch endpoints in your OpenAPI spec for AI agents to use.

Optimize Query Parameters

Only request fields you need:

parameters:
  - name: fields
    in: query
    description: "Comma-separated list of fields to include"
    schema:
      type: string
    example: "id,email,name"

This reduces response sizes and improves performance.

Monitor Response Times

Track and optimize slow endpoints:

Set up performance monitoring
Log slow queries (>1 second)
Optimize database queries
Add indexes where needed
Consider read replicas for heavy read operations

Use Webhooks

Avoid polling when events can push updates: Instead of polling every minute:

# AI checks for updates constantly
GET /orders/status

Use webhooks:

# API posts to callback URL when order status changes
POST https://your-webhook-endpoint/order-update

Document webhook configuration in your OpenAPI spec.

MCP-Specific Best Practices

Test with MCP Inspector

Before deploying, test your MCP server:

npx @modelcontextprotocol/inspector \
  https://your-project.supabase.co/functions/v1/mcp-router/your-slug

This helps you verify:

All tools are discovered correctly
Parameters are properly validated
Responses are formatted correctly

Provide Helpful Tool Descriptions

MCP tools use your OpenAPI operationId and description. Make them clear: Bad:

operationId: "op1"
description: "Gets stuff"

Good:

operationId: "searchProducts"
description: "Search products by name, category, or price range. Returns matching products with inventory status."

Handle Errors Gracefully

Return clear error messages:

responses:
  '400':
    description: "Bad Request"
    content:
      application/json:
        schema:
          type: object
          properties:
            error:
              type: string
              example: "Invalid user ID format. Expected UUID."
            code:
              type: string
              example: "INVALID_USER_ID"

AI agents can use these to provide better feedback to users.

Keep Deployments Updated

When you update your API:

Update your OpenAPI spec
Test changes in staging Tydli deployment
Update production Tydli deployment
AI agents automatically see new capabilities

No need to update Claude Desktop config - MCP handles discovery automatically.

Monitoring & Maintenance

Health Checks

Regularly verify your MCP server:

Check Tydli dashboard for deployment status
Monitor error rates in logs
Test critical endpoints manually
Set up uptime monitoring

Performance Metrics

Track these key metrics:

Response time: Median and p95 latency
Error rate: Percentage of failed requests
Request volume: Requests per minute/hour/day
Cache hit rate: If using caching

Alerting

Set up alerts for:

Deployment failures
High error rates (>5%)
Slow responses (>2 seconds)
Authentication failures
Rate limit exceeded

Regular Reviews

Monthly checklist:

Review access logs for unusual patterns
Check error logs and fix common issues
Update OpenAPI spec documentation
Rotate API credentials
Review and optimize slow endpoints
Update AI agent prompts if needed
Test critical user journeys

Next Steps

Check Rate Limits for quota information
See MCP Compliance for protocol details
Review Authentication Methods for API security
Join our Discord for community best practices

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Technical Reference

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Blog

​Best Practices

​OpenAPI Spec Guidelines

​Use Clear Operation IDs

​Add Detailed Descriptions

​Define All Schemas

​Document Parameters

​Include Examples

​Version Your API

​Security Recommendations

​Use Environment-Specific Credentials

​Implement Rate Limiting

​Monitor Access Logs

​Rotate Credentials Regularly

​Use Scoped Permissions

​Enable Audit Logging

​Performance Optimization

​Use Pagination

​Implement Caching

​Batch Operations

​Optimize Query Parameters

​Monitor Response Times

​Use Webhooks

​MCP-Specific Best Practices

​Test with MCP Inspector

​Provide Helpful Tool Descriptions

​Handle Errors Gracefully

​Keep Deployments Updated

​Monitoring & Maintenance

​Health Checks

​Performance Metrics

​Alerting

​Regular Reviews

​Next Steps