# What Frameworks Give You — Agent Frameworks and MCP Basics

Source: https://www.geekswithgeeks.com/en/agent-frameworks-mcp/fw-what-they-give

> List the recurring problems frameworks solve and the costs they bring.

## Plumbing and patterns

Frameworks typically provide the loop, tool registration, streaming, retries, state persistence, human-approval steps, tracing and multi-agent handoffs. The cost is another abstraction to learn, version churn, and harder debugging when something goes wrong inside the framework.

## Build, borrow or buy

Frameworks save work on plumbing but add abstraction. Choose by what your project actually needs.

![Three options: raw API, a framework, a managed agent.](assets/figures/agent-frameworks-mcp/section-2-map.svg) — Figure 2.1 — Raw API, framework, managed agent.

## Cooking from scratch vs a meal kit

A meal kit saves chopping time and works well for common recipes. For an unusual dish you may find the kit gets in the way and cook from scratch.

## Read the source once

Whatever framework you pick, read how its core loop and prompt assembly work. Knowing what it sends to the model makes debugging far easier.

**Quiz:** Which is a typical cost of adopting a framework?

- [ ] It makes tool calling impossible
- [x] Extra abstraction and faster-changing APIs to keep up with
- [ ] It forbids Python
- [ ] It removes the need for tests

*Answer:* Extra abstraction and faster-changing APIs to keep up with. Abstractions help but must be learned, and fast-moving libraries need upkeep.