Evolving AI chat with MCP Apps - Phil Nash - NDC Copenhagen 2026
The talk introduces MCP Apps, a proposed open standard designed to evolve AI chat interfaces beyond plain text. By integrating rich, interactive web UIs (built with HTML/CSS/JavaScript) directly into the conversation flow, MCP Apps allow agents to render mini-applications for tasks like booking hotels or managing playlists. This approach moves interaction from boring 'walls of text' to engaging, visual experiences, making AI more useful for complex user workflows.
Key takeaways
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The Need for Interactive UIs in Chat
18:02
Traditional chat interactions are limited to text (or code/tool calls), which is insufficient for tasks requiring visual exploration, configuration of multiple options, or viewing real-time data. MCP Apps solve this by bringing web-powered interfaces into the chat environment.
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MCP Apps as an Open Standard
22:40
MCP Apps is a standard inspired by community efforts (like MCP-UI) and commercial SDKs (e.g., OpenAI's Apps SDK), aiming to provide a unified way for agents to render UIs across different model providers.
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Core Functionality: Sandboxed Web Views
26:00
MCP Apps are implemented as sandboxed web applications (HTML, CSS, JavaScript) loaded within an iframe. This isolation keeps the UI safe while allowing it to interact with the agent host via tool calls and a JSON RPC mechanism.