A format is not a category: Port Manager, from MCP to macOS

A format is not a product category

MCP, a desktop app, and an open-source repository describe how software is delivered or shared. None of those labels, by itself, says who owns the work, who it is for, or what someone can rely on it to do.

Bersaglio uses three different terms for three different questions:

• A product is studio-owned digital work built for end users around a defined problem.
• A tool is a focused utility or developer capability for a specific job. It is still product work, but it is not automatically presented as a general end-user product.
• An experiment is a bounded question or prototype whose purpose is to produce learning. It may later lead to a tool or a product, but that outcome is not guaranteed.

The distinction is about the work’s ownership, audience, and current contract—not how technical or impressive its implementation looks.

Port Manager: the macOS app became the product surface

Port Manager began with an MCP stdio experiment for AI agents. The macOS app is now the primary product experience: it lets developers inspect local ports and resolve conflicts through an explicit, guarded action. The MCP server remains available as an optional advanced integration.

The experiment and the app are not interchangeable. The experiment explored an interface; the macOS app is the product built for this defined developer need. Calling it a product does not require broadening its audience beyond what it supports.

Keep the boundary visible

A tool can be important product work and still be presented as a tool. An experiment can produce something valuable without being retroactively described as a finished product. A product can use technical tools without making those tools its user-facing experience.

Before publishing a project, ask: who owns it, who is meant to use it, what job does it do today, and what is still only being explored? The answers should determine the label and the public surface—not the technology name alone.