MCP (Model Context Protocol)
An open protocol from Anthropic for connecting AI models to tools, data, and external systems.
Model Context Protocol is an open standard, introduced by Anthropic in late 2024 and widely adopted through 2025-2026, for plugging tools and data sources into AI models. Instead of every product writing custom integrations for every model, MCP servers expose capabilities once and any MCP-aware client can use them.
Think of MCP as 'USB-C for AI' a thin, standardized layer between the model and the world. Claude Desktop, Cursor, Windsurf, Zed, and many others now speak MCP. Companies expose their internal data and tools as MCP servers; AI clients connect on demand.
MCP changed how AI features get built. The protocol takes care of capability negotiation, auth, and message format, so teams can focus on building the actual tool integration instead of rewriting it for every model.