Model Context Protocol
An open standard for connecting models to tools and data, so one integration works across many applications.
Also written: MCP, MCP server.
Before a shared protocol, every assistant needed its own bespoke integration with every tool. MCP standardises the connection: a server exposes tools (Letting a model call functions you define — search, read a file, send a request — and read back what they return.), resources and prompts, and any client that speaks the protocol can use them.
The practical value is that an integration written once works in any MCP-aware application. The practical caution is that an MCP server runs with whatever access you grant it and can describe its own tools to the model — so the trust you extend to one is real.