What is the Model Context Protocol (MCP)?

The Model Context Protocol (MCP) is an open standard for connecting AI applications to external data sources, tools, and workflows. Think of MCP like a USB-C port for AI: just as USB-C provides a universal way to connect devices and peripherals, MCP provides a standardized way to connect AI models like Claude to the systems they need to work with.

What can MCP do?

• Connect AI assistants to your Google Calendar, Notion, Slack, and other everyday tools.
• Let Claude Code generate full web apps from a Figma design by connecting to the Figma MCP server.
• Enable enterprise chatbots to query multiple databases across an organization.
• Give AI models access to specialized tools from search engines to 3D design software.

How does MCP work?

MCP follows a client-server architecture. An MCP host connects to one or more MCP servers via the protocol. Each server exposes tools, resources, and prompts. The host manages connections and routes requests between the AI and the servers.

MCP is open source and maintained by Anthropic. Learn more at the official MCP documentation.