Model Context Protocol (MCP)

An open standard from Anthropic that connects AI agents to tools and data through a single JSON-RPC interface — the de facto agent-to-tool standard.

term

Model Context Protocol (MCP)

category

protocols

short_def

An open standard from Anthropic that connects AI agents to tools and data through a single JSON-RPC interface — the de facto agent-to-tool standard.

long_def

MCP standardizes how an agent discovers and calls tools, reads resources and uses prompts, so any compatible agent can talk to any compatible server without bespoke integration. Introduced by Anthropic in November 2024 and now governed under the Linux Foundation via the AAIF (formed December 2025).

see_also

webmcp tool-use ai-agent

etymology_origin

Introduced and open-sourced by Anthropic on 25 November 2024; governance moved to the Linux Foundation's Agentic AI Infrastructure Foundation (AAIF), formed December 2025.

related_to

webmcp tool-use ai-agent a2a nlweb

contrast_with

Unlike A2A, which connects agents to other agents, MCP connects a single agent to tools and data — they complement rather than compete, the most common confusion in the vocabulary.

example

Within a year of its November 2024 launch, MCP was adopted across the ecosystem and is housed alongside A2A under the AAIF (Linux Foundation, formed December 2025).

source

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Model_Context_Protocol

status

active

why_it_matters

MCP is the dominant way a website exposes callable tools to agents; implementing or speaking MCP is a core agent-readiness capability.

sameAs

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Model_Context_Protocol https://modelcontextprotocol.io/

bridge_entity

protocols/capability/mcp

last_verified

2026-06-15

md_twin

/glossary/mcp.md

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