MCP (Model Context Protocol)
Model Context Protocol (MCP) is an open standard for exposing tools and data to AI clients (IDEs, agents) through a consistent server interface.
In depth
Instead of every agent inventing its own plugin format, an MCP server can expose “list tickets” or “query Postgres” to Cursor, Claude, or your own agent.
For an MVP: you usually do not need to implement MCP. You need an allowlisted tool layer. MCP matters when you want the same tools in an IDE and in your product, or when enterprise buyers ask for it.
Do not rebuild your whole app as “an MCP platform” in month one.
Real example
An internal MCP server lets Claude Code query staging data with the same auth rules as the admin app.
Tools & calculators
Related terms
API (Application Programming Interface)
An API (Application Programming Interface) is a set of rules and protocols that allows different software applications to communicate with each other — like a contract defining how one piece of software can request data or actions from another.
AI Agent
An AI agent is a system where a model chooses actions (tools) in a loop until a job is done or a budget is hit — not a single chat completion.
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