MCP (Model Context Protocol)
MCP is an open standard that lets an AI agent call tools and read data outside the chat, such as a database, a repo or a task board.
MCP (Model Context Protocol) is a standard way for an AI agent to use tools that live outside the model: read a file, query a database, search docs, or update a task board. A tool speaks MCP once, and any client that supports it can use it, whether that is Claude Code, Cursor, Codex or Claude Desktop.
Before MCP, each tool needed a custom integration for each client. MCP replaces that with one protocol, so the same server works everywhere. In practice you add a server, such as a filesystem or GitHub server, to your client's config, restart, and its tools appear in the next session. Build that config with the MCP config builder.
Checked against Model Context Protocol (2026-10-23) .