Model Context Protocol

The Model Context Protocol is an open standard for connecting AI applications to external systems. Anthropic introduced the protocol in November 2024 to solve a concrete problem: even capable language models are isolated from their data, trapped behind information silos and legacy systems, and every new data source has traditionally required its own custom-built integration. MCP replaces that patchwork of one-off solutions with a single interface — comparable to USB-C, which connects a wide range of devices through one standardized port instead of needing a separate cable for each device.

Technically, MCP consists of two building blocks: MCP hosts, such as Claude Desktop, which act as the AI interface for users, and MCP servers, which connect those hosts to concrete data sources and tools. In late 2025, Anthropic donated the protocol to the Agentic AI Foundation, a directed fund hosted at the Linux Foundation; technical direction has since rested with the MCP Steering Group, independent of any single company.

In the modelcontextprotocol/servers repository, the project publishes official reference implementations, including Filesystem and Fetch. According to the project, these servers primarily serve as examples and learning material and should not automatically be considered production-ready. By Anthropic's own figures at the time of the handover to the Linux Foundation, MCP had already reached more than 97 million monthly SDK downloads and over 10,000 active public servers — evidence that within a single year, the protocol became the de facto standard for agentic AI, with support from companies including OpenAI, Google, and Microsoft.