MCP (Model Context Protocol)
Definition
The Model Context Protocol (MCP) is an open standard that connects AI models to external tools, data sources and services - introduced by Anthropic in November 2024. Instead of building a custom integration per application, AI assistants such as ChatGPT or Claude talk to any system through one uniform interface.
MCP is often described as "USB-C for AI": an MCP server describes its capabilities as tools, and any MCP-capable client can use them immediately. Following Anthropic, OpenAI and Google announced support for the standard - making MCP the common language between agents and software.
For companies this means: exposing your API as an MCP server makes your product operable directly from ChatGPT, Claude and other agents - and from that moment on you need an answer to the question which actions an agent may trigger.
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