Model Context Protocol (MCP)
also: MCP
An open standard for connecting models to tools and data through a common server interface.
The Model Context Protocol standardizes how an agent discovers and calls external tools, resources, and prompts. Instead of hand-wiring every integration, a host connects to MCP servers that expose capabilities in a uniform way — the “USB-C for AI tools”, decoupling the model from the integrations.
Worked example: a Postgres MCP server might expose a query tool and the database schema as a resource; any MCP-capable host (an IDE, a chat client, an agent) can use it without bespoke glue, and the same server works across all of them. Gotcha: an MCP server is both a running service and untrusted input — it has uptime, auth, and a supply-chain surface, and the content it returns can attempt prompt injection, so treat every server like an external dependency you gate, not a trusted library.