Level 2 · Intermediate · 7 min

MCP

Model Context Protocol. Open standard for connecting models to tools, data, and prompts. Standardizes the agent-to-app handoff.

MCP is the wire format between an agent and the apps it controls. Each app exposes tools, resources, and prompts. The agent discovers what is available and calls into them through one standard interface.

Before MCP, every agent shipped its own glue code per app. After MCP, an app implements the protocol once and any compliant agent can use it. Same connector, any app, no per-app integration on the model side.

Think of it as the USB of agents.