Agents, MCP & Skills · 2 min read · Updated 2026-10-09
What is MCP (Model Context Protocol)?
The problem it solves
An AI model on its own only knows what it was trained on. To be useful it needs to read your files, search your docs or use your calendar. Before MCP, every app had to build a custom link for every tool, which was slow and messy.
The idea
MCP defines one shared way for an AI app to ask a tool 'what can you do?' and then use it. Build a tool connection once as an MCP server, and any app that speaks MCP can use it.
Who uses it
Many AI assistants, coding tools and chat apps support MCP, and there are servers for common services such as file systems, GitHub, databases and search. Check each app's documentation to see which it supports.
Key takeaways
- MCP is a common plug between AI apps and tools.
- Build a connection once, reuse it in many apps.
- It gives the AI access to fresh data and real actions.
Quick questions
Who created MCP?
Anthropic released it as an open standard in November 2024.
Is MCP only for Claude?
No. It is open, and other AI apps and tools support it too.
Is MCP the same as an API?
No. An API is how one service talks to code. MCP is a standard way for AI apps to find and use many such services.