MCP (Model Context Protocol)
Also called Model Context Protocol, MCP server
What is MCP?
MCP (Model Context Protocol) is an open standard for connecting AI assistants to outside tools and data. An app publishes an MCP server that describes its tools, such as 'search orders' or 'render video', and any compatible AI client can discover and call them. It was introduced by Anthropic in late 2024 and is now widely supported.
MCP has two sides. An MCP server wraps a service, database or file system and exposes tools, resources and prompts. An MCP client, built into an assistant like Claude, ChatGPT or a coding tool, connects to servers and lets the model use them during a conversation. Remote servers usually sign users in with OAuth.
Before MCP, each AI app needed a custom integration for every tool. A shared protocol means one server works with many assistants, which is a big reason AI agents can now work across real business software.
Why MCP matters
MCP lets you run marketing work from an AI assistant: ask it to check your brand profile, draft a week of posts and render the images, without copying text between apps.
It also keeps the AI grounded. Instead of guessing, the assistant reads real data from your tools, which reduces AI hallucination and makes the output specific to your business.
How to connect an MCP server
- Find the MCP server URL in the service's docs or settings.
- In your AI assistant, add a custom connector or MCP server with that URL.
- Sign in and approve access, or set an API key as an environment variable for CLI tools.
- Ask the assistant to list the available tools and try a free, read-only one first.
- Check which tools cost money or change data before letting an agent run them.
MCP FAQ
What is an MCP server?
A small service that exposes an app's actions and data to AI assistants in the MCP format. The assistant connects to it and can call its tools when you ask.
Is MCP only for Claude?
No. Anthropic created it as an open standard, and many other assistants, coding tools and agent frameworks now support MCP.
What is the difference between MCP and an API?
An API is how software talks to software. MCP is a standard way to describe tools and data so AI models can find and use them; MCP servers often call an API underneath.
Related terms
An AI agent is an AI system that works toward a goal by planning steps, using tools and acting on results, with less step-by-step human input.
A large language model (LLM) is an AI model trained on huge amounts of text to understand and generate language, powering chatbots and AI writers.
Marketing automation is software that runs repetitive marketing tasks on rules or triggers, like scheduled posts, email sequences and lead scoring.
BYOK (bring your own key) means using your own API key for an AI provider inside an app, so you pay the provider directly for what you use.
A prompt is the instruction or input you give an AI model, such as a question, a task or a description of the image you want it to create.