Model Context Protocol

Last updated
Model Context Protocol
Model Context Protocol logo.svg
Developed by Anthropic
IntroducedNovember 25, 2024;13 months ago (2024-11-25)
Industry Artificial intelligence
Connector type
Website modelcontextprotocol.io OOjs UI icon edit-ltr-progressive.svg
Relationship between MCP client and server Model Context Protocol Component diagram.svg
Relationship between MCP client and server

The Model Context Protocol (MCP) is an open standard and open-source framework introduced by Anthropic in November 2024 to standardize the way artificial intelligence (AI) systems like large language models (LLMs) integrate and share data with external tools, systems, and data sources. [1] MCP provides a universal interface for reading files, executing functions, and handling contextual prompts. [2] Following its announcement, the protocol was adopted by major AI providers, including OpenAI and Google DeepMind. [3] [4]

Contents

Background

MCP was announced by Anthropic in November 2024 as an open standard [5] for connecting AI assistants to data systems such as content repositories, business management tools, and development environments. [6] It aims to address the challenge of information silos and legacy systems. [6] Before MCP, developers often had to build custom connectors for each data source or tool, resulting in what Anthropic described as an "N×M" data integration problem. [6] [ non-primary source needed ]

Earlier stop-gap approaches—such as OpenAI's 2023 "function-calling" API and the ChatGPT plug-in framework—solved similar problems but required vendor-specific connectors. [7] MCP re-uses the message-flow ideas of the Language Server Protocol (LSP) and is transported over JSON-RPC 2.0. [8]

In December 2025, Anthropic donated the MCP to the Agentic AI Foundation (AAIF), a directed fund under the Linux Foundation, co-founded by Anthropic, Block and OpenAI, with support from other companies. [9]

Features

The protocol was released with software development kits (SDKs) in programming languages including Python, TypeScript, C# and Java. [8] [10] Anthropic maintains an open-source repository of reference MCP server implementations for enterprise systems.[ citation needed ]

MCP defines a standardized framework for integrating AI systems with external data sources and tools. [2] It includes specifications for data ingestion and transformation, contextual metadata tagging, and AI interoperability across different platforms. The protocol also supports bidirectional connections between data sources and AI tools. [6] [ non-primary source needed ]

MCP enables applications such as querying structured databases with plain language in the field of natural language data access. [8]

The protocol is used in AI-assisted software development tools. Integrated development environments (IDEs), coding platforms such as Replit, and code intelligence tools like Sourcegraph have adopted MCP to grant AI coding assistants real-time access to project context. [5]

Adoption

In March 2025, OpenAI officially adopted the MCP, after having integrated the standard across its products, including the ChatGPT desktop app. [3] [2]

MCP can be integrated with Microsoft Semantic Kernel, [11] and Azure OpenAI. [12] MCP servers can be deployed to Cloudflare. [13] [ non-primary source needed ]

Reception

The Verge reported that MCP addresses a growing demand for AI agents that are contextually aware and capable of pulling from diverse sources. [5] The protocol's rapid uptake by OpenAI, Google DeepMind, and toolmakers like Zed and Sourcegraph suggests growing consensus around its utility. [3] [14]

In April 2025, security researchers released analysis that there are multiple outstanding security issues with MCP, including prompt injection, [15] tool permissions where combining tools can exfiltrate files, [16] and lookalike tools can silently replace trusted ones. [17]

It has been likened to OpenAPI, a similar specification that aims to describe APIs. [18] [19]

See also

References

  1. ↑ David, Emilia (November 25, 2024). "Anthropic releases Model Context Protocol to standardize AI-data integration". VentureBeat . Retrieved 2025-05-12.
  2. 1 2 3 Kumar, Vinay (March 26, 2025). "The open source Model Context Protocol was just updated — here's why it's a big deal". VentureBeat . Retrieved 2025-05-12.
  3. 1 2 3 Wiggers, Kyle (March 25, 2025). "OpenAI adopts rival Anthropic's standard for connecting AI models to data". TechCrunch.
  4. ↑ Wiggers, Kyle (April 9, 2025). "Google to embrace Anthropic's standard for connecting AI models to data". TechCrunch. Retrieved 2025-05-12.
  5. 1 2 3 Roth, Emma (November 25, 2024). "Anthropic launches tool to connect AI systems directly to datasets". The Verge.
  6. 1 2 3 4 "Introducing the Model Context Protocol". Anthropic. November 25, 2024. Retrieved 2025-05-12.
  7. ↑ Edwards, Benj (1 April 2025). "MCP: The new "USB-C for AI" that's bringing fierce rivals together". Ars Technica. Retrieved 2025-05-24.
  8. 1 2 3 Ouellette, Michael (2025-05-09). "Model context protocol: the next big step in generating value from AI". Engineering.com. Retrieved 2025-06-23.
  9. ↑ Bellan, Rebecca (2025-12-09). "OpenAI, Anthropic, and Block join new Linux Foundation effort to standardize the AI agent era". TechCrunch. Retrieved 2025-12-10.
  10. ↑ "Model Context Protocol". GitHub. Retrieved 2025-06-20.
  11. ↑ Wallace, Mark (March 5, 2025). "Integrating Model Context Protocol Tools with Semantic Kernel: A Step-by-Step Guide". Semantic Kernel Dev Blog, Microsoft. Retrieved 2025-05-12.
  12. ↑ mrajguru (March 16, 2025). "Model Context Protocol (MCP): Integrating Azure OpenAI for Enhanced Tool Integration and Prompting". AI - Azure AI services Blog, Microsoft. Retrieved 2025-05-12.
  13. ↑ Brendan Irvine-Broque; Dina Kozlov; Glen Maddern (March 25, 2025). "Build and deploy Remote Model Context Protocol (MCP) servers to Cloudflare". Cloudflare . Retrieved 2025-05-12.
  14. ↑ Sha, Arjun (April 14, 2025). "What is Model Context Protocol (MCP) Explained". Beebom.com.
  15. ↑ Lakshmanan, Ravie (30 April 2025). "Researchers Demonstrate How MCP Prompt Injection Can Be Used for Both Attack and Defense". thehackernews.com.
  16. ↑ Beurer-Kellner, Luca; Fischer, Marc (1 April 2025). "MCP Security Notification: Tool Poisoning Attacks". InvariantLabs.
  17. ↑ Schulz, Kasimir; Martin, Jason; Kan, Marcus; Yeung, Kenneth; McCauley, Conor; Ring, Leo (10 April 2025). "MCP: Model Context Pitfalls in an Agentic World". hiddenlayer.com.
  18. ↑ MacManus, Richard (13 March 2025). "MCP: The Missing Link Between AI Agents and APIs". The New Stack. Retrieved 29 May 2025.
  19. ↑ Fanelli, Alessio. "Why MCP Won". www.latent.space. Retrieved 29 May 2025.

Further reading

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