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Glossary

Model Context Protocol (MCP)

Reviewed 9 April 2026 Canonical definition

The Model Context Protocol (MCP) is an open standard developed by Anthropic that defines how AI agents and applications connect to external tools, data sources, and services. MCP standardises the interface between AI clients and MCP servers, enabling consistent tool discovery, invocation, and context exchange across different agents and frameworks. See also: MCP Authentication, MCP Gateway, MCP Security.