Glossary · Industry term
Model Context Protocol
Also known as: MCP, MCP server, MCP client
An open protocol Anthropic published in late 2024 that standardises how LLM applications connect to data sources and tools. MCP servers expose resources and tools; MCP clients (such as agent runtimes) consume them.
How this publication uses it
MCP matters for procurement because it is the first credible interoperability story in the agent stack. A vendor that supports MCP is harder to lock you in — your tools work against any MCP-compliant client. A vendor that ships only proprietary tool-call schemas is making a lock-in bet.
Articles that analyse this term
Primary sources
- Anthropic. Introducing the Model Context Protocol
- Model Context Protocol. MCP specification