AI Glossaryinfrastructure

MCP (Model Context Protocol)

An open standard by Anthropic that provides a universal way for AI models to connect to external data sources and tools.

How It Works

MCP standardizes how AI applications connect to the world. Instead of building custom integrations for every tool, MCP provides a single protocol. An MCP server exposes tools (functions the AI can call), resources (data the AI can read), and prompts (templates). MCP clients (like Claude Code, Cursor, or your custom app) connect to these servers. Think of it as "USB for AI" - one standard connector for everything.

Common Use Cases

  • 1IDE integrations
  • 2Database access for AI
  • 3Tool orchestration
  • 4Cross-platform AI features

Related Terms

Function Calling (Tool Use)

An AI capability where the model can decide to invoke external functions or APIs based on the conversation context.

AI Agent

An AI system that can autonomously plan, reason, use tools, and take actions to accomplish goals with minimal human intervention.

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