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What is MCP (Model Context Protocol)?

Updated May 2026

MCP is the open standard that lets AI tools like ChatGPT and Claude talk to outside services (calendars, shops, booking systems) in a consistent way.

Anthropic introduced MCP in late 2024 as an open protocol for connecting AI assistants to data sources and tools. Think of it as USB for AI: any MCP-compatible client (Claude Desktop, ChatGPT, Gemini extensions) can talk to any MCP-compatible server.

MCP servers expose three things: tools (actions the AI can call), resources (data the AI can read), and prompts (templates the AI can use). For a business, you ship an MCP server that exposes 'book_meeting', 'check_availability', 'quote_price' as tools.

Every withlove agent ships its own MCP server at /<slug>/mcp. Add it to Claude Desktop or a ChatGPT custom GPT and the AI can call the agent's tools directly.

Frequently asked questions

What is MCP used for?

Connecting AI assistants to outside services. Examples: ChatGPT booking a real meeting on a real calendar via an MCP server, Claude querying a database via MCP, an AI agent placing an order on an e-commerce store via MCP.

Who created MCP?

Anthropic, the makers of Claude, introduced MCP in late 2024 as an open standard. It is supported today by Claude Desktop, ChatGPT, Gemini, Perplexity, and many third-party AI tools.

Related terms

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