An open standard, known as MCP, that defines how AI applications connect to external tools, data sources, and services in a consistent way.
The Model Context Protocol was introduced by Anthropic in late 2024 as an open specification. It describes a common way for an AI application, called the client, to talk to servers that expose tools, files, or data. Before standards like this, every integration between a model and a business system had to be built separately.
With MCP, a developer can write one server for, say, a company's ticketing system, and any MCP-compatible assistant can use it to search tickets or create new ones. This makes it easier to give AI agents access to the systems they need. Because MCP servers can take real actions, organizations still need to control which servers are installed, what permissions they grant, and how activity is logged, since a poorly secured connection can expose sensitive data.
Application Programming Interface: a defined set of rules that lets one piece of software request data or services from another.
Agentic AIAI systems designed to pursue goals with some autonomy, planning steps, using tools, and acting on results rather than only answering prompts.
Function CallingA feature that lets a language model request a specific software function, with structured inputs, so an application can take an action or fetch data.
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