Glossary/AI Search & Emerging/Model Context Protocol (MCP)
AI Search & Emerging
Model Context Protocol (MCP)
An open standard introduced by Anthropic in 2024 that lets AI models connect to external tools, data, and apps through a common interface.
By Brandon Mina·CEO, BrandPilot AI·Updated November 2026
Short answer
Model Context Protocol (MCP) is an open standard introduced by Anthropic in 2024 that lets AI models connect to external tools, data sources, and applications through a common interface. Instead of building custom integrations for each model, developers expose capabilities through an MCP server. It has become a widely used foundation for AI agents.