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Dictionary

MCP (Model Context Protocol)

Open standard letting AI clients call external tools, data and prompts.

2 min readupdated 2026-07-06

/ quick answer

The Model Context Protocol (MCP) is an open specification from Anthropic that standardises how LLM clients discover and call external servers exposing tools, resources and prompts. Instead of writing bespoke connectors per model, an MCP server can be reused by Claude, ChatGPT, Cursor, Windsurf, and any compliant client.

Open standard letting AI clients call external tools, data and prompts. The Model Context Protocol (MCP) is an open specification from Anthropic that standardises how LLM clients discover and call external servers exposing tools, resources and prompts. Instead of writing bespoke connectors per model, an MCP server can be reused by Claude, ChatGPT, Cursor, Windsurf, and any compliant client. In practice: You expose your Postgres database as an MCP server. Claude Desktop, Cursor and a local agent all query it with the same protocol — no per-client integration code. This dictionary node is part of the Onexial knowledge graph and links to related concepts, workflows and tools below.
Definition
The Model Context Protocol (MCP) is an open specification from Anthropic that standardises how LLM clients discover and call external servers exposing tools, resources and prompts. Instead of writing bespoke connectors per model, an MCP server can be reused by Claude, ChatGPT, Cursor, Windsurf, and any compliant client.
Example
You expose your Postgres database as an MCP server. Claude Desktop, Cursor and a local agent all query it with the same protocol — no per-client integration code.
Related Workflows
Related Tool Stacks
/ frequently asked

What is MCP (Model Context Protocol)?

The Model Context Protocol (MCP) is an open specification from Anthropic that standardises how LLM clients discover and call external servers exposing tools, resources and prompts. Instead of writing bespoke connectors per model, an MCP server can be reused by Claude, ChatGPT, Cursor, Windsurf, and any compliant client.

What is an example of MCP (Model Context Protocol)?

You expose your Postgres database as an MCP server. Claude Desktop, Cursor and a local agent all query it with the same protocol — no per-client integration code.

Why does MCP (Model Context Protocol) matter for AI and automation?

Open standard letting AI clients call external tools, data and prompts. It connects to the workflows, prompts and tool stacks linked on this page, so you can move from definition to execution without leaving Onexial.

/ topics#ai#protocol#agents#mcp
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