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Introduction
Get started with the Model Context Protocol (MCP)

MCP is an open protocol that standardizes how applications provide context to LLMs. Think of MCP like a USB-C port for AI applications. Just as USB-C provides a standardized way to connect your devices to various peripherals and accessories, MCP provides a standardized way to connect AI models to different data sources and tools.

Why MCP?

MCP helps you build agents and complex workflows on top of LLMs. LLMs frequently need to integrate with data and tools, and MCP provides:

  • A growing list of pre-built integrations that your LLM can directly plug into
  • The flexibility to switch between LLM providers and vendors
  • Best practices for securing your data within your infrastructure

General architecture

At its core, MCP follows a client-server architecture where a host application can connect to multiple servers:

flowchart LR
    subgraph "Your Computer"
        Host["Host with MCP Client\n(Claude, IDEs, Tools)"]
        S1["MCP Server A"]
        S2["MCP Server B"]
        S3["MCP Server C"]
        Host <-->|"MCP Protocol"| S1
        Host <-->|"MCP Protocol"| S2
        Host <-->|"MCP Protocol"| S3
        S1 <--> D1[("Local\nData Source A")]
        S2 <--> D2[("Local\nData Source B")]
    end
    subgraph "Internet"
        S3 <-->|"Web APIs"| D3[("Remote\nService C")]
    end
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  • MCP Hosts: Programs like Claude Desktop, IDEs, or AI tools that want to access data through MCP
  • MCP Clients: Protocol clients that maintain 1:1 connections with servers
  • MCP Servers: Lightweight programs that each expose specific capabilities through the standardized Model Context Protocol
  • Local Data Sources: Your computer's files, databases, and services that MCP servers can securely access
  • Remote Services: External systems available over the internet (e.g., through APIs) that MCP servers can connect to

Get started

Choose the path that best fits your needs:

Quick Starts

Get started building your own server to use in Claude for Desktop and other clients Get started building your own client that can integrate with all MCP servers Get started using pre-built servers in Claude for Desktop

Examples

Check out our gallery of official MCP servers and implementations View the list of clients that support MCP integrations

Tutorials

Learn how to use LLMs like Claude to speed up your MCP development Learn how to effectively debug MCP servers and integrations Test and inspect your MCP servers with our interactive debugging tool

Explore MCP

Dive deeper into MCP's core concepts and capabilities:

Understand how MCP connects clients, servers, and LLMs Expose data and content from your servers to LLMs Create reusable prompt templates and workflows Enable LLMs to perform actions through your server Let your servers request completions from LLMs Learn about MCP's communication mechanism

Contributing

Want to contribute? Check out our Contributing Guide to learn how you can help improve MCP.