# Model Context Protocol

> **TL;DR.** [Model Context Protocol](https://modelcontextprotocol.

- **Category:** AI / Developer Tools / Infrastructure
- **Stage:** established
- **Age:** 555 days
- **Origin date:** 2024-11-25
- **First detected:** 2026-04-15
- **Canonical URL:** https://earlyterms.com/term/model-context-protocol
- **Sources:** 8 primary URLs

## Definition

[Model Context Protocol](https://modelcontextprotocol.io/) (MCP) is an open, JSON-RPC-2.0-based standard that defines how AI applications talk to external tools, data, and systems. The spec defines a client/server architecture with five primitives — Prompts, Resources, Tools, Roots, Sampling — solving the 'MxN' integration problem with a single wire format.

[Anthropic introduced MCP](https://www.anthropic.com/news/model-context-protocol) on November 25, 2024 with Python/TypeScript SDKs. OpenAI adopted it in March 2025, Google's Demis Hassabis confirmed Gemini support April 9, 2025, and Microsoft shipped native Windows 11 support at Build 2025. On December 9, 2025 Anthropic [donated MCP](https://www.anthropic.com/news/donating-the-model-context-protocol-and-establishing-of-the-agentic-ai-foundation) to the Linux Foundation's Agentic AI Foundation — alongside Block's goose and OpenAI's AGENTS.md.

## Example

ChatGPT Desktop, Claude, Cursor, Gemini, Microsoft Copilot, and VS Code all speak MCP as a first-class client — a single MCP server (Postgres, Slack, GitHub) reaches every major AI editor simultaneously. Anthropic shipped reference servers for Google Drive, Slack, GitHub, Git, Postgres, and Puppeteer at launch; Claude's connector directory now lists 75+ MCP-powered integrations.

## Analogy

HTTP for AI agents — a neutral wire format that stopped every model and tool vendor from inventing incompatible connectors.

## Why it's emerging now

On December 9, 2025, Anthropic donated MCP to the Linux Foundation's Agentic AI Foundation alongside OpenAI's AGENTS.md and Block's goose — landing neutral governance before capture. Microsoft shipped native Windows 11 support at Build 2025, the server count passed 10,000, and April 2025 security analyses made hardening a first-class conversation.

## Related terms

- *child:* MCP Server
- *related:* MCP client
- *related:* Claude Agent SDK
- *related:* Managed Agents
- *competitor:* Agent2Agent Protocol
- *competitor:* A2A Protocol
- *competitor:* Function calling
- *competitor:* OpenAPI
- *related:* AGENTS.md
- *related:* Agentic AI Foundation
- *related:* JSON-RPC 2.0
- *related:* Language Server Protocol

## Sources

1. [Anthropic — Introducing the Model Context Protocol (Nov 25, 2024)](https://www.anthropic.com/news/model-context-protocol)
2. [Anthropic — Donating MCP and establishing the Agentic AI Foundation (Dec 9, 2025)](https://www.anthropic.com/news/donating-the-model-context-protocol-and-establishing-of-the-agentic-ai-foundation)
3. [Linux Foundation — Formation of the Agentic AI Foundation](https://www.linuxfoundation.org/press/linux-foundation-announces-the-formation-of-the-agentic-ai-foundation)
4. [Wikipedia — Model Context Protocol](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Model_Context_Protocol)
5. [MCP specification (2025-11-25 revision)](https://modelcontextprotocol.io/specification/2025-11-25)
6. [The New Stack — Why the Model Context Protocol Won](https://thenewstack.io/why-the-model-context-protocol-won/)
7. [TechCrunch — OpenAI, Anthropic, Block join Linux Foundation AI agent effort](https://techcrunch.com/2025/12/09/openai-anthropic-and-block-join-new-linux-foundation-effort-to-standardize-the-ai-agent-era/)
8. [HN launch thread (872 points, Nov 25, 2024)](https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=42237424)

---
_Generated by EarlyTerms · https://earlyterms.com/term/model-context-protocol_