## Introduction Imagine a world where AI assistants can seamlessly access thousands of different capabilities—booking restaurants, searching maps, generating images, and maintaining memories across conversations—all without you having to switch between different applications. This world is rapidly becoming reality thanks to the Model Context Protocol (MCP). In this post, I'll break down what MCP is, why it's causing such excitement in the AI community, and how it's fundamentally changing the AI landscape. ## What is MCP? Model Context Protocol (MCP) is an open standard released by Anthropic in November 2024 that allows AI models to communicate with external tools, services, and data sources. Think of it as a universal connector that lets AI assistants extend their capabilities far beyond what they can do on their own. ### The Core Components

MCP Architecture: Host Applications, Servers, and How They Connect

```mermaid graph TD User[User] -->|Interacts with| Host[MCP Host Application] Host -->|Sends requests to| Servers[MCP Servers] Servers -->|Return results to| Host Host -->|Integrates results for| User subgraph "Examples of MCP Hosts" H1[Claude Desktop] H2[Claude Code] H3[Cursor] H4[oterm Terminal] end subgraph "Examples of MCP Servers" S1[Google Maps] S2[Slack Integration] S3[Memory Storage] S4[Time Conversion] S5[Web Browser Interface] S6[Image Generation] end style Host fill:#6495ED,stroke:#333,stroke-width:2px style Servers fill:#9370DB,stroke:#333,stroke-width:2px style User fill:#90EE90,stroke:#333,stroke-width:2px ``` MCP has two main components: 1. **MCP Hosts**: These are applications that users interact with directly, like Claude Desktop, Claude Code, Cursor, and oterm terminals. They act as the interface between users and AI capabilities. 2. **MCP Servers**: These are the extensions that provide additional functionalities to the AI. There are now thousands of these servers, ranging from Google Maps integration to memory storage to image generation. The brilliant part of MCP is that it's an open standard. This means any MCP host can work with any MCP server, creating an incredibly flexible ecosystem. ## Why MCP Matters: Beyond Traditional Apps MCP represents something fundamentally different from traditional app ecosystems like iOS or Android. Here's why: ### 1. Open Standard Extensibility

The Old vs. New Ecosystem Model

```mermaid graph LR subgraph "Traditional App Ecosystem" AppStore[App Store] --> iOS[iOS Apps] PlayStore[Play Store] --> Android[Android Apps] iOS -.->|Limited Integration| iOS Android -.->|Limited Integration| Android iOS -.-x Android end subgraph "MCP Ecosystem" Host1[Claude Host] --> Server1[Maps Server] Host1 --> Server2[Memory Server] Host1 --> Server3[Image Server] Host2[OpenAI Host] --> Server1 Host2 --> Server2 Host2 --> Server3 Host3[Any MCP Host] --> Server4[Any MCP Server] end style AppStore fill:#ff9999,stroke:#333,stroke-width:1px style PlayStore fill:#ff9999,stroke:#333,stroke-width:1px style Host1 fill:#99ff99,stroke:#333,stroke-width:1px style Host2 fill:#99ff99,stroke:#333,stroke-width:1px style Host3 fill:#99ff99,stroke:#333,stroke-width:1px ``` Unlike the iOS vs. Android divide, MCP creates a universal standard. A developer builds an MCP server once, and it works with any MCP host. This is why there are already thousands of MCP servers just months after the protocol's introduction. Even OpenAI, Anthropic's main competitor, adopted MCP in March 2025. ### 2. Seamless Integration and Chaining

MCP Server Integration Example: Dinner Reservation Flow

```mermaid sequenceDiagram participant User participant Claude as Claude Desktop participant Slack as Slack Server participant Maps as Google Maps Server participant Yelp as Yelp Server participant Memory as Memory Server participant OpenTable as OpenTable Server User->>Claude: "Find us a place for dinner" Claude->>Slack: Monitor for dinner request Slack-->>Claude: Request detected Claude->>Maps: Search nearby restaurants Maps-->>Claude: Restaurant locations Claude->>Yelp: Get reviews for locations Yelp-->>Claude: Restaurant reviews Claude->>Memory: Retrieve food preferences Memory-->>Claude: Team's food preferences Claude->>Claude: Integrate all information Claude->>OpenTable: Make reservation OpenTable-->>Claude: Confirmation Claude->>Slack: Post reservation details Slack-->>User: "Reserved table at Restaurant X" Note over Claude,OpenTable: MCP allows seamless chaining of multiple services ``` Traditional apps are isolating—you open one app at a time. MCP enables AI hosts to: - Chain multiple servers together - Combine results from different servers - Use the output of one server as input for another This creates powerful workflows that were previously impossible or required complex custom development. ### 3. From Tools to Ecosystem

Evolution of AI Capabilities

```mermaid graph TD A[Basic AI Responses] --> B[Simple Tool Use] B --> C[MCP Server Integration] C --> D[AI Mesh Network] subgraph "Phase 1: Basic AI" A end subgraph "Phase 2: Tool-using AI" B end subgraph "Phase 3: MCP Ecosystem" C end subgraph "Phase 4: Future - Agent Mesh" D end style A fill:#ffcccc,stroke:#333,stroke-width:1px style B fill:#ffeecc,stroke:#333,stroke-width:1px style C fill:#ccffcc,stroke:#333,stroke-width:1px style D fill:#ccccff,stroke:#333,stroke-width:1px ``` MCP represents a transition from isolated tools to an interconnected ecosystem. The most exciting part is that many components can act as both hosts and servers. For example, Claude Code can use GitHub as a server to check in code, but can also be used as a server by Claude Desktop to solve coding problems. This points toward a future where we have a mesh of AI agents that can request services from each other and provide services to each other. ## MCP in Action: A Real-World Example Let me share a simple but powerful example of how I've used MCP:

Daily News Bulletin System with MCP

```mermaid graph TD User[User] -->|1. Tells interests| Claude[Claude Desktop] Claude -->|2. Stores preferences| Memory[Memory Server] Claude -->|3. Searches for news| Web[Web Search] Web -->|4. Returns articles| Claude Claude -->|5. Stores what was shared| Memory Claude -->|6. Creates personalized bulletin| User Memory -->|Retrieves preferences| Claude Memory -->|Avoids duplicates| Claude style User fill:#f9f,stroke:#333,stroke-width:2px style Claude fill:#bbf,stroke:#333,stroke-width:2px style Memory fill:#bfb,stroke:#333,stroke-width:2px style Web fill:#fbb,stroke:#333,stroke-width:2px ``` I created a personalized news service using only natural language and MCP: 1. I told Claude Desktop about my interests 2. Claude stored this in the Memory MCP server 3. Claude uses web search to find relevant news 4. Claude remembers what it already told me to avoid duplicates 5. Each day, I get a custom news bulletin based on my interests Without MCP, this would have required custom code, databases, APIs, and a web application. With MCP, I built it using just conversation. ## How MCP Will Evolve While MCP has made impressive progress, there are still challenges to overcome:

MCP Evolution Roadmap

1. **Installation and Setup**: Currently, adding an MCP server involves editing JSON files and running Docker or Node.js locally. This needs to become more user-friendly. 2. **Security and Authentication**: The authentication process is still cumbersome, requiring developer API keys and multiple permission requests. 3. **Dynamic Discovery**: The next big advancement will be enabling AIs to discover and use MCP servers on their own, without explicit instructions. ## What MCP Means for You Whether you're a developer, business leader, or AI enthusiast, MCP has significant implications:

MCP Strategic Questions for Various Stakeholders

```mermaid mindmap root((MCP Strategy)) Developers Convert existing tools to MCP servers? Build new MCP-native capabilities? Focus on specialized or general servers? Businesses Create customer-facing MCP hosts? Expose internal systems as MCP servers? Rethink UI needs with MCP hosts? Users Which MCP host best fits my needs? Which servers enhance my workflow? How can I combine servers for my use cases? ``` Consider these questions: - Should you expose your system's capabilities as an MCP server? - Could MCP hosts replace your traditional user interfaces? - How might you combine multiple MCP servers to create powerful new workflows? ## Conclusion: The Beginning of the AI Ecosystem MCP marks the beginning of a true AI ecosystem. What makes it revolutionary is not just the technology itself, but how it enables integration and chaining of capabilities in ways we've never seen before. In the same way mobile app ecosystems transformed computing a decade ago, MCP is laying the groundwork for an interconnected AI landscape that will fundamentally change how we interact with technology. We're witnessing the emergence of something profound—a future where AI systems can flexibly combine capabilities, communicate with each other, and create solutions that far exceed the sum of their parts. The AI ecosystem is here, and MCP is its foundation. ---

Category: Ai Agents

Everyone Talking about MCP servers: Lets Understand