What is the Model Context Protocol (MCP)?
Last verified 2026-05-31The Model Context Protocol (MCP) is an open standard, introduced and open-sourced by Anthropic on 25 November 2024, that connects AI applications and agents to external systems such as tools, data and business apps. It is the context layer of the agentic stack, not a payment protocol: commerce standards like AP2 and ACP build on or extend it. MCP uses JSON-RPC 2.0 over stdio and streamable HTTP, and is licensed under MIT. On 9 December 2025 Anthropic donated MCP to the Agentic AI Foundation, a directed fund under the Linux Foundation co-founded with Block and OpenAI, with more than 10,000 published MCP servers by then.
Key facts
| Author / steward | Created by Anthropic; donated to the Agentic AI Foundation (Linux Foundation) |
|---|---|
| Announced | 2024-11-25 |
| License | MIT |
| Governance | Introduced by Anthropic; donated on 9 December 2025 to the Agentic AI Foundation, a directed fund under the Linux Foundation co-founded by Anthropic, Block and OpenAI; maintainer-led and community-driven |
| Scope | An open standard that connects AI applications and agents to external systems (tools, data, business apps). It is the context/tool layer, not a payment protocol; commerce protocols such as AP2 and ACP build on or extend it |
| Transport | JSON-RPC 2.0 over stdio and streamable HTTP |
| Payment | None natively; MCP provides the tool and context layer that payment protocols (AP2, ACP, x402) connect to |
| Maturity | donated |
What makes it distinctive
- Introduced and open-sourced by Anthropic on 25 November 2024
- Created by David Soria Parra and Justin Spahr-Summers at Anthropic
- Donated to the Agentic AI Foundation (Linux Foundation) on 9 December 2025
- More than 10,000 published MCP servers at the time of the donation
- Adopted by Claude, Cursor, Microsoft Copilot, Gemini, VS Code and ChatGPT
- Licensed under MIT
Adoption
Frequently asked questions
What is MCP in simple terms?
MCP is a universal way to connect AI agents to external tools and data. It is the context layer, not a payment system.
Who owns MCP now?
Anthropic created MCP and donated it to the Agentic AI Foundation under the Linux Foundation on 9 December 2025.
Is MCP a payment protocol?
No. MCP carries no payments itself; payment protocols such as AP2, ACP and x402 connect to or extend it.