· Editorial refresh date; substantive changes should track the upstream spec changelog.
Frequently asked questions
Concise answers for practitioners. For normative behavior (method names, transports, versioning), rely on the official specification—not this page. See also the glossary.
What does MCP stand for?
MCP stands for Model Context Protocol—an open standard for how LLM host applications connect to external integrations (tools, resources, prompts) in a standardized client–server way.
Is MCP the same as a REST API?
Not exactly. A REST API describes resources and HTTP routes for a service. MCP defines a protocol layer tailored to LLM hosts: capability discovery, tool/resource/prompt abstractions, and transports suitable for local and remote servers. An MCP server might call REST internally.
Who maintains the MCP specification?
The public specification and documentation are maintained as an open project; authoritative text and revision history live in the official documentation site and specification repository linked from the resources page on whatisamcp.org. Quick index: resources.html.
Does using MCP make my AI application safe?
No protocol is a substitute for threat modeling. MCP servers can execute code, access secrets available to the host, and perform network calls. Review server code, restrict permissions, isolate credentials, and monitor egress like any privileged integration.
How does MCP relate to editors like Cursor?
Some IDEs and coding agents expose MCP as a way to register external tools and data sources the model can call during a session. Exact configuration UI, transport defaults, and permission prompts are product-specific; compare each product’s documentation to the MCP spec.
What is the difference between an MCP host and an MCP server?
The host is the application that runs the model session and attaches to integrations. MCP servers are separate processes that expose tools, resources, and prompts over a supported transport. One host can maintain multiple server connections at once.
Can MCP run over the network or only locally?
Both styles exist. Local developer setups often use stdio transports with a subprocess server, while remote deployments can use HTTP-based streaming transports defined in the current specification; read the transport chapter for normative requirements.
Do I need to learn JSON-RPC to build an MCP integration?
SDKs usually hide JSON-RPC 2.0 framing, but understanding requests, responses, and notifications still helps when debugging wire logs or building minimal clients without a framework.
What is Model Context Protocol used for in real products?
Teams use MCP so assistants and coding agents can call approved internal tools, read curated resources, and follow packaged prompts—replacing a sprawl of bespoke per-vendor plugin formats with a shared integration surface when hosts comply.
More from this network
Beyond MCP, the same network publishes 25web.tech for shipping and operating web properties, and whatisanapp.org for a calm walkthrough of what “an app” means in product and platform terms—natural background when you compare MCP hosts to storefront clients or mobile shells.