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Updated
Version
v1.7
Sources
5 sources
Status
Published

MCP · Model Context Protocol

Model Context Protocol (MCP)

An open protocol that standardizes connections between AI applications and servers exposing tools, resources, or prompts.

Everyday phrases

  • plugging tool servers into the model
  • a protocol for connecting tools and data

Key difference

MCP is the protocol; a server implements it, a client connects to it, and tools, resources, or prompts are the exposed capabilities.

Example

An MCP client discovers a search tool and documentation resource on a server, then calls the tool through its schema.

Counter-example

A local SKILL.md file is not an MCP server and does not implement the protocol by itself.

Continue with a guide

Sources

Revision glossary-v1.7:model-context-protocol · 2026-08-03

Sourced content digest
sha256:62a1ae41eb1ac192235fb63e89c0fbe61782a423ec90c46b2c5688a1e274605b

Understand → Recognize → Choose → Compare

Pack for your agent

Pre-written instructions to paste into your agent. Copying executes nothing.

Implement correctly

Use Model Context Protocol (MCP) deliberately

# Ground Model Context Protocol (MCP) in your agent

## Objective
Use “Model Context Protocol (MCP)” precisely in code, documentation, and conversations: An open protocol that standardizes connections between AI applications and servers exposing tools, resources, or prompts.

## Prerequisites
- Inspect how the term is used today in the repository, documentation, and prompts.
- Identify the neighboring notions already named: Tool, Skill, Agent.
- Preserve existing correct usages.

## Working definition
An open protocol that standardizes connections between AI applications and servers exposing tools, resources, or prompts.

## Decisive difference
MCP is the protocol; a server implements it, a client connects to it, and tools, resources, or prompts are the exposed capabilities.

## Example that counts as Model Context Protocol (MCP)
An MCP client discovers a search tool and documentation resource on a server, then calls the tool through its schema.

## Counter-example
A local SKILL.md file is not an MCP server and does not implement the protocol by itself.

## Acceptance criteria
- Every use of the term matches the working definition.
- Edge cases are settled with the decisive difference, not by intuition.
- Neighboring notions (Tool, Skill, Agent) are named with their own term.

## Guardrails
- Show the proposed changes before any external action.
- Do not publish, send, delete, pay for, or change remote state without explicit authorization.
- Preserve unrelated changes and stop if the scope becomes ambiguous.

## Output format
- Outcome or verdict.
- Files or actions involved.
- Checks run and observable evidence.
- Remaining blockers or limitations.
  • Requires · The agentic vocabulary already used in the repository and documentation
Why it works
  • The notion is framed by a sourced working definition, not ambient usage.
  • The decisive difference settles edge cases reproducibly.
  • The example and counter-example bound the term on both sides.

Try next

Map the neighboring notions

# Map the neighboring notions

## Objective
Extend the same rigor to the related notions (Tool, Skill, Agent) so the project vocabulary stays coherent.

## Checks
- List every neighboring notion used without a definition.
- Apply its documented decisive difference.
- Record the still-ambiguous cases for the next entry.

## Guardrails
- Show the proposed changes before any external action.
- Do not publish, send, delete, pay for, or change remote state without explicit authorization.
- Preserve unrelated changes and stop if the scope becomes ambiguous.

## Output format
- Outcome or verdict.
- Files or actions involved.
- Checks run and observable evidence.
- Remaining blockers or limitations.

sha256:546a2c2b818e6fa29d9093e01b6f63f345904a942518157510354935c5696cfa

Diagnose a problem

Fix a Model Context Protocol (MCP) mix-up

# Fix a mix-up around Model Context Protocol (MCP)

## Observed symptom
[DESCRIBE THE SYMPTOM HERE]

## Observable checks
- Compare the disputed usage with the working definition: An open protocol that standardizes connections between AI applications and servers exposing tools, resources, or prompts.
- Apply the decisive difference: MCP is the protocol; a server implements it, a client connects to it, and tools, resources, or prompts are the exposed capabilities.
- Confront the case with the documented counter-example: A local SKILL.md file is not an MCP server and does not implement the protocol by itself.

## Possible causes
- The term is used for a neighboring notion (Tool, Skill, Agent).
- The observed form (interface, script, service) is confused with the actual behavior.
- An alias (MCP, Model Context Protocol) carries a different meaning in the project.

## Bounded fixes
- Rename or reclassify only the usages that contradict the working definition.
- Document each choice by citing the decisive difference.

## Final verification
- Reread every corrected occurrence against the documented example and counter-example.

## Guardrails
- Show the proposed changes before any external action.
- Do not publish, send, delete, pay for, or change remote state without explicit authorization.
- Preserve unrelated changes and stop if the scope becomes ambiguous.

## Output format
- Outcome or verdict.
- Files or actions involved.
- Checks run and observable evidence.
- Remaining blockers or limitations.
  • Requires · The agentic vocabulary already used in the repository and documentation
Why it works
  • The diagnosis compares usage with documented criteria instead of an opinion.
  • Fixes stay bounded to genuinely contradictory usages.
  • The final verification runs back through the sourced example and counter-example.

Try next

Anchor the vocabulary in the project

# Anchor the vocabulary in the project

## Objective
Turn the clarification into a reusable rule so the mix-up does not return.

## Checks
- Add the working definition to the project glossary.
- Link every neighboring term to its own entry.
- Check new documents against the decisive difference.

## Guardrails
- Show the proposed changes before any external action.
- Do not publish, send, delete, pay for, or change remote state without explicit authorization.
- Preserve unrelated changes and stop if the scope becomes ambiguous.

## Output format
- Outcome or verdict.
- Files or actions involved.
- Checks run and observable evidence.
- Remaining blockers or limitations.

sha256:b393ebdf703a029ec9ccef04f00b550d66671a82da4625ead9876ba61d927367

Full entry, saving and provenance

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Pack digest: sha256:52c5cb994e08bacf91138037860ac4caca86aceeed1db6413de2f1f680f293a9