What is MCP? Connecting tools and data through a context protocol
Understand MCP hosts, clients, servers, tools, resources, and prompts through project-data lookup, distinguishing compatibility from authorization and capability.
Understand the concept
MCP standardizes exchanges between AI applications and external tools or data services. Hosts manage clients, while servers expose capabilities such as tools and resources. It is not a model and does not make all data accessible or trusted. Verify versions, supported features, and permissions separately; programs still execute tools.
Hosts and clients connect to external services
An editor querying project issues can act as a host with a client connected to the relevant server. Servers can be local or remote. A client is a protocol component, not the chat user, and location does not determine privilege.
Official architecture distinguishes data and transport layers. The protocol defines exchanges, not how applications must organize models. Check versions rather than assuming MCP branding establishes support for every new feature or old tutorial method.
Tools, resources, and prompts serve different purposes
Tools perform actions such as issue search, resources provide context such as project structure, and prompts provide reusable input templates. Servers must actually expose them. Listing tools does not establish successful execution of a business query.
Returned material can be stale or misleading and retains its source authority. Webpage instructions do not become user authorization by passing through MCP. Services and hosts still enforce identity and scope; standard formatting does not replace that.
Validate discovery, execution, and target results
Inspect capabilities and definitions, then verify an authorized read-only query and its source fields. These are integration steps without installing a service or accessing a real project. Connection status alone does not establish a working data path.
Write tools additionally need duplicate handling and stop conditions with limited runtime access. Use version-matched documentation as the protocol evolves. This page explains roles without model rankings or treating MCP as a security or accuracy certification.
Checked sources
These sources support the concepts and methods described here. Examples and test scope are labeled separately; check the version of the tools you use.