What is MCP (Model Context Protocol)?

MCP (Model Context Protocol) is an open-source standard created by Anthropic that enables AI applications like Claude and ChatGPT to connect to external tools, data sources, and services. Think of it like a USB-C port for AI—a universal connector that lets AI models plug into various tools and databases in a consistent, standardized way.

MCP works through three main components: MCP Hosts (AI applications like Claude Desktop), MCP Clients (connectors within the host that communicate with servers), and MCP Servers (external services that provide data and tools). When you ask an AI to perform a task requiring external data, the client discovers available tools, sends requests to the appropriate server, and returns results to the AI.

What can MCP servers do?

MCP servers can connect AI to virtually any external system. Common capabilities include: accessing databases and file systems, integrating with tools like GitHub, Slack, and Notion, executing code and running tests, managing cloud infrastructure, scraping web data, and automating workflows. Each server exposes specific tools the AI can use during conversations.

MCP is used by developers, enterprises, and AI enthusiasts who want to extend AI capabilities. Major AI providers including OpenAI, Google DeepMind, and Anthropic support MCP. It's particularly popular among developers building AI agents, companies creating enterprise knowledge assistants, and teams automating complex workflows.

How do I install an MCP server?

MCP servers can be installed in AI applications like Claude Desktop or Cursor. Typically, you add the server configuration to your app's settings file (like claude_desktop_config.json), specifying the server command and any required environment variables. Many servers are available via npm or can be run directly from their GitHub repositories.

MCP includes built-in security features like authentication specs and permission controls. However, as with any integration, you should review server code before installation, use environment variables for sensitive credentials, only install servers from trusted sources, and follow the principle of least privilege when granting permissions.

What's the difference between MCP and regular APIs?

While MCP uses APIs under the hood, it's specifically designed for AI context. Regular APIs serve general web applications, while MCP provides a standardized interface that AI models can discover and use autonomously. MCP servers are tool-agnostic, schema-driven, and reusable across different AI agents without custom integration code.

Can I build my own MCP server?

Yes! MCP provides SDKs in TypeScript, Python, C#, Java, and other languages to help you build custom servers. You can create servers that expose your own tools, connect to proprietary systems, or wrap existing APIs in an MCP-compatible interface. The official documentation provides guides and examples to get started.

Discover Top MCP Servers

Official MCP Servers

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Bright Data

1,877

Empowers AI agents to access, discover, and extract real-time web data, bypassing restrictions and bot detection.

Scout Monitoring

Provide AI Assistants with real-time application performance and error data for targeted code analysis and fixes.

Firecrawl

4,195

Empowers LLMs with advanced web scraping capabilities for content extraction, crawling, and search functionalities.

Web Scraping & Data Collection

ElevenLabs

1,143

Enables interaction with Text to Speech and audio processing APIs for MCP clients.

API Development

Magic

4,100

Generate modern UI components instantly from natural language descriptions within your IDE.

Developer Tools

Browserbase

3,023

Enables LLMs to control cloud browsers for web interaction, data extraction, and task automation using Browserbase and Stagehand.

Browser Automation

Featured MCP Servers

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Task Master

24,734

Streamline AI-driven development workflows by automating task management with Claude.

Featured

FastAPI

11,353

Exposes FastAPI endpoints as Model Context Protocol (MCP) tools with zero configuration.

Featured

Ghidra

7,038

Enables Large Language Models (LLMs) to autonomously reverse engineer applications by exposing Ghidra's core functionality through an Model Context Protocol (MCP) server.

Featured

Excel

3,107

Enables Excel file manipulation capabilities without requiring Microsoft Excel installation.

Featured

Unity

2,649

Enables communication between Unity and Large Language Models for automating workflows and controlling the Unity Editor.

Featured

Godot

1,359

Enables AI assistants to interact with the Godot game engine by launching the editor, running projects, and capturing debug output.

Featured

Top MCP Servers

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TrendRadar

42,724

Aggregates trending topics from over 35 platforms, offering intelligent filtering, automated multi-channel notifications, and AI-powered conversational analysis for deep news insights.

Analytics & Monitoring

Context7

41,476

Fetches up-to-date documentation and code examples for LLMs and AI code editors directly from the source.

Learning & Documentation

MindsDB

38,229

Build AI applications that can learn and answer questions over large-scale federated data sources using a federated query engine.

Database Management

GitHub

25,792

Enables advanced automation and interaction capabilities with GitHub APIs for developers and tools using the Model Context Protocol.

API Development

Playwright

25,337

Automates browser interactions for Large Language Models (LLMs) using Playwright.

Security & Testing

GPT Researcher

24,790

Conducts in-depth web and local research on any topic, generating comprehensive reports with citations.

Data Science & ML

Latest MCP Servers

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JSON-RPC Protocol

Implements a JSON-RPC 2.0 real-time server using Node.js and Express, complete with a vanilla JavaScript frontend client for demonstration.

Developer Tools

Hospital Fee

Provides access to non-reimbursable medical fee information from the Health Insurance Review and Assessment Service (HIRA) of Korea.

Web Scraping & Data Collection

LLuna

Empowers autonomous AI agents with robust integrity enforcement and secure local SLM integration through a tool-aware framework.

Data Science & ML

Speech

Provides text-to-speech capabilities to AI assistants using macOS's built-in speech synthesis.

Productivity & Workflow

Ephemeris

Provides AI agents with precision planetary positions using the Swiss Ephemeris.

Developer Tools

Mnemograph

Provides a persistent, event-sourced knowledge graph for AI partners, enabling semantic search and version-controlled memory.

Developer Tools

MCP Clients

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Zed

72,998

Edit code with high performance and multiplayer collaboration.

Developer Tools

Cline

56,800

Automates coding tasks directly within your IDE using AI, capable of creating/editing files, executing commands, and using the browser with user permission.

Developer Tools

Cherry Studio

37,551

Enables users to interact with multiple large language model (LLM) providers through a single desktop client.

Developer Tools

LibreChat

32,978

Self-host a privacy-first, versatile ChatGPT alternative supporting multiple AI models and advanced features.

Other

Goose

25,696

Automates complex development tasks using an extensible, open-source AI agent.

API Development

5ire

4,934

A cross-platform AI assistant and Model Context Protocol (MCP) client that connects to various services and local knowledge bases.

Developer Tools

Top Agent Skills

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Dify Frontend Testing

124,859

Generates high-quality Vitest and React Testing Library tests for Dify's frontend components, hooks, and utilities.

Security & Testing

Electron Chromium Upgrade Guide

119,618

Guides developers through the complex two-phase process of upgrading Chromium versions within the Electron repository.

Developer Tools

Skill Writer

96,002

Author and optimize custom Agent Skills for Claude Code with standardized structures, frontmatter, and discovery-optimized descriptions.

Productivity & Workflow

Zig System Calls for Bun

85,980

Guides implementation of cross-platform system calls and file I/O using Bun's optimized Zig library.

Developer Tools

Opus 4.5 Migration

47,204

Migrates codebases and prompts from previous Claude models to Opus 4.5 by updating model strings and refining system instructions for optimal performance.

API Development

Command Development

46,336

Provides comprehensive guidance and patterns for creating, configuring, and organizing custom slash commands within Claude Code.

Productivity & Workflow