The Basics of the Model Context Protocol You Need to Know

What is MCP

Model Context Protocol (MCP) is a new framework created by Anthropic to enhance AI assistants by enabling them to connect to databases, APIs, file systems, and other external tools without the need for custom code. On Nov 25, 2024, Anthropic released this MCP framework as open source.

How MCP works ?

At the core, MCP follows client-server architecture with 3 key components.

1. MCP Hosts : The AI Applications
   MCP hosts are the AI applications / environments (IDE) that want to access the external data / systems or tools.
   Example:
   Claude Desktop : The Claude desktop application need access to local files / database or APIs calls to answer specific questions about your data.

2. MCP Clients: The Communication Layer
   MCP Clients are the components that built into hosts that handle the standardized communication with various servers.
   Example:
   Claude Desktop’s MCP Client : The built-in component that knows how to format requests to different MCP servers and interpret their responses.

3. MCP Servers : The Specialized connectors
   MCP Servers are lightweight programs that connect to specific data sources or tools (APIs, file systems etc.) and expose their functionality through the standardized protocol.
   Example:
   Database MCP Servers : A server that connects to PostgreSQL database, allowing an AI assistant with a MCP client to query the database.

Real-World Example: Meeting Preparation

Imagine you ask your AI assistant: "Prepare me for tomorrow's meeting with Acme Corp."

Here's how the MCP components work together:

1. MCP Host (Claude Desktop) recognizes it needs external information.

2. MCP Client (built into Claude Desktop) formats requests to multiple MCP Servers:

   • Request to Calendar MCP Server: "Get meeting details for tomorrow with Acme Corp"

   • Request to Email MCP Server: "Find recent emails with Acme Corp contacts"

   • Request to CRM MCP Server: "Get Acme Corp account details"

3. MCP Servers execute these requests against their respective systems:

   • Calendar Server retrieves meeting time, participants, and agenda

   • Email Server finds and summarizes recent communications

   • CRM Server pulls account history, recent purchases, and contact info

4. Data flows back through the MCP Client to the Host

5. Claude processes all this information and provides you with a comprehensive meeting brief