Model Context Protocol (MCP)

name: Model Context Protocol (MCP)
description: >-
  Model Context Protocol is an open, JSON-RPC 2.0 protocol from Anthropic that
  standardizes how AI applications (hosts) connect to external systems via
  servers that expose tools, resources, and prompts. MCP is positioned as
  "a USB-C port for AI applications" and has become the de-facto integration
  layer for Claude, ChatGPT, Cursor, Visual Studio Code, and a growing ecosystem
  of agent runtimes. This topic repo catalogs the canonical specification, the
  official multi-language SDKs, the reference server collection, community
  registries (Smithery, Pulse MCP, Naftiko Sandbox), and major MCP-aware
  clients, plus the vocabulary, JSON Schema, JSON-LD, and example payloads
  needed to reason about the protocol.
url: https://github.com/api-evangelist/mcp
humanURL: https://modelcontextprotocol.io
image: ''
tags:
  - Model Context Protocol
  - MCP
  - AI Agents
  - Tools
  - Resources
  - Prompts
  - JSON-RPC
  - Anthropic
  - Standards
  - Topic
created: '2026-05-22'
modified: '2026-05-22'
specificationVersion: '0.18'
type: Index
apis:
  - name: MCP Specification
    description: >-
      The authoritative protocol definition for the Model Context Protocol,
      maintained at modelcontextprotocol.io and in the modelcontextprotocol/
      specification GitHub repository. The TypeScript schema (schema.ts) is the
      source of truth, with an auto-generated JSON Schema (schema.json) for
      tooling. The current dated version is 2025-11-25. The protocol uses
      JSON-RPC 2.0 messages between hosts, clients, and servers and defines
      tools, resources, prompts, sampling, roots, elicitation, completion, and
      logging features.
    humanURL: https://modelcontextprotocol.io/specification
    baseURL: ''
    tags:
      - Specification
      - JSON-RPC
      - Schema
      - Protocol
    properties:
      - type: Documentation
        url: https://modelcontextprotocol.io/specification/2025-11-25
      - type: GitHubRepository
        url: https://github.com/modelcontextprotocol/specification
      - type: JSONSchema
        url: https://github.com/modelcontextprotocol/specification/blob/main/schema/2025-11-25/schema.json
      - type: Versioning
        url: https://modelcontextprotocol.io/specification/versioning

  - name: MCP TypeScript SDK
    description: >-
      Official TypeScript SDK published as @modelcontextprotocol/sdk on npm.
      Dual-purpose library for building MCP servers and clients on Node.js,
      Bun, and Deno. Supports Standard Schema (Zod, Valibot, ArkType), stdio
      and Streamable HTTP transports, and ships thin middleware adapters for
      Express, Hono, and Node HTTP. The v2 line is in development.
    humanURL: https://github.com/modelcontextprotocol/typescript-sdk
    tags:
      - SDK
      - TypeScript
      - Node.js
    properties:
      - type: GitHubRepository
        url: https://github.com/modelcontextprotocol/typescript-sdk
      - type: SDK
        url: https://www.npmjs.com/package/@modelcontextprotocol/sdk

  - name: MCP Python SDK
    description: >-
      Official Python SDK published as `mcp` on PyPI. Includes the FastMCP
      high-level framework with decorators for tools, resources, and prompts;
      low-level server primitives for production; client SDK; OAuth 2.1
      resource-server support; and stdio, SSE, and Streamable HTTP transports.
      Structured output is validated through Pydantic.
    humanURL: https://github.com/modelcontextprotocol/python-sdk
    tags:
      - SDK
      - Python
      - FastMCP
    properties:
      - type: GitHubRepository
        url: https://github.com/modelcontextprotocol/python-sdk
      - type: SDK
        url: https://pypi.org/project/mcp/

  - name: MCP Java SDK
    description: >-
      Official Java SDK for building MCP servers and clients on the JVM.
      Maintained in the modelcontextprotocol/java-sdk repository.
    humanURL: https://github.com/modelcontextprotocol/java-sdk
    tags:
      - SDK
      - Java
    properties:
      - type: GitHubRepository
        url: https://github.com/modelcontextprotocol/java-sdk

  - name: MCP Kotlin SDK
    description: >-
      Official Kotlin SDK for MCP servers and clients targeting Kotlin and
      Android runtimes.
    humanURL: https://github.com/modelcontextprotocol/kotlin-sdk
    tags:
      - SDK
      - Kotlin
    properties:
      - type: GitHubRepository
        url: https://github.com/modelcontextprotocol/kotlin-sdk

  - name: MCP C# SDK
    description: >-
      Official C# SDK for .NET, maintained in collaboration with Microsoft.
    humanURL: https://github.com/modelcontextprotocol/csharp-sdk
    tags:
      - SDK
      - CSharp
      - .NET
    properties:
      - type: GitHubRepository
        url: https://github.com/modelcontextprotocol/csharp-sdk

  - name: MCP Swift SDK
    description: >-
      Official Swift SDK for MCP servers and clients on Apple platforms.
    humanURL: https://github.com/modelcontextprotocol/swift-sdk
    tags:
      - SDK
      - Swift
    properties:
      - type: GitHubRepository
        url: https://github.com/modelcontextprotocol/swift-sdk

  - name: MCP Rust SDK
    description: >-
      Official Rust SDK for MCP servers and clients.
    humanURL: https://github.com/modelcontextprotocol/rust-sdk
    tags:
      - SDK
      - Rust
    properties:
      - type: GitHubRepository
        url: https://github.com/modelcontextprotocol/rust-sdk

  - name: MCP Reference Servers
    description: >-
      Canonical collection of reference MCP server implementations maintained
      by the project. The active servers (Everything, Fetch, Filesystem, Git,
      Memory, Sequential Thinking, Time) demonstrate every server-side feature
      of the protocol and are recommended as the starting point for new
      implementers.
    humanURL: https://github.com/modelcontextprotocol/servers
    tags:
      - Reference
      - Servers
      - Examples
    properties:
      - type: GitHubRepository
        url: https://github.com/modelcontextprotocol/servers

  - name: MCP Inspector
    description: >-
      Developer tool for testing and debugging MCP servers. React-based web UI
      plus Node.js proxy, launched with `npx @modelcontextprotocol/inspector`
      and accessible at http://localhost:6274. Provides interactive testing of
      tools, resources, and prompts, plus a CLI mode for scripted testing.
    humanURL: https://github.com/modelcontextprotocol/inspector
    tags:
      - Tooling
      - Debugging
      - Inspector
    properties:
      - type: GitHubRepository
        url: https://github.com/modelcontextprotocol/inspector
      - type: CLI
        url: https://www.npmjs.com/package/@modelcontextprotocol/inspector

  - name: Official MCP Registry
    description: >-
      Community-driven, Anthropic-maintained registry that functions as an app
      store for MCP servers. Allows developers to publish server definitions
      and clients to discover them. Currently in API freeze at v0.1. Supports
      GitHub OAuth, GitHub OIDC, and DNS/HTTP ownership verification.
    humanURL: https://registry.modelcontextprotocol.io
    baseURL: https://registry.modelcontextprotocol.io
    tags:
      - Registry
      - Discovery
    properties:
      - type: GitHubRepository
        url: https://github.com/modelcontextprotocol/registry
      - type: APIReference
        url: https://registry.modelcontextprotocol.io/docs

  - name: Smithery
    description: >-
      Third-party MCP server registry and hosted runtime. Catalogs
      community-built MCP servers, generates installation snippets for clients
      like Claude Desktop and Cursor, and can host servers on Smithery's
      infrastructure. Acts as a primary discovery surface alongside the
      official registry.
    humanURL: https://smithery.ai
    tags:
      - Registry
      - Hosted
      - Discovery
    properties:
      - type: Portal
        url: https://smithery.ai

  - name: Pulse MCP
    description: >-
      Third-party MCP directory and news site. Maintains a sub-registry API
      that implements the Generic MCP Registry API specification with
      PulseMCP-specific extensions for enriched metadata.
    humanURL: https://www.pulsemcp.com
    tags:
      - Registry
      - News
      - Discovery
    properties:
      - type: Portal
        url: https://www.pulsemcp.com
      - type: APIReference
        url: https://www.pulsemcp.com/api/docs/v0.1

  - name: Claude Desktop (MCP Host)
    description: >-
      Anthropic's Claude Desktop application was the first MCP host. Connects
      to local MCP servers via stdio transport defined in claude_desktop_config
      .json and to remote servers via Streamable HTTP with OAuth 2.1.
    humanURL: https://claude.com/docs/connectors/building
    tags:
      - Client
      - Host
      - Claude
    properties:
      - type: Documentation
        url: https://claude.com/docs/connectors/building

  - name: Cursor (MCP Host)
    description: >-
      Cursor IDE supports MCP servers as a first-class extension mechanism,
      configured via mcp.json. Cursor is one of the most widely used MCP hosts
      for code-related workflows.
    humanURL: https://cursor.com/docs/context/mcp
    tags:
      - Client
      - IDE
      - Cursor
    properties:
      - type: Documentation
        url: https://cursor.com/docs/context/mcp

  - name: Visual Studio Code (MCP Host)
    description: >-
      VS Code's GitHub Copilot Chat integrates MCP servers as agents and
      tools. Microsoft has standardized on MCP for Copilot's agent-mode
      extensibility.
    humanURL: https://code.visualstudio.com/docs/copilot/chat/mcp-servers
    tags:
      - Client
      - IDE
      - VSCode
    properties:
      - type: Documentation
        url: https://code.visualstudio.com/docs/copilot/chat/mcp-servers

  - name: ChatGPT (MCP Host)
    description: >-
      OpenAI's ChatGPT supports MCP through the Apps SDK and developer tooling
      documented at developers.openai.com, making MCP a cross-vendor surface
      for connecting tools and data to ChatGPT.
    humanURL: https://developers.openai.com/api/docs/mcp/
    tags:
      - Client
      - Host
      - OpenAI
    properties:
      - type: Documentation
        url: https://developers.openai.com/api/docs/mcp/

common:
  - type: Portal
    url: https://modelcontextprotocol.io
  - type: Documentation
    url: https://modelcontextprotocol.io/introduction
  - type: GitHubOrganization
    url: https://github.com/modelcontextprotocol
  - type: GitHubRepository
    url: https://github.com/modelcontextprotocol/specification
  - type: Vocabulary
    url: vocabulary/mcp-vocabulary.yml
  - type: JSONLD
    url: json-ld/mcp-context.jsonld
  - type: Features
    data:
      - name: JSON-RPC 2.0 Base Protocol
        description: >-
          MCP defines request, response, and notification message shapes on
          top of JSON-RPC 2.0 with strict rules on IDs and structure.
      - name: Stateful Sessions
        description: >-
          Clients and servers negotiate capabilities during the initialize
          handshake and maintain stateful connections for the lifetime of the
          session.
      - name: Tools
        description: >-
          Servers expose callable tools with JSON Schema 2020-12 input
          schemas; clients invoke them via tools/call.
      - name: Resources
        description: >-
          Servers expose URI-addressable context (files, database rows, API
          responses) via resources/list, resources/read, and subscription
          notifications.
      - name: Prompts
        description: >-
          Servers expose templated prompts and workflows via prompts/list and
          prompts/get for users to invoke.
      - name: Sampling
        description: >-
          Clients can offer sampling/createMessage so servers can ask the host
          LLM to run agentic, recursive inference under user consent.
      - name: Roots
        description: >-
          Clients can advertise filesystem roots that bound a server's
          operating scope via roots/list.
      - name: Elicitation
        description: >-
          Servers can request additional information from users mid-session
          via elicitation/create.
      - name: Multiple Transports
        description: >-
          MCP defines stdio for local processes and Streamable HTTP (with an
          optional SSE legacy mode) for networked deployments.
      - name: OAuth 2.1 Authorization
        description: >-
          HTTP-based transports follow an MCP-defined OAuth 2.1 authorization
          framework; stdio transports retrieve credentials from the
          environment.
      - name: Icons and Branding
        description: >-
          Implementations, tools, prompts, and resources can publish icon
          metadata for richer UIs, with strict security constraints on icon
          URIs.
      - name: Reserved _meta Namespace
        description: >-
          MCP reserves the _meta property with a structured prefix/name format
          for attaching additional metadata to interactions.

  - type: UseCases
    data:
      - name: IDE Augmentation
        description: >-
          MCP servers extend coding assistants like Cursor, VS Code Copilot,
          and Claude Code with project-aware tools, repository search, and
          terminal/build access.
      - name: Knowledge Base Access
        description: >-
          MCP resources surface documentation, wikis, and structured data
          stores to AI hosts under user consent.
      - name: Workflow Automation
        description: >-
          MCP tools let agents trigger build pipelines, send notifications,
          create tickets, and orchestrate multi-step business workflows.
      - name: Enterprise Connectors
        description: >-
          Vendors expose enterprise systems (CRMs, ITSM, data warehouses) as
          MCP servers so that any MCP-aware host can connect without bespoke
          integration code.
      - name: Local Computer Use
        description: >-
          Local MCP servers expose filesystem, git, shell, browser, and
          desktop automation tools to assistants running on the same machine.

  - type: Integrations
    data:
      - name: Anthropic Claude
        description: >-
          Claude Desktop, Claude Code, and the Claude API are first-class MCP
          hosts and are the protocol's reference consumers.
      - name: OpenAI ChatGPT
        description: >-
          ChatGPT supports MCP through the Apps SDK and OpenAI's developer
          docs.
      - name: Cursor
        description: >-
          Cursor IDE consumes MCP servers via mcp.json configuration.
      - name: Visual Studio Code
        description: >-
          VS Code's Copilot Chat treats MCP servers as agents and tools.
      - name: MCPJam
        description: >-
          MCPJam is a community client implementation for testing MCP servers
          interactively.
      - name: Naftiko Sandbox
        description: >-
          Naftiko Sandbox is a governed MCP host that compiles capability
          definitions into sandboxed MCP servers running in containers with
          policy enforcement.

  - type: Solutions
    data:
      - name: Spec, SDKs, and Reference Servers
        description: >-
          modelcontextprotocol.io publishes the spec, schema, official SDKs
          for TypeScript, Python, Java, Kotlin, C#, Swift, and Rust, plus a
          set of reference servers and an Inspector debugging tool.
      - name: Official Registry
        description: >-
          The official MCP Registry is a central index of MCP servers with
          GitHub OAuth/OIDC and DNS-based ownership verification.
      - name: Third-Party Registries
        description: >-
          Smithery and Pulse MCP provide alternative discovery surfaces and,
          in Smithery's case, hosted execution of community servers.
      - name: Vendor Hosts
        description: >-
          Claude, ChatGPT, Cursor, VS Code Copilot, Continue, Cline, Zed,
          Windsurf, and many other assistants act as MCP hosts.

maintainers:
  - FN: Kin Lane
    email: [email protected]
    url: http://kinlane.com