Engineering6 min read2026-05-08

MCP Protocol Explained: A Developer-Friendly Guide

What is MCP?

MCP (Model Context Protocol) is an open standard that allows AI models to interact with external tools and data sources. Think of it as a USB-C for AI — a universal protocol that connects AI clients with the tools they need.

How MCP Works

MCP uses a client-server architecture:

  1. MCP Client — The AI application (Claude Desktop, Cursor, etc.)
  2. MCP Server — Exposes tools and resources that the client can call
  3. JSON-RPC 2.0 — The protocol used for communication

When an AI model needs to perform an action (like fetching data or calling an API), it sends a JSON-RPC request to the MCP server. The server executes the action and returns the result.

Key Concepts

Tools

Tools are functions that an AI model can call. Each tool has:

  • A name — unique identifier
  • A description — explains what the tool does
  • An inputSchema — JSON Schema defining the parameters
  • An endpoint — the actual API endpoint to call

Resources

Resources expose data that the AI can read. Unlike tools (which perform actions), resources provide context.

Transport

MCP supports multiple transport mechanisms:

  • HTTP/HTTPS — Standard RESTful transport
  • SSE (Server-Sent Events) — For streaming responses
  • Stdio — For local processes

Why MCP Matters

MCP solves the fragmentation problem in AI tooling. Before MCP, every AI platform had its own way of connecting to external tools. MCP creates a unified standard, making tools portable across platforms.

Related Posts

Getting Started with FuzeMCP

FuzeMCP handles all the MCP protocol complexity for you. Create an account, define your API endpoints, and get a fully compliant MCP server — no protocol knowledge required.