What is MCP (Model Context Protocol)?

MCP is an open standard introduced by Anthropic in 2024 that defines a universal interface for connecting AI models to external tools, data sources, and services. Think of it as USB-C for AI integrations instead of every app building custom connectors for every AI model, any MCP-compatible client (Claude, Cursor, VS Code, etc.) can connect to any MCP-compatible server (GitHub, Slack, databases, local files, APIs) using the same protocol.