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MCP is a protocol, not a plugin store. The Model Context Protocol standardizes how AI applications connect to software that provides tools, data, or reusable prompts. It does not create a marketplace, list integrations, or decide how an application presents them. A host product may offer its own directory or packaging, but that is a separate product feature.
What is MCP?
The Model Context Protocol (MCP) is an open standard for communication between AI applications and servers that make capabilities available to them. Think of it as a shared connector language: compatible applications and servers can use agreed message formats and operations to exchange context and access capabilities.
MCP standardizes that exchange; it does not prescribe how an application uses an AI model or manages the context it receives. The protocol documentation describes MCP as focused on context exchange, leaving those broader application decisions to the host. MCP architecture documentation
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How do an MCP host, client, and server work together?
The host is the AI application. It creates an MCP client that connects to an MCP server. The server makes capabilities available; the client can discover them and communicate with that server using MCP. In the documented architecture, each client maintains a connection to its corresponding server.
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- Host: The AI application that decides how to use and present connected capabilities.
- Client: The component in the host that communicates with a particular server.
- Server: Software that provides capabilities such as tools, resources, or prompts.
The architecture has a data layer based on JSON-RPC 2.0 and a transport layer that carries communication and authorization details. The documentation for the 2026-07-28 specification revision describes STDIO for communication with local processes and Streamable HTTP for remote communication. These are transport options, not different kinds of marketplace or plugin. MCP architecture documentation · MCP specification, 2026-07-28 revision
What can an MCP server provide?
MCP defines three core capability types. For example, a server connected to a database might expose a query tool, a schema resource, and a reusable prompt for asking questions about the data. The example shows the different roles these capabilities can play; a particular server does not have to offer all three.
| Capability | What it is | Database example |
|---|---|---|
| Tools | Executable functions that a language model may invoke through the application. | Run a permitted query. |
| Resources | Data the application can provide as context. | Make the database schema available. |
| Prompts | Reusable templates for interactions. | Offer a template for asking questions about the data. |
The protocol describes how these capabilities are exposed and exchanged. It does not require a particular screen, approval flow, or interaction design. The tools specification says implementations may expose tools through the interface pattern that suits them. MCP architecture documentation · MCP tools specification, 2026-07-28 revision
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Why isn’t MCP a plugin store?
A store or directory is a product experience for finding, selecting, and often installing integrations. MCP itself supplies none of those storefront functions. It defines how compatible software communicates and exchanges capabilities; it does not publish listings, rank integrations, approve them for a catalog, or install them.
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An AI application could put MCP servers behind its own directory or package an integration as a plugin. Those choices belong to that product, not to the protocol. Likewise, an MCP server is the software providing capabilities, not the listing or package a user might encounter in an application.
How is MCP different from a plugin?
“Plugin” is a product and packaging term whose meaning varies by platform. MCP is a protocol a product may use. One concrete example is OpenAI’s plugin documentation: it says a plugin can include an MCP server when it needs live information, actions, or integration with another service, but that server is optional. A plugin with only instructions and resources may consist of skills alone. That is OpenAI’s product model, not a universal definition of plugins. OpenAI plugin documentation
- A plugin package may use MCP, but MCP is not itself a plugin package.
- An MCP server can provide capabilities without being presented as a plugin.
- Whether users browse, install, configure, or approve an integration depends on the host product.
What MCP does—and what it leaves to the application
MCP gives compatible clients and servers a common way to describe and exchange capabilities. The project also includes a specification, protocol schema, SDKs, development tools, and reference server implementations; these support implementation of the standard but are distinct from the protocol itself. MCP project repository
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1Clear out junk files and repair common Windows errors2Fix the driver behind crashes, sound loss and screen glitches3Repair Windows errors before they cause bigger problemsThe host application remains responsible for the user experience: how it surfaces available tools, whether it asks for confirmation before an action, what context it supplies, and how its AI uses that context. The protocol establishes a communication layer, not a universal interface or a guarantee that every host will behave the same way.
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