Step 1 of 8
What Is MCP?
Build a practical mental model of the host, client, server, and the capabilities an MCP server can expose.
Model Context Protocol gives AI applications and external capability providers a shared protocol boundary. The protocol does not make every API identical. It standardizes how participants discover capabilities and exchange structured messages.
The three participants
- The host owns the user experience, model access, permissions, and client lifecycle.
- An MCP client is created by the host and communicates with one server.
- An MCP server exposes capabilities such as tools, resources, and prompts.
Host
MCP client
MCP server
What your server will expose
Step 1
Ready to continue?
Mark this step complete when you have finished the checks above.
Checking saved progress…