MCP (Model Context Protocol): what is it and how do you connect servers?
Essence
MCP (Model Context Protocol) is an open protocol that AI applications use to connect to external tools and data. It's often called USB-C for AI: an MCP server written once works in Claude Code, Codex, Cursor, VS Code, Xcode and other clients, with no separate integration for each.
Before MCP, every tool needed its own plugin for every editor. Now, for example, Xcode exposes its capabilities (building, tests, previews, documentation search) through an MCP server, and any compatible agent can use them.
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