The Universal Key of AI: Analysis of MCP Protocol

The Model Context Protocol (MCP) is an open-source standardized protocol developed by Anthropic, designed to connect large language models with external tools and data sources. It is referred to as "the USB-C of AI," simplifying the interaction between AI models and external resources by providing a unified interface.

Core Functions of MC

1. Unified Interface: Simplifies the integration of multiple models and tools
2. Real-time data access: Query latency reduced to 0.5 seconds
3. Security and Privacy Protection: Permission reliability reaches 98%

Technical Architecture

MCP adopts a client-server architecture:

• MCP host: user interaction application
• MCP client: handle protocol communication
• MCP Server: Provides specific functions, connects data sources

The transmission methods include Stdio (local) and HTTP SSE (remote).

Core Components

1. Tools: executable functions
2. Resources: Structured Data
3. Prompts: Instruction template

Application Scenarios

1. Development and Productivity: Code Debugging, Document Search
2. Creativity and Design: 3D Modeling, Design Tasks
3. Data and Communication: Database Queries, Team Collaboration
4. Education and Healthcare: Curriculum Planning, Diagnostic Assistance
5. Blockchain and Finance: Transaction Analysis, Investment Forecasting

Ecosystem

• Clients: Claude Desktop, Cursor, Continue, etc.
• Servers: Supabase, Stripe, Blender and over 2000 others
• Market: platforms like mcp.so
• Infrastructure: Cloudflare, Toolbase, etc.

Challenges and Limitations

1. Technical complexity: The threshold for development and deployment is relatively high.
2. The ecological quality is uneven: about 30% of servers have stability issues.
3. Applicability in Production Environment: The accuracy of the calls and customization requirements need to be improved.
4. Competitive Pressure: Facing challenges from solutions like OpenAI, LangChain, etc.

Future Development

• protocol simplification and user experience optimization
• Web support and cloud deployment
• Extend to more business scenarios
• Community incentives enhance ecological quality

MCP is expected to become an important infrastructure for the AI intelligent body ecosystem, and its development will continue to be worth paying attention to.