MCP (Model Context Protocol)
An open standard that lets AI assistants such as Claude use a product's tools and data through one defined interface.
Updated October 2026 · with examples from our own builds
What does MCP mean in practice?
MCP gives AI assistants a common way to discover and call a product's actions, such as reading a record, editing a draft or listing items. A product publishes an MCP server describing its tools, and any assistant that speaks MCP can then use them within the permissions granted.
An MCP server is a new kind of integration: rather than a plugin for every AI tool, you expose the product once. It also enforces a useful discipline, because the actions an assistant takes should be the same checked operations your own interface uses.
Its risks are those of any API with an AI on the other end, so scope what each tool can do, require authentication and log every call.
MCP at a glance
- What it is
- An open protocol for AI assistants to use tools
- A product exposes
- An MCP server listing its tools
- Rule
- The same checked operations as your own interface
Where has MCP come up in our builds?
An MCP server with nine tools lets an AI coding assistant read and edit a storyboard through the same typed operations and rules as the studio's own inspector.
The AI builder, the template seeder and a six-tool MCP server all call one shared set of operations, so there is a single code path for changing a form.
ConferBot's public MCP server guide lists 49 tools for AI assistants across ten modules, from the knowledge base and flows to webhooks and analytics.
Common questions about MCP
Does my SaaS product need an MCP server?
Not at launch, unless your users already work in AI assistants and want to drive your product from there. If you have a clean internal set of operations, adding one later is a modest job.
Is an MCP server a security risk?
It is an interface like an API, with an AI calling it. Scope each tool narrowly, require authentication and log every call.
Related terms
Sources
Planning a product and not sure where MCP fits? Ask us, or browse all 116 terms in the glossary.