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0150

MCP & Agent Protocols

An agent is only as useful as the tools it can reach, but historically every app had to build a custom connector for every tool — a tangle that grows multiplicatively. MCP (Model Context Protocol) is a shared standard: a tool describes itself once as an MCP server, an app implements the client once, and any app can then talk to any tool. Like USB replaced a drawer of proprietary cables, one protocol replaces n × m custom integrations with n + m.

Toggle between custom integrations and one protocol. Watch 20 tangled wires collapse to 9 clean ones through a single hub.

connections: 20
Chat appIDEAgentNotes appSearchFilesDatabaseEmailCalendar

Every app needs its own connector for every tool: 4 x 5 = 20 separate integrations.

Check yourself

If you add a 6th tool under MCP, how many new connections are needed — one, or one per app?

Go deeper (free): Model Context Protocol — official intro

Next: Embedding Search