Your complete guide to MCP — the open standard for connecting AI applications to external systems
MCP is a standardized protocol that connects AI applications to any external system — like USB-C for your AI tools.
Expose tools for AI to execute actions, resources for context data, and prompts for interaction templates.
Built as an open-source standard with SDKs for TypeScript, Python, Go, Rust, and more.
GitHub Copilot and Cursor with MCP servers are fundamentally different tools. Here's the real comparison — context depth, tool use, pricing, and which one is right for your workflow.
Connect HubSpot to Cursor IDE via MCP and let your AI read contacts, deals, companies, and properties without leaving your editor. Setup guide with OAuth and API key options.
Setting up MCP servers on Windows in Cursor IDE is different from Mac. This guide covers the mcp.json file location, path issues, Node.js config, and every common Windows-specific error.
Connect MongoDB to Cursor IDE via MCP and query your collections, inspect schemas, and debug data issues directly while writing code. Works with Atlas and self-hosted MongoDB.
Connect Stripe to Cursor IDE using MCP and let your AI query customers, subscriptions, invoices, and payment intents directly while you write billing code. Full setup guide.
Connect Google BigQuery to Cursor IDE using MCP. Run SQL, explore datasets, and analyze billions of rows from Composer — full setup guide with IAM config.
The Model Context Protocol (MCP) is an open standard for connecting AI applications like Claude and ChatGPT to external systems such as databases, APIs, and file systems. Think of it as USB-C for AI — a standardized way for AI tools to interact with the outside world.
MCP was created by Anthropic and released as an open-source standard. It includes SDKs for multiple programming languages including TypeScript, Python, Go, and Rust.
With MCP, you can expose tools for AI to execute actions, provide resources for context data, and create prompt templates for interaction patterns. Common use cases include connecting AI to databases, integrating with APIs, accessing file systems, and building custom AI workflows.
Yes, MCP is completely free and open-source. You can use it in personal and commercial projects without any licensing fees.
MCP is supported by Claude (via Claude Desktop), and the ecosystem is growing. Many third-party tools and applications are adding MCP support, making it a versatile standard for AI integration.
New MCP server guides, setup tutorials, and integration tips — delivered weekly. No spam, unsubscribe anytime.
Join 2,400+ developers building with MCP