MCP (Model Context Protocol)#
An open protocol that standardizes how applications provide context and tools to LLMs. Enables communication between AI agents and external services.
How Claude Code Uses MCP#
claude-code uses MCP as its primary tool integration mechanism:
- Connect to external data sources (Google Drive, Jira, Slack, custom tooling)
- Discover and install prebuilt plugins
- Create custom plugins
- Tool definitions deferred by default — only tool names consume context until Claude uses a specific tool (tool search)
Usage Across the Ecosystem#
- claude-code: Primary tool integration. Supports prebuilt and custom plugins.
- kiro: kiro-powers contain curated MCP servers as part of expertise packages.
- scion: Not directly mentioned, but the plugin-system (hashicorp/go-plugin over gRPC) serves a similar role.
Significance#
MCP is emerging as a shared standard across the coding agent ecosystem. Both Anthropic (Claude Code) and AWS (Kiro) use it, making it a potential interoperability layer between different agent tools. The agent-skills-standard (agentskills.io) is a complementary open standard: skills teach agents how to do things; MCP connects agents to external tools and data.