Glossary

What is an MCP client?

An MCP client is the AI application that connects to MCP servers and calls their tools — Claude Desktop, Claude Code, Cursor, or any app that speaks the Model Context Protocol. The client is where the model runs; it discovers a server’s tools and lets the model invoke them mid-task.

In depth

Understanding mcp client

Model Context Protocol has two sides: servers expose capabilities (tools, data, prompts), and clients consume them. The client is the host application the model lives in — it manages the connection, presents the server’s tools to the model, and executes the calls the model decides to make.

A single client can connect to many servers at once, merging all their tools into one toolset. That is what lets an agent in Cursor or Claude Code reach a design server, a database server, and a search server in the same conversation.

For a design MCP server, the client is what lets Claude or Cursor generate editable art without leaving the chat — the server does the work, the client routes the request.

See it in Clearly

Clearly’s MCP server

Connect any MCP client and generate editable SVG or raster.

The design workspace where these ideas are real

Agents that generate, a canvas they can see and drive, and a brain that keeps every asset on-brand. Free to start.