Glossary

What is an MCP server?

An MCP (Model Context Protocol) server exposes tools, data, and prompts that an AI agent can discover and call over a standard protocol. Any MCP-compatible client — Claude, Cursor, Claude Code — connects to the server and gains its capabilities as native tools, with no custom integration code.

In depth

Understanding mcp server

Model Context Protocol is an open standard that defines how AI applications connect to external systems. Think of it as a universal adapter between an agent and the tools or data it needs: the server advertises a list of tools, and the client (the agent) calls them like any other function in its loop.

Before MCP, every integration was bespoke — a plugin format per app, an SDK per service. MCP replaces that with one protocol, so a capability written once is usable by any compliant agent. This is why "the customer is increasingly the agent": you ship an MCP server and every agent can use your product.

A design MCP server, for example, exposes generation tools so an agent can produce editable SVG or raster art mid-task — headless, no browser — and get the exact cost back on every call.

See it in Clearly

Clearly's MCP design server

Generate editable SVG & raster from Claude, Cursor, or any MCP client.

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.