What is MCP (Model Context Protocol)?

Assistants Last updated 2026-04-23 Tags: MCP, protocol, integrations, tools

MCP (Model Context Protocol) is an open standard that defines how AI models connect to external tools and data sources. It provides a consistent way for assistants to call tools — whether that's querying a database, triggering an API, or reading a file — so assistants built on different models can use the same tools reliably.

Why MCP matters

Before MCP, every AI integration had to be built custom for each model and each tool. MCP standardises the interface, so:

A tool built once works with any MCP-compatible assistant
Assistants can discover what tools are available and how to use them at runtime
Tool developers publish once to the Marketplace rather than building separate integrations for every platform

MCP tools on QuivaWorks

The QuivaWorks Marketplace includes a growing library of MCP tools. Each listing shows:

What the tool does and what data it can access
What permissions it requires
Pricing (free or paid)
How to connect it to an assistant

QuivaWorks also includes a utility that can convert any API into an MCP-hosted tool, so you can wrap your own internal APIs without writing an integration from scratch.

For developers

If you want to build and publish your own MCP tool, see the MCP developer guide in the documentation.

Browse MCP tools

Visit the Marketplace and filter by MCP Tools to see what's available.