What MCP is
MCP — the Model Context Protocol — is a universal adapter that lets any AI agent use any software tool without custom, one-off wiring. It is the standard port for AI, the way USB-C is the standard port for devices. You do not buy a different cable for every gadget; you plug into the same port. MCP is that port for agents and software.
The problem it solves is real and boring: before MCP, connecting an agent to a tool meant building a bespoke integration for that exact pairing — and doing it again for the next tool, and the next agent. Effort multiplied. Nothing was reusable. MCP standardizes the plug so a single integration works everywhere.
Server, client, and what flows between them
Two roles matter. Software that wants to be usable by agents runs an MCP server. The agent that connects to it is the MCP client. An MCP server exposes three kinds of thing:
- Tools — actions the agent can take (place an order, run a query).
- Resources — data the agent can read (a document, a live feed, a record).
- Prompts — ready-made instructions the server offers for common tasks.
Because MCP is an open standard, the same server works with any compliant client. Build the server once and every agent that speaks MCP can use it — no per-agent rework.
What it means for finance
Here is the concrete payoff. When a market-data feed, a broker, or a research system says it "has an MCP server," it means your agent can use it immediately — no integration project, no bespoke connector. It is the same experience as a new laptop working with any USB-C device the moment you plug it in.
For a finance leader, that is the whole point: MCP turns "we'd need to build an integration" into "it already plugs in." The tools your desk depends on become things an agent can reach the day they publish a server.
See it in kestrel
Kestrel exposes an MCP server, so an agent can drive it natively over the same open protocol. See a session run on a generic instrument, no signup, no card:
npx kestrel.markets sim fomc-rate-decision-whipsawIt prints a certified proof URL you can recompute yourself. Drop the kestrel.markets MCP server into your client and the capability returns next session — no account in between.