MCP & Tooling
MCP Server
Also: MCP tool server
A program that exposes tools and data to an AI agent over the Model Context Protocol.
In more detail
An MCP server can be a local process the agent launches or a remote service it connects to. A local server runs with your user's permissions, so installing one is similar to installing any program. A remote server sees whatever the agent sends it and returns text the model will read. Check where it runs, what scopes it asks for and who maintains it.