Introduction to MCP

model context protocol (mcp) is a protocol that helps ai and other systems communicate easily and securely it connects ai applications, such as claude and chatgpt, to external systems by providing access to tools and knowledge an mcp server is the program that provides this connection between systems make provides its own mcp server that connects {{product name}} directly to ai when connected using mcp, {{product name}} and ai build on each other's strengths {{product name}} gives ai access to its large network of connections to third party services and data, while ai intelligently chooses the right {{product name}} resource to use for each task in this guide, learn more about using mcp with make, including key concepts, mcp options, and where to go next to get started benefits of using mcp mcp offers several benefits, both in general and when used with make through make mcp server benefits of mcp extend what ai can do for you and what it knows with external tools and resources one universal connection to any tool or data source give ai real time access to external data beyond its training data allow ai to perform specific actions for you in external systems based on requests benefits of make mcp server use one mcp server to access a wide range of tools instead of multiple servers gain visibility into the tools that ai uses, with all tool runs visible in {{product name}} use tools that you built in {{product name}} to help ai perform specific tasks, so you control the tools used and support reliable and cost effective ai decision making key concepts in the context of {{product name}} , mcp uses these core concepts mcp client ai applications and coding tools, such as chatgpt, claude, and cursor, that call mcp tools using mcp mcp tools the tools available on an mcp server that mcp clients use to perform actions, for example, listing and adding customers in a crm system in {{product name}} , mcp tools are active, on demand {{scenario plural lowercase}} and other elements of your {{product name}} account mcp server programs that provide mcp tools, resources, and prompts to mcp clients mcp resources static files, such as text, images, and video, that an mcp server shares with the mcp client to reference make mcp server {{product name}} acting as a server that exposes mcp tools to mcp clients scenario the automated workflow that you build in {{product name}} transport method the format for exchanging data between mcp servers and clients, for example, streamable http and server sent events (sse) connection type the method used to securely authenticate connections to an mcp server, for example, oauth or api keys how mcp works with make when you connect mcp clients like claude to {{product name}} , your {{scenario plural lowercase}} and other {{product name}} resources become available as tools on an mcp server when you send an mcp client a request, the client reviews tools, chooses the right one based on its name and description, runs it, and retrieves the outputs options for using mcp with make you have two ways to use mcp with {{product name}} make mcp server and mcp toolboxes make mcp server docid 95jjtreuq1qmryibxvbkx connects {{product name}} to mcp clients to allow clients to perform actions for you it provides access to both scenario run tools and management tools there is no option to limit mcp client access to a specific set of {{scenario plural lowercase}} or give access to other users use it when you want to run scenarios and manage your make account from a mcp client set up quickly without the need to restrict the available tools mcp toolboxes docid\ jqy6i5acfim kom9erv7a are dedicated make mcp servers that consist of a specific set of {{scenario plural lowercase}} used as tools with easy tool selection and the option to generate multiple keys, they're ideal when different clients need different sets of tools use it when you want to control which tools are available to mcp clients securely share different tool sets with team members and clients to get started, refer to the documentation of the mcp feature that best suits your needs