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Senddio glossary · Model Context ProtocolLast reviewed: May 2026

What is MCP?

MCP (Model Context Protocol) is an open standard from Anthropic that lets AI agents like Claude safely use external tools. An MCP server exposes a set of well-defined tool functions; Claude can call those functions, receive structured results, and act on them.

How MCP works in plain English

A developer (or company) publishes an MCP server that exposes a set of tools. The user adds the server to their MCP-compatible client, such as Claude Desktop, Claude Code, or any other MCP runner. Claude can then call those tools naturally during a conversation, with the request validated and the response returned in a structured format.

Why MCP matters

Before MCP, giving Claude the ability to use a real tool meant writing brittle prompts that hoped the model would format JSON correctly, or wrapping every API call in a custom integration. MCP standardises the contract so the model never has to guess, and the same server works in every MCP-compatible client.

What MCP tools look like

Each tool has a name, a description, a typed input schema, and an output schema. Claude reads the descriptions to decide which tool to call, the schema constrains the call so it cannot be malformed, and the response comes back in a known shape.

MCP and Senddio

Senddio publishes @senddio/mcp-server, a Node-based MCP server with seven tools: send a message, send a multi-channel notification, get a message status, list recent messages, list inbound messages, get delivery stats, and verify configuration. With one command in your terminal, Claude can use all seven safely under an agent-scoped key you control.

Related terms
Webhook OTP
FAQ

MCP — FAQ

MCP was created by Anthropic and is the native tool protocol for Claude. However, the spec is open and any AI client can adopt it. For ChatGPT and the OpenAI Assistants API, Senddio publishes a separate function-calling tools package.

No. Install the MCP server with one command, add the config block to Claude Desktop or your MCP client, and Claude can immediately send messages, check statuses, and read replies through Senddio.

Yes. The server is published on npm as @senddio/mcp-server under a permissive licence, with source available on GitHub.

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