12 Integrating web apps with the Model Context Protocol
This chapter covers
- What is the Model Context Protocol (MCP) and why is it important for building modern web applications powered by LLMs?
- Integrating MCP with Vercel AI SDK to extend web apps with external capabilities
- Practical examples of building and connecting an MCP server
- Developing a complete end-to-end project to integrate an MCP server
- Introducing MCP architecture, data flow, and integration patterns
The game-changing Model Context Protocol (MCP) is a new open standard designed to connect AI agents with external tools and data sources in a secure and standardized way.
Designed and open-sourced by Anthropic (https://www.anthropic.com/news/model-context-protocol), MCP defines a server protocol for exposing tools, prompts, and resources to AI models. It’s rapidly gaining traction because it simplifies the process of extending appos with external functionality and enables interoperability across ecosystems.
Any client that implements this protocol, whether a server application, browser-based web app, or CLI tool, can interact consistently with MCP servers. This means the AI agent, wherever it runs, always knows how to call a tool and handle its outputs, whether that tool accesses an API, a database, or a file system. In short, adding MCP capabilities to your applications allows them to tap into the many tools and databases that others create, provided those tools are also MCP-compatible.