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What is MCP?

What is MCP?

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Better Engineering
Aug 11, 2025
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Better Engineers
What is MCP?
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What Is MCP (Model-Context Protocol)?

The Model Context Protocol is an open standard that enables developers to build secure, two-way connections between their data sources and AI-powered tools. The architecture is straightforward: developers can either expose their data through MCP servers or build AI applications (MCP clients) that connect to these servers.

MCP Breakdown

Model

  • Defines the abstract behavior (e.g., linearizability, serializability).

  • Example: Strong consistency for all reads/writes to a range.

Context

  • The scope of the operation (e.g., a range/partition/shard).

  • Example: In Spanner or CockroachDB, each range or tablet has its own Raft group — that's the context.

Protocol

  • The consensus algorithm used (Raft, Paxos, etc.).

  • Operates within a context to enforce the model.

  • Example: Raft within a shard to maintain consistency of key-value pairs.

How We Can Use MCP

You can apply MCP when building systems that:

  • Use partitioned data (sharded DB, distributed key-value store).

  • Need strong consistency per partition.

  • Want scalable consensus (avoid a single Raft/Paxos for the entire system).

Instead of 1 large Paxos group, you run many independent Raft groups, one per shard/range, and MCP ties them together with unified semantics.

Real-World Use Cases

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