Getting to Know MCP and The Broader Ecosystem
This section provides introductions to aspects of the MCP ecosystem, along with some information on other protocols that either compete with or complement MCP. The following chapters are currently available.
If you are interested in the roadmap for MCP, see the 2026 roadmap.
The MCP Standard
(New May 2026)
In May 2026, the draft MCP specification was published. This blog post summarizes what’s new. The MCP Standard chapter provides a look at what’s new.
MCP and Everyone Else: a Review of Inter-agent Communication Protocols
In MCP and Everyone Else - A Review of Inter-agent Communication Protocols, Laurie Voss reprises his talk at the MCP Developers Summit. He provides an overview of several other inter-agent communication protocols out there that compete with or possibly complement MCP, along with his thoughts about how the ecosystem will evolve.
NLIP, Agents, and Protocols
In NLIP, Agents, and Protocols, Tom Sheffler provides an overview of NLIP and the problems it addresses. NLIP (Natural Language Interaction Protocol) defines a payload format for transferring natural language conversations augmented with multimodal media. Its intended use is as a transport between a user-facing application and an agent, or between two agents. NLIP has defined bindings for for many protocols, including MCP, A2A, HTTP, and others.
Coming Soon
We plan to include chapters on the following topics:
- A quick introduction to MCP
TODO: We welcome feedback on our current content and suggestions for new additions. Actual submissions are even better! See contributing or provide feedback and suggestions using our discussion forum.