MCP

USB won because every device used the same hole.

Before that, printers had their own cables, cameras had their own cables, and your desk was a junk drawer. MCP — Model Context Protocol — is USB for agents.

An AI app (Claude Code, Cursor, Codex, whatever ships next week) should not need a custom integration for every tool. The tool speaks MCP. The app plugs in. Now the model can see the menu.

What it actually is

A small server that advertises tools and resources. "I can scaffold a project." "I can list legal stacks." The host calls those tools. Your code runs. The model gets structured results, not a screenshot of a terminal.

This repo's npx create-hackhaton-space-stack@latest mcp is that plug. Install the plugin, or point an MCP-capable app at the server, and the CLI becomes a pair of hands the model already knows how to shake.

Not an API for humans

An API is a window for any program. MCP is a window shaped for language models: tool names, JSON arguments, descriptions the model reads before it orders.

You still want a normal API for your product. MCP is how the assistant reaches the tools without you pasting docs into the chat every time.

What this unlocks

Without MCP, every new AI app means another integration. With it, you write the server once and any host that speaks the protocol can walk up to the window.

That's the leap. A plugin for one chat app is a favor. A protocol is infrastructure.