What is MCP (Model Context Protocol) and why does it matter for Magento?

MCP is an open protocol Anthropic shipped in November 2024 that lets large language models talk to external tools and data sources through a standard interface. Think of it as USB-C for AI, one socket, many devices. For Magento, MCP means Claude, ChatGPT, or Cursor can query your catalogue, check stock, summarise yesterday’s orders, or draft a discount code without you writing five different REST integrations. The protocol crossed tribal lines fast: OpenAI and Google both adopted it in early 2025, and Adobe made it the default agent protocol for Commerce at Summit 2026. That puts MCP in the same “assume it’s there” bucket as JSON-RPC or OAuth, you build for it once and every major AI client gets your Magento data for free.