Glossary
What is MCP?
Model Context Protocol (MCP) — a standard way for AI agents to connect to tools, data, and APIs.
MCP (Model Context Protocol) is an open standard for connecting AI agents to external tools, data sources, and APIs through a consistent interface.
Instead of hard-coding one-off integrations for every model or app, an MCP server exposes capabilities (resources, tools, prompts). An MCP client — often an agent runtime such as Claude Desktop, Claude Code, or another compatible host — discovers and calls those capabilities in a predictable way.
Why it matters for ecommerce
Ecommerce workflows span marketplaces, seller dashboards, product catalogs, ads, and support systems. MCP lets agents plug into those systems as reusable connectors — for example fetching listing data, querying inventory, or triggering a research tool — without rebuilding the integration for each agent product.
On FlowCay, browse curated ecommerce MCP servers on the MCP library.
MCP vs Skills vs SaaS
| Concept | What it is | Typical use |
|---|---|---|
| AI Agent | System that plans and takes multi-step actions | Run research, listing, coding, ops tasks |
| MCP | Protocol + server that exposes tools/data to agents | Connect agents to APIs, DBs, marketplace data |
| Skill | Reusable capability pack / playbook an agent can load | Domain workflows (listing, research, ops) |
| SaaS | Product sellers use in a browser | Direct human-facing apps |
They often work together: a Skill may instruct an agent how to run a workflow, while MCP provides the live connectors that workflow needs.