the staircase, mapped

Start here

MCP — the Model Context Protocol — is the open standard that connects AI applications to your tools, files, and data through one connector. This site teaches it as one continuous staircase: understand, build, connect, ship, govern. Pick your goal:

No code yet — get the mental model that makes everything else obvious.

01 What is MCP? How the protocol actually works
02 MCP vs function calling: what is actually different?
03 The transports, sorted: stdio vs Streamable HTTP

why step by step

The order is the point

Most MCP confusion is skipped steps: transports before primitives, OAuth before a working local server. Here, tutorials climb in order, comparisons settle the either-or questions, the production section keeps it safe and affordable, the radar tracks the ecosystem quarterly, and templates let you skip the blank page. Lost in vocabulary? The glossary defines every term, the FAQ answers the common questions, and the resource shelf collects the primary sources. Every guide ends with its next step.