AI engineering glossary · Agents tools MCP
What is MCP tool?
MCP tool: An action that an MCP server offers, described by a name, a description and an input schema, that the model can ask the client to run. Tools are typically chosen by the model, unlike resources, which the application usually controls.
MCP tool: an example
A tool named create_invoice with fields customer_id and amount is listed by a billing server.
Related terms
More Agents tools MCP terms
- MCP transport
- Memory consolidation
- Memory retrieval
- Model Context Protocol
- Model routing
- Multi-agent system
- OpenAI Agents SDK
- Orchestrator-worker pattern
Where you learn it
MCP tool is part of the AI Engineering Program, which teaches it with notes, a hands-on lab and an exam. The first lesson is free.