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MCP Client

MCP Client

Also called: MCP 客户端

The component, usually inside a host app like Claude Code or Cursor, that connects to an MCP server, negotiates capabilities, and invokes its tools for the model.

Host app(Claude Code,Cursor, ...)client AServer 1Server 2
Schematic (simplified)

Place in the architecture

MCP has three roles: the Host is the user-facing app; inside it, a Client is created for each server it connects to; each Server provides specific capabilities. One host can maintain many client connections to different servers, isolated from each other.

What the client does

Establish the transport, run the initialization handshake, call tools/list / resources/list to discover capabilities, translate the model's tool calls into JSON-RPC requests to the server, and return results to the model. It also presents server capabilities to the model in a form it can use.

Common misconceptions

  • The client is not the model — it is the component in the host app responsible for talking to one server.
  • A client usually maps to a single server connection; connecting to several servers means several clients.

Related terms

MCP (Model Context Protocol) MCP (Model Context Protocol)MCP Server MCP ServerCapability Discovery Capability Discovery

Sources

  1. Model Context Protocol — Architecture overview
  2. Model Context Protocol — Client concepts

Compiled 2026-08-29 · This glossary is compiled from public papers, official specifications, and common industry definitions, and is updated as the field evolves. Corrections welcome.