MCP server

MCP server: A program that exposes tools, resources or prompts to MCP clients over stdio or Streamable HTTP. Example: Stripe runs its MCP server at https://mcp.stripe.com. Next in the glossary is MCP server portal: Cloudflare's product that puts many MCP servers behind one authenticated endpoint with per-tool controls.

Definition

A program that exposes tools, resources or prompts to MCP clients over stdio or Streamable HTTP.

Example, with source

Stripe runs its MCP server at https://mcp.stripe.com. (docs.stripe.com, read 4 November 2026)

Where it appears on this site

• MCP
• Tool descriptions and agent success
• Building a remote MCP server

Neighbouring terms

• MCP registry: A catalog of MCP server metadata that clients and directories read; the official one is registry.modelcontextprotocol.io.
• MCP server portal: Cloudflare's product that puts many MCP servers behind one authenticated endpoint with per-tool controls.
• mcp-publisher: The CLI that publishes a server.json to the official registry after namespace verification.