The Birth of a Standard
On November 25, 2024, Anthropic introduced something that would fundamentally reshape how AI systems connect with the world: the Model Context Protocol (MCP).
Created by Anthropic developers David Soria Parra and Justin Spahr-Summers, MCP addressed what engineers called the "M×N problem"—the combinatorial explosion of connecting M different AI models with N different tools or data sources.
The Problem MCP Solved
Before MCP, connecting ten AI applications to 100 tools meant potentially 1,000 different custom integrations. MCP reduced this to a simple equation: implement the client protocol once, implement the server protocol once, and everything works together.
The Timeline: A Year of Unprecedented Growth
Q1 2025: Foundation Phase (November 2024 - February 2025)
November 25, 2024 - Launch
- Anthropic open-sources MCP with SDKs in Python and TypeScript
- Reference servers released: Google Drive, Slack, GitHub, Git, Postgres, and Puppeteer
- Early adopters: Block and Apollo integrate MCP
- Development tools companies (Zed, Replit, Codeium, Sourcegraph) begin integrations
December 2024 - January 2025
- Claude Desktop app gets native MCP support
- First community-built servers emerge
February 2025
- Over 1,000 community-built MCP servers available
Q2 2025: The Inflection Point (March - May)
March 26, 2025 - The Game Changer
OpenAI CEO Sam Altman announced on X:
"People love MCP and we are excited to add support across our products. available today in the agents SDK and support for chatgpt desktop app + responses api coming soon!"
This same day, MCP launched its second major specification (2025-03-26) introducing:
- Streamable HTTP transport for cloud deployments
- Comprehensive OAuth 2.1 authorization framework
- Enhanced remote deployment capabilities
April 2025
- Google DeepMind CEO Demis Hassabis confirms MCP support for Gemini models
- Security researchers identify critical issues: prompt injection, tool permissions, lookalike tools
- Ecosystem reaches 5,800+ MCP servers
April 22, 2025 - Docker Enters the MCP Arena
Docker announces Docker MCP Catalog and Docker MCP Toolkit, bringing container-grade security to the MCP ecosystem:
- Centralized discovery platform integrated with Docker Hub
- 100+ verified MCP servers at launch
- Partnership with Stripe, Elastic, Neo4j, Heroku, Pulumi, Grafana Labs, Kong Inc., New Relic, Continue.dev and more
- Publisher verification and versioned releases
- Built on Docker Hub's infrastructure (20+ billion pulls monthly)
- One-click MCP server deployment from Docker Desktop
- Built-in OAuth support and secure credential storage
- Seamless integration with Gordon (Docker AI Agent), Claude, Cursor, VS Code, Windsurf, Continue.dev, and Goose
- Enterprise controls: Registry Access Management (RAM) and Image Access Management (IAM)
- Containerized MCP servers for isolation and security
Docker President and COO Mark Cavage:
"Building functional AI applications shouldn't feel radically different from building any other app."
May 2025
- Microsoft announces Windows 11 as "agentic OS" with native MCP support
- Microsoft Copilot Studio reaches General Availability with MCP integration
- May 5, 2025: Docker MCP Catalog and Toolkit enter Beta
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