66 lines
2.4 KiB
Plaintext
66 lines
2.4 KiB
Plaintext
---
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title: What is Model Context Protocol (MCP)?
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subtitle: What is MCP, and how can it be combined with agents?
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slug: guides/mcp/overview
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---
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[Model Context Protocol (MCP)](https://modelcontextprotocol.io) is an open protocol that enables seamless integration between LLM applications and external data sources and tools.
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In Letta, you can create your own [custom tools](/guides/agents/custom-tools) that run in the Letta tool sandbox, or use MCP to connect to tools that run on external servers.
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**Already familiar with MCP?** Jump to the [setup guide](/guides/mcp/setup).
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## Architecture
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MCP uses a **host-client-server** model. Letta acts as the **host**, creating **clients** that connect to external **servers**. Each server exposes tools, resources, or prompts through the standardized MCP protocol.
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Letta's MCP integration connects your agents to external tools and data sources without requiring custom integrations.
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## Integration Flow
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```mermaid
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flowchart LR
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subgraph L ["Letta"]
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LH[Host] --> LC1[Client 1]
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LH --> LC2[Client 2]
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LH --> LC3[Client 3]
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end
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subgraph S ["MCP Servers"]
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MS1[GitHub]
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MS2[Database]
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MS3[Files]
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end
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LC1 <--> MS1
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LC2 <--> MS2
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LC3 <--> MS3
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```
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Letta creates isolated clients for each MCP server, maintaining security boundaries while providing agents access to specialized capabilities.
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## Connection Methods
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- **ADE**: Point-and-click server management through Letta's web interface
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- **API/SDK**: Programmatic integration for production deployments
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<Note>
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**Letta Cloud**: Streamable HTTP and SSE only
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**Self-hosted**: All transports (stdio, HTTP, SSE)
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</Note>
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## Benefits
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<Warning>
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Make sure your trust the MCP server you're using.
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Never connect your agent to an MCP server that you don't trust.
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</Warning>
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MCP servers are a great way to connect your agents to rich tool libraries.
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Without MCP, if you want to create a new tool to your agent (e.g., give your agent the ability to search the web), you would need to write a custom tool in Python that calls an external web search API.
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Letta lets you build arbitrarily complex tools, which can be very powerful, but it also requires you to write your own tool code - with MCP, you can use pre-made tools by picking pre-made MCP servers and connecting them to Letta.
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## Next Steps
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Ready to connect? See the [setup guide](/guides/mcp/setup).
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