43d41a242eThis PR reorganizes and extends the existing documentation in preparation for publishing on https://modelcontextprotocol.io/. The current plan is for docs to remain in this repo, and be synced to the `modelcontextprotocol/modelcontextprotocol` whenever necessary (e.g., accompanying a release of the registry). I have included a script in https://github.com/modelcontextprotocol/modelcontextprotocol/pull/1725 (`bin/pull-registry-docs.sh`) that can be run manually to perform the sync. If we later decide to permanently move the docs to the `modelcontextprotocol/modelcontextprotocol` repo, that also works. This PR puts all https://modelcontextprotocol.io/ docs into `docs/modelcontextprotocol-io/`. Docs outside that subdirectory, such as `docs/administration/admin-operations.md`, are intended to be accessible solely via this repo. One major exception is the `docs/reference/server-json/` subdirectory, which will depend on the resolution of https://github.com/modelcontextprotocol/modelcontextprotocol/issues/1649. However, I think we could address that in a follow-up PR. --------- Co-authored-by: Adam Jones <adamj+git@anthropic.com> Co-authored-by: Claude <noreply@anthropic.com>
56 lines
2.9 KiB
Markdown
56 lines
2.9 KiB
Markdown
# Ecosystem Vision
|
|
|
|
How the MCP Registry fits into the broader ecosystem and our vision for the future.
|
|
|
|
## The Registry Ecosystem
|
|
|
|
The MCP registry provides MCP clients with a list of MCP servers, like an app store for MCP servers. (In the future it might do more, like also hosting a list of clients).
|
|
|
|
There are two parts to the registry project:
|
|
|
|
1. 🟦 **The MCP registry spec**: An [API specification](../reference/api/) that allows anyone to implement a registry.
|
|
2. 🟥 **The Official MCP registry**: A hosted registry following the MCP registry spec at [`registry.modelcontextprotocol.io`](https://registry.modelcontextprotocol.io). This serves as the **authoritative repository** for publicly-available MCP servers. Server creators publish once, and all consumers (MCP clients, aggregators, marketplaces) reference the same canonical data. This is owned by the MCP open-source community, backed by major trusted contributors to the MCP ecosystem such as Anthropic, GitHub, PulseMCP and Microsoft.
|
|
|
|
The registry is built around the [`server.json`](../reference/server-json/) format - a standardized way to describe MCP servers that works across discovery, initialization, and packaging scenarios.
|
|
|
|
In time, we expect the ecosystem to look a bit like this:
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
Note that MCP registries are _metaregistries_. They host metadata about packages, but not the package code or binaries. Instead, they reference other package registries (like NPM, PyPi or Docker) for this.
|
|
|
|
Additionally, we expect clients pull from _subregistries_. These subregistries add value to the registry ecosystem by providing curation, or extending it with additional metadata. The Official MCP registry expects a lot of API requests from ETL jobs from these subregistries.
|
|
|
|
## Registry vs Package Registry
|
|
|
|
Key distinction: MCP Registries are **metaregistries**.
|
|
|
|
- **Package registries** (npm, PyPI, Docker Hub) host actual code/binaries
|
|
- **The MCP Registry** hosts metadata pointing to those packages
|
|
|
|
```
|
|
MCP Registry: "weather-server v1.2.0 is at npm:weather-mcp"
|
|
NPM Registry: [actual weather-mcp package code]
|
|
```
|
|
|
|
## Official vs Community Registries
|
|
|
|
**Official MCP Registry** (`registry.modelcontextprotocol.io`):
|
|
- Canonical source for publicly-available servers
|
|
- Community-owned, backed by trusted contributors
|
|
- Focuses on discoverability and basic metadata
|
|
|
|
**Subregistries** (Smithery, PulseMCP, etc.):
|
|
- Add value through curation, ratings, enhanced metadata
|
|
- ETL from official registry + additional annotations
|
|
- Serve specific communities or use cases
|
|
|
|
## How Servers Are Represented
|
|
|
|
Each server entry contains:
|
|
- **Identity**: Unique name (`io.github.user/server-name`)
|
|
- **Packages**: Where to download it (`npm`, `pypi`, `docker`, etc.)
|
|
- **Runtime**: How to execute it (args, env vars)
|
|
- **Metadata**: Description, capabilities, version
|
|
|
|
This is stored in a standardized `server.json` format that works across discovery, installation, and execution.
|