What is an MCP client?
An MCP client is the AI application that connects to MCP servers. It is the side that asks.
Claude Code, Cursor, Claude, ChatGPT and several editors can act as clients. They discover what a server offers and call its tools during a session.
“Client” and “host” are sometimes used for the same thing. When people separate them, the host is the app you use and the client is its connection to 1 server.
The client isn't the model. The model chooses a tool. The client makes the call and returns the result.
Why it matters for product builders
Client support decides who can reach a server. If it works in only 1 editor, everyone else is excluded.
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