Agentic AI took off once AI could connect to other tools. Those links are connectors, and most are built on the Model Context Protocol.
Agentic AI took off once AI could connect to other tools and sources of information. Those links are called connectors.
A connector hooks your AI up to a remote application or data source. Most are built on the Model Context Protocol.
The protocol sets how an AI and its harness talk to remote applications and servers. The server exposes a set of tools. Each comes with a plain language description: what it's for, how to call it, and what comes back.
Each tool also has a scope, the range of actions it can take. Read only, or read and write. Scope is there to protect you and your data. It still carries risk when it lets your AI write, overwrite or delete.
Connectors are one of the least known and most remarkable pieces of AI infrastructure. Thousands of companies support the standard. Email, calendars, accounting, weather, flights, hotels. Much of it runs on connectors, and the protocol under them isn't even two years old.