A lot of confusion around MCP comes from thinking it does more than it does. Being clear about its boundaries makes everything else easier to understand.
MCP is not an AI model. It's not a replacement for techniques like RAG (retrieval-augmented generation) or function calling — it standardizes how those capabilities get exposed to a model. And importantly, MCP does not handle orchestration or workflow logic. It won't decide the order to do things in or coordinate a multi-step agent on its own — you still need separate tooling for that.
A Concrete Example
Think of MCP as giving an AI a predictable menu of approved tools and governed data it can request, plus a structured way to call them. The menu doesn't decide what to order or in what sequence — that's the job of the host application or agent framework sitting on top. MCP just makes sure every tool on the menu is described and called in a consistent way.
MCP gives the AI its hands; deciding what to do with them is a separate job.