---
title: "Attribution"
description: "Origins of the MCP Description format, the mcpdesc branding, and the independent nature of the mcpdesc Community."
source: "https://mcpdesc.org/docs/attribution/"
---

The `{mcpdesc}` project is an independent open source initiative led by its maintainers; it is not a Cisco product, service, or official Cisco standardization effort.

The initial MCP Description format and specification work originated at Cisco DevNet and was released as open source through the [cisco-open](https://github.com/cisco-open) GitHub organization.

The MCP Toolkit is an open-source tool suite initiated by Cisco DevNet and maintained at [Cisco Open](https://github.com/orgs/cisco-open/repositories?q=mcptoolkit).

The `{mcpdesc}` logo, wordmark, and visual designs were created by Jeanne and Stève Sfartz, who grant them to the `{mcpdesc}` project for use as project branding.

## Licensing

* **Source code** — Apache-2.0 (see [LICENSE](https://github.com/mcpdesc/mcpdesc.org/blob/main/LICENSE)).
* **Documentation and site content** — CC BY 4.0 (see [LICENSE-docs](https://github.com/mcpdesc/mcpdesc.org/blob/main/LICENSE-docs)).

## Ecosystem

“MCP” and “Model Context Protocol” refer to the open protocol ecosystem. The `{mcpdesc}`project is not affiliated with or endorsed by Anthropic, or other MCP ecosystem vendors unless explicitly stated.