---
title: "FAQ"
description: "What MCP Description (mcpdesc) is, how it fits in the MCP ecosystem, and how the community and tools relate."
source: "https://mcpdesc.org/docs/faq/"
---

Common questions about MCP Description (`mcpdesc`) and how it relates to the MCP ecosystem.

## What is `{mcpdesc}`?

The **`{mcpdesc}` project** is an independent open source initiative promoting an open, portable, machine-readable **description format** for MCP servers — an open proposal whose goal is to help the MCP ecosystem converge on interoperable server descriptions.

**MCP Description** (`mcpdesc`) is that format: it declares everything an MCP server offers — tools, resources, prompts, transports, and security — much like OpenAPI does for REST APIs.

## Where does `mcpdesc` fit in the MCP ecosystem?

The MCP ecosystem is moving fast. Registries help users discover servers. Server Cards explore pre-connection discovery. Bundle formats make local installation easier. Gateways help teams run, secure, and observe MCP traffic. Inspectors help developers test servers at runtime. OpenAPI-to-MCP generators help teams expose existing APIs to agents.

`mcpdesc` focuses on a different layer. It is about the **lifecycle, documentation, and compliance** of MCP servers.

When a server changes from one release to the next, teams need a stable artifact that captures what that specific version exposes. They need these artifacts to compare capabilities, detect major changes, generate changelogs, produce documentation, and/or check compliance.

## Does `mcpdesc` replace registries, gateways, or inspectors?

No. MCP Description documents do not replace registries, Server Cards, gateways, inspectors, or package formats. They **complement** them by giving engineering teams a versioned description of server capabilities that can be stored, reviewed, compared, and reused across workflows.

## Server Cards exclude primitives — why does `mcpdesc` describe them?

[SEP-2127 (MCP Server Cards)](https://github.com/modelcontextprotocol/modelcontextprotocol/blob/sep/mcp-server-cards/seps/2127-mcp-server-cards.md)intentionally omits primitive definitions (tools, resources, and prompts) from Server Cards. Its reasoning is sound **for what a Server Card is**: a small, public, read-only document served for **pre-connection discovery**. Because an MCP server’s runtime surface can vary by user, session, and configuration, a public discovery document should not carry primitives — and clients should never treat a static manifest as an access-control or safety signal.

`mcpdesc` operates at a different layer: an MCP Description document is not a public discovery endpoint; it is a **versioned engineering artifact** that describes what one specific release of a server exposes — reviewed in pull requests, stored in Git, and used to compare releases, generate documentation, and check consistency. It answers _“what does this version globally offer, and what changed?”_, it does not address: _“what can a particular authenticated user call right now?”_ (which is covered by the runtime `tools/list`).

Notably, the SEP itself flags this gap as unfinished work: _“a follow-on SEP should address the prerequisites … before primitive advertisement is added.”_ The `{mcpdesc}` project explores that space today.

## How do the project, community, and tools relate?

The **`{mcpdesc}` project** stewards the format, its specification, examples, and the neutral catalog of compatible tools; it is **led by its maintainers** and open to contributions.

The **`{mcpdesc}` Community** is the people around it — maintainers, contributors, users, adopters, and tool builders.

The curated list of tools illustrates the benefits of the MCP Description format by covering specific use cases.

## How is the project governed?

The `{mcpdesc}` project uses a **lightweight, consensus-oriented** governance model. Maintainers review and merge changes, guide the roadmap, maintain the specification, and curate the tools catalog; larger changes — to the specification, schemas, governance, or public positioning — call for broader feedback before merging. See [Governance](/docs/governance)for the summary, or the full [GOVERNANCE.md](https://github.com/mcpdesc/.github/blob/main/GOVERNANCE.md) document.

## Is this project affiliated with Anthropic or other MCP vendors?

The `{mcpdesc}` project is an independent and community-based initiative.

The project is NOT affiliated with or endorsed by Anthropic, or other MCP ecosystem vendors. It is also NOT a Cisco product, service, or official Cisco standardization effort.