Originally published at cosmicjs.com Two terms keep coming up in every AI developer conversation right now: MCP (Model Context Protocol) and Agent Skills. They sound similar. They're not the same thing. Here's a clear breakdown of what each is, when to use which, and how Cosmic implements both. What Is MCP? MCP (Model Context Protocol) is an open protocol developed by Anthropic that lets AI models connect to external tools and data sources in a standardized way. Think of it as a universal adapter that allows an AI assistant like Claude to read files, query databases, call APIs, and interact with services, all through a consistent interface. MCP runs as a server that your AI client connects to. Once connected, the AI can discover and use whatever tools the MCP server exposes. Cosmic MCP Server: Cosmic ships a native MCP server that gives AI assistants direct access to your content.…