> ## Documentation Index
> Fetch the complete documentation index at: https://docs.groundforge.ai/llms.txt
> Use this file to discover all available pages before exploring further.

# MCP Providers

> Understand what an MCP provider exposes and how GroundForge discovers and governs it.

An MCP provider is a Model Context Protocol server. It can expose tools, resources, and prompts that an Agent or MCP client can use.

GroundForge first runs **Discovery** to read the provider’s public capability definitions. Those definitions become the inventory you see in the provider page and Gateway editor. Discovery reads names, descriptions, and input schemas; it does not execute the tools.

GroundForge supports:

* remote MCP providers reached over Streamable HTTP;
* local stdio discovery and governed local execution through `gforge`.

## Example

<Card title="modelcontextprotocol/quickstart-resources" icon="github" iconType="brands" href="https://github.com/modelcontextprotocol/quickstart-resources/tree/main/weather-server-python" horizontal cta="Open repository">
  The official Python Weather MCP exposes `get_alerts(state)` and `get_forecast(latitude, longitude)`.
</Card>

```text theme={null}
Weather MCP starts
→ GroundForge reads the two tool definitions
→ the inventory appears in the MCP provider page
→ you select a tool in a Gateway rule
→ a governed client or Agent requests the tool
→ the decision and result appear in GroundForge
```

Start with [Weather MCP Example](/examples/weather-mcp), then read [MCP Providers in the platform](/platform/mcps) or [CLI MCP Workflows](/cli/mcp).


## Related topics

- [MCP Providers](/platform/mcps.md)
- [MCP Workflows](/cli/mcp.md)
- [Resource Model](/concepts/resource-model.md)
- [Glossary](/help/glossary.md)