# MCP overview

An overview of the MCP servers commercetools provides to facilitate AI-driven commerce applications.

The [Model Context Protocol](https://modelcontextprotocol.io/docs/getting-started/intro) (MCP) enables AI agents to understand and interact with your commercetools APIs through a unified interface.
commercetools provides two MCP servers for different purposes: [Commerce MCP](/dev-tooling/mcp/commerce-mcp.md) and [Knowledge MCP](/dev-tooling/mcp/knowledge-mcp.md).

| Variant | Description |
| --- | --- |
| [Commerce MCP](/dev-tooling/mcp/commerce-mcp.md) | Provides AI agents with direct access to resources such as Carts and Orders. It requires API access to a Project. |
| [Knowledge MCP](/dev-tooling/mcp/knowledge-mcp.md) | Makes documentation and APIs accessible to IDEs, automation tools, and AI assistants. It can be used without access to a Project. |

## Commerce MCP

Commerce MCP is available in two variants:

- **Managed**: commercetools hosts and operates the server for you. You configure it through the [Managed MCP Servers](/api/managed-mcp-servers-overview.md) documentation, or directly in the [Merchant Center](/merchant-center/managed-mcp-servers.md).
- **Self-hosted**: you run the [executable package](/dev-tooling/mcp/self-hosted-commerce-mcp.md) yourself, extend it with custom tools, or integrate it into agent frameworks.

Both variants offer the same tools and field filtering, so you can migrate between them.

[Commerce MCP](/dev-tooling/mcp/commerce-mcp.md) offers the following benefits:

- **Composability**: Pluggable, discoverable, and modular components.
- **Interoperability**: Complements other protocols, such as Agent-to-Agent (A2A).
- **Security**: Enforces scoped access with built-in safeguards for commerce operations.

Commerce MCP is an AI agent interface for managing resources in your Project.

- Extensive set of tools for commerce operations.
- Deployable in desktop AI applications or autonomous agents.
- Uses API client credentials to act securely on behalf of users.

Commerce MCP enables SaaS applications that are prebuilt with commerce capabilities, supporting AI-powered assistants and autonomous commerce agents.

## Knowledge MCP

[Knowledge MCP](/dev-tooling/mcp/knowledge-mcp.md) exposes developer documentation and API specifications to IDEs, AI agents, and automation tools. It is completely free to use.

- Public REST APIs for:
  - Semantic documentation search
  - GraphQL schema and OpenAPI Specification (OAS) access
  - Development prompts and contextual help
  - GraphQL query and mutation validation against the commercetools schema
  - commercetools-specific conventions and best practices via the `commercetools-developer-tips` prompt
- Direct integration with:
  - Cursor
  - GitHub Copilot
  - Visual Studio Code
  - JetBrains IDEs
  - Windsurf
  - Custom-built agents

Knowledge MCP reduces developer ramp-up time, accelerates delivery, and supports AI-assisted development workflows.

## Related pages

- [Area overview page with navigation](/dev-tooling.md)
- [Next page: Commerce MCP](/dev-tooling/mcp/commerce-mcp.md)