Interview questions · MCP (Model Context Protocol) Interview Questions
MCP (Model Context Protocol) Interview Questions
MCP (Model Context Protocol) is the emerging standard for connecting models to tools and data. Know the primitives and when it beats plain function calling.
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Key concepts to know
- MCP = a standard interface for tools/data across apps ('USB-C for AI tools').
- Primitives: tools (actions), resources (data), prompts (templates).
- Control model: tools = model, resources = app, prompts = user.
- Transports: stdio (local subprocess) and streamable HTTP (remote service).
- Function calling = per-model tool mechanism; MCP = cross-app tool/data standard.
- MCP tools are surfaced to the model as function-calling tools — they compose.
- An MCP server = declare server → register tools/resources/prompts → run a transport.
- Typed signatures + docstrings become the schema + description the model sees.
- Test with the Inspector; for prod use streamable HTTP with auth + least privilege.
Interview questions & answers
What are the three core primitives an MCP server exposes?
Tools, resources, and prompts.
Why: MCP servers expose tools (actions), resources (data), and prompts (templates).
Which statement is correct about MCP transports?
stdio runs the server as a local subprocess; streamable HTTP is for remote/hosted servers.
Why: stdio launches the server locally over stdin/stdout; streamable HTTP is the standard remote transport (superseding HTTP+SSE).
In a typical MCP SDK, where does the tool's JSON schema and description come from?
The SDK generates it from the function's typed signature and docstring.
Why: SDKs like FastMCP derive the schema and description from the typed signature and docstring — so clear typing and docs directly improve tool selection.
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