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MCP: lifecycle, capabilities, and trust boundaries

MCP separates host, clients, and servers; capability discovery does not remove authorization, validation, or trust boundaries.

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Video summary

The ideas to retain

01

1. Start with ownership: host, client, and server are not synonyms

The MCP architecture defines three distinct roles.[^mcp-architecture]

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Host

The host is the AI application: an IDE, desktop app, chat interface, internal agent, or another product that embeds the model experience.

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Client

An MCP client lives inside the host and has a 1:1 relationship with one particular server.[^mcp-architecture]

Key moments

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  1. Host, client, and server have different roles
  2. Discovering capabilities does not authorize them
  3. Remote data does not inherit authority