Quick version. MCP, short for Model Context Protocol, is an open standard for connecting an AI assistant to an outside app, the way USB-C is one connector shape that works across many devices instead of a different cable for each one. apreet's Agent Gateway speaks it.
Claude and ChatGPT both already support it as a "custom connector". That shared standard is why connecting either one does not require apreet to build something different per assistant, though each connection still gets tested and confirmed, not just assumed to work.
The comparison stops at the connector shape: MCP does not decide what an assistant may read, any more than a USB-C cable decides what a device may do with the power or data flowing through it.
Why apreet uses it
Before a shared standard existed, giving an AI assistant access to an outside app meant a custom integration for each pair of app and assistant, built and maintained separately. MCP replaces that with one connection apreet builds once. An assistant that speaks MCP over a compatible connection does not need apreet to build something new for it, though we still confirm each one actually works, today or whenever a new one adds support, before recommending it.
Why you do not need to understand it
MCP is the shared language for a request and a response, not the permission system. It moves requests and responses between an assistant and apreet; it does not decide what an assistant is allowed to see. That decision is made entirely by the Agent Gateway and the permissions you approve, which is what actually matters to you. Connecting is "add apreet as a connector, sign in, approve what you want it to read." The protocol underneath never needs to come up.
Where the safety actually comes from
MCP itself is just a shared language for a request and a response. Safety comes from what apreet built on top of it: the Agent Gateway checks every request against the permissions you approved, narrows what comes back to a closed set of fields, and records what was asked. An assistant speaking MCP to apreet is bound by the same limits described on Agent Gateway security, whichever assistant it is.
Ready to connect one, or want to check which assistants currently support it? See connecting Claude or ChatGPT and supported AI assistants.