# What is an MCP server, to Provely?

> A process that publishes tools over the Model Context Protocol. An agent calls them to act on a provider. The Provely definition, with an example.

Canonical: https://provely.sh/glossary/mcp-server  
Last reviewed: 2026-09-05  

**An MCP server is a process that publishes a list of tools over the Model Context Protocol. An agent calls those tools to act on a provider. Provely guards each call against a permission envelope that a person confirmed.**

A server answers `tools/list` with one declaration per tool: a name and a JSON Schema for its arguments. One method, `callTool({ name, arguments })`, runs every tool. Provely reads that catalogue on connection, with no compiler run and no language model call.

An MCP server is a transport, and it is never an evidence channel. A reading that returns through the server the agent used is evidence level E1 at best, so the verifier calls the provider directly on a separate connection.

Provely publishes its own MCP server, with the four tools begin, verify, status, and receipt. Each handler reads the bearer token from the request, and never from a tool argument. Read [the Provely MCP server documentation](/docs/mcp) and [what Provely refuses when your agent calls an MCP server](/mcp-guard).

## Read next

- [Read the definition of Evidence level](https://provely.sh/glossary/evidence-level)
- [Read the definition of Integration](https://provely.sh/glossary/integration)
- [Read the definition of Permission envelope](https://provely.sh/glossary/permission-envelope)
- [Read the definition of Guard](https://provely.sh/glossary/guard)
- [See every glossary term](https://provely.sh/glossary)
- [Read how Provely works](https://provely.sh/how-it-works)