MCP turns one: 2025-11-25 spec, registry near 2,000 servers, MCP Apps proposal
In one sentence On its first anniversary the Model Context Protocol ships the 2025-11-25 specification (async tasks, new OAuth client registration, extensions). The official registry lists close to 2,000 servers; a few days earlier Anthropic, OpenAI and MCP-UI proposed the MCP Apps extension for interactive interfaces.
The Model Context Protocol (MCP), the open standard Anthropic launched in November 2024 to connect models to external tools and data, turns one and marks it with a new specification version dated November 25, 2025.
Main changes: long-running requests can become "tasks" to check on later instead of blocking the conversation; client authorization gets simpler; the protocol formally supports "extensions", optional features added without breaking existing ones. The release stays backward compatible.
The first-year tally, per the official blog: active MCP servers went from a few experiments to thousands, the official registry (launched in September) has close to 2,000 entries, and the protocol is integrated by OpenAI in ChatGPT, by Google in Gemini and Gemini CLI, by AWS in Bedrock and Kiro, by Microsoft in Foundry.
On November 21, a few days earlier, Anthropic and OpenAI maintainers together with the MCP-UI authors proposed MCP Apps: a standard way for an MCP server to show a small interactive interface inside the assistant.
Companies
Anthropic, OpenAI
Tools
Model Context Protocol, MCP Registry, MCP Apps, MCP Inspector
Tags
Sources