---
title: "MCP (Model Context Protocol) · Highflame Glossary"
description: "An open protocol that connects agents to external tools and data. Powerful for capability. But every connection is a new access path that has to be governed."
doc_version: "0.1.0"
last_updated: "2026-07-25T03:14:58.002Z"
canonical: "https://www.highflame.com/glossary/mcp"
---

[Home](/index.md)·[Glossary](/glossary.md)·MCP (Model Context Protocol)

# MCP (Model Context Protocol)

An open protocol that connects agents to external tools and data. Powerful for capability. But every connection is a new access path that has to be governed.

Learn more: [MCP Gateway: Build vs Buy](/learn/mcp-gateway-build-vs-buy.md)

Part of [the Agent Control Fabric](/platform.md): Highflame's identity, policy, and enforcement substrate for AI agents.

[Book a demo](/contact.md) [All terms](/glossary.md)

## Keep exploring the glossary.

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### MCP Gateway

A governed checkpoint every tool connection passes through (authenticated, policy-checked, and logged) so credentials stay central and unapproved servers can't connect.

Read →](/glossary/mcp-gateway.md)[

### Mission drift

When a non-deterministic agent gradually diverges from its intended task. Tracked at runtime so it can be contained before consequences land.

Read →](/glossary/mission-drift.md)[

### Non-human identity (NHI)

Identities belonging to machines, services, and agents rather than people. Agents are the fastest-growing and least-governed class of NHI.

Read →](/glossary/nhi.md)[

### On-behalf-of (OBO) chain

The unbroken provenance recorded on a credential (who authorized the action, what scope was granted, and how deep the delegation goes) so an audit walks back to a human.

Read →](/glossary/obo-chain.md)[

### Prompt injection

An attack that manipulates an agent through crafted input (in a prompt, a tool result, or retrieved content) to make it act against policy.

Read →](/glossary/prompt-injection.md)[

### Red teaming

Continuous adversarial testing of AI systems (jailbreaks, extraction, manipulation) with findings turned into enforcement policy and re-scanned to prove the fix.

Read →](/glossary/red-teaming.md)

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