07 · bridge · 02 systems
Bridges, brokers & protocolsConnective tissue: tool protocols and transports.
Bridges attach agents to tools, data, and channels — tool protocols (MCP), memory servers, and transport bindings that expose an agent through chat or voice. For agents talking to agents, see agent communication.
Systems in this category
Model Context Protocol
Community / OSS · bridge
Model Context Protocol is an open protocol for connecting agents and IDEs to tools and data sources through MCP servers.
Instinct
Community / OSS · bridge
Instinct is a self-learning memory MCP server for coding agents — it observes repeated patterns, scores them by confidence, and promotes mature ones into suggestions it exports back to Claude Code, Cursor, Windsurf, Codex, and CLAUDE.md.
Who it's for
Teams extending agents with internal tools, or exposing an agent through Slack, Telegram, or voice.
Tradeoffs
Protocols are stable-ish; brokers and transports are early. None of these write code themselves — they make the agents that do more connected.
Frequently asked
What is a bridge protocol?
Bridges attach agents to tools, data, and channels — tool protocols (MCP), memory servers, and transport bindings that expose an agent through chat or voice. For agents talking to agents, see agent communication.
Who should use a bridge protocol?
Teams extending agents with internal tools, or exposing an agent through Slack, Telegram, or voice.
What are the tradeoffs of bridge protocols?
Protocols are stable-ish; brokers and transports are early. None of these write code themselves — they make the agents that do more connected.
Which bridge protocols are in the catalog?
2 as of 2026-09-25: Model Context Protocol (Community / OSS), Instinct (Community / OSS).
What is the Model Context Protocol (MCP)?
An open protocol for connecting agents and IDEs to tools and data sources through MCP servers. It is supported across Cursor, Claude Code, Cline, and many other entries in this catalog.
How are bridges different from agent communication?
Bridges are agent↔tool or agent↔channel — giving one agent new capabilities or a new surface. Agent communication is agent↔agent — discovery, messaging, and delegation between autonomous systems (A2A, Scout, multi-agent frameworks).