TLDR: Microsoft has announced the general availability of Model Context Protocol (MCP) support in Visual Studio, a key initiative from its Build 2025 conference. This integration aims to significantly enhance the development of ‘agentic applications’ by allowing AI agents to access real-time context and interact seamlessly with various development tools and services. MCP, an open standard, is central to Microsoft’s vision of an ‘open agentic web’ where AI agents can autonomously perform complex tasks across platforms.
Microsoft is taking a significant leap forward in artificial intelligence development with the general availability of Model Context Protocol (MCP) support within Visual Studio. This pivotal announcement, originating from the Microsoft Build 2025 conference held from May 19-22, 2025, underscores the company’s commitment to fostering an ‘open agentic web’ where AI agents can operate with unprecedented autonomy and intelligence.
The Model Context Protocol (MCP) is an open standard designed to facilitate seamless communication between AI agents and external tools and services, functioning much like an ‘HTTP for AI agents’ . Its integration into Visual Studio is set to unlock richer, real-time context from the entire development stack, thereby expanding the capabilities of ‘Agent Mode’ for developers . This move is expected to streamline the creation of sophisticated agentic applications that can make decisions, adapt, and act on behalf of users or organizations .
Microsoft’s support for MCP extends broadly across its AI agent platform and frameworks, including GitHub, Copilot Studio, Dynamics 365, Azure AI Foundry, Semantic Kernel, and Windows 11 . The company has also joined the MCP Steering Committee, signaling its dedication to advancing the secure and scalable adoption of this open protocol .
A cornerstone of this agentic future is the concept of the ‘open agentic web,’ where AI agents are not merely assistants but proactive digital teammates capable of executing complex tasks across diverse systems and websites . Microsoft Chairman and CEO Satya Nadella emphasized this vision at Build 2025, stating, ‘Today, at Build, we showed you how we are building the open agentic web. It is reshaping every layer of the stack, and our goal is to help every dev build apps and agents that empower people and orgs everywhere’ .
Further enhancing this ecosystem, Microsoft introduced NLWeb, an open project described as ‘HTML for agents.’ NLWeb enables websites to expose content and functionality through natural language interfaces, making them more comprehensible and usable by AI agents. Every NLWeb endpoint will also function as an MCP server, ensuring discoverability, access control, and secure data permissions for agents interacting with web content .
The GitHub Copilot Coding Agent, previously known as Project Padawan, has evolved into a full-fledged asynchronous coding agent. Integrated directly into GitHub and Visual Studio Code, it can now autonomously handle development tasks such as bug fixes, new feature implementation, and ongoing code maintenance, transforming Copilot from a ‘pair programmer to peer programmer’ . Additionally, the Azure AI Foundry Agent Service is now generally available, providing professional developers with robust capabilities to orchestrate multiple specialized agents for intricate tasks .
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Microsoft is also prioritizing security in this new era of AI agents, ensuring that MCP capabilities are built upon a secure foundation . These comprehensive updates from Microsoft Build 2025 reflect a strategic shift towards deeply integrating AI into every aspect of the software development lifecycle and user experience, fostering an open, intelligent, and autonomous digital environment.
