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Original · left

Master Control Program

First in use: c. 1982
Duplicate · right

Model Context Protocol

First in use: c. 2024

MCP / Master Control Program / Model Context Protocol

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Canonical todayMeasuring…
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Duplicate share · 12 mo—
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Colour keyGrey · original meaningGreen · duplicate meaningAmber · contested (40–60%)How colours work

The villain of Tron vs. Anthropic's open standard.

Which meaning of MCP is the original, and which one is the duplicate riding on its name? Master Control Program came first (c. 1982). Model Context Protocol arrived in 2024. The data below shows which one owns the word now.

Wikipedia pageviews since 2015

Master Control ProgramModel Context Protocol
English Wikipedia pageviews since July 2015 load here.

Duplicate's share of attention

Green line = duplicate's % · above 60 it owns the word · below 40 the original does

Share-of-attention line loads here.

The case for each meaning

Sourced definitions, usage stats and quotes

Original · c. 1982

Master Control Program

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Duplicate · c. 2024

Model Context Protocol

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