MCP, WebMCP and A2A explained for business leaders
Three names your web team may bring up, what each one is for, and whether you need to act.
Am I Ready for Agents? editors · 29 September 2026 · Reviewed September 2026
MCP connects AI applications to tools and data, WebMCP is a proposal that lets a web page offer tools to an agent in the browser, and A2A lets agents from different organisations hand each other tasks. All three moved forward in 2026. Most businesses do not need any of them to be usable by agents, but each can give agents a direct way to act.
Why do these protocols exist?
Without them, an agent uses your site the way a person does: it reads pages, fills in forms and clicks buttons. That works when pages are readable and forms are standard, and fails when they are not. Protocols give agents a described, direct way to do the same things, so they do not have to guess.
What is MCP?
The Model Context Protocol is an open standard for connecting AI applications to tools and data. A business can run an MCP server that describes what agents may do, such as search a catalogue or check an order, and agents that speak MCP can use it directly.
The 2026-07-28 specification removed the opening handshake and session IDs, making connections stateless, and tightened how authorization works; for a business planning an MCP server, it is the version to build on. In September 2026 Cloudflare made MCP server portals generally available: a single approved entry point for the MCP servers a company uses, with logging of tool activity. Controlling which agent tools are allowed is becoming an ordinary IT task.
What is WebMCP?
WebMCP is a proposal at the W3C Web Machine Learning Community Group. It lets a web page offer its own tools, such as search or book, to an agent working in the visitor's browser. It includes a declarative form in which existing HTML forms become tools, which matters for businesses whose main task already runs through a form.
It is a proposal, not yet a standard. In August 2026 Cloudflare opened a developer preview that adds WebMCP tools to pages at the edge, without changes to the site itself. The webmcp.com directory, maintained by nekuda, lists sites that expose working WebMCP tools and verifies the tools are live before listing a site.
What is A2A?
The Agent2Agent protocol lets one organisation's agent find another agent and hand it a task. Where MCP connects an agent to tools, A2A connects agents to each other. In August 2026 A2A joined the Agentic AI Foundation, which the project describes as directed by the Linux Foundation and home to MCP as well.
Which one matters to my business?
- If your main task runs through a web form, WebMCP is the one to watch, because it can build on the forms you already have.
- If you offer services that other software already uses, such as bookings through partners or an order interface, MCP is the likeliest fit.
- If your business works with other companies' agents, for example as a supplier, A2A may become relevant.
- If none of these applies, readable pages and standard forms matter more than any protocol.
What should I ask my web team?
One question from the act group on ask your web team: do we offer a documented API, an MCP server or WebMCP tools, and who maintains them? A clear answer names what exists today, or says why not yet. Self-check question 11 asks the same thing.
Is it risky to back one of them?
Less than it was a year ago. MCP and A2A now sit in the same foundation, MCP's core design settled further in the July specification, and WebMCP has a community group and early tools. Details will still change, so treat any build as something to maintain, not a one-off project.