What Is the Model Context Protocol (MCP)

The Model Context Protocol (MCP) is an open standard developed by Anthropic to enable easy and standardized integration between AI models and external tools. It acts as a universal connector, allowing large language models (LLMs) to interact dynamically with APIs, databases, and business applications.

Originally built to improve Claude’s ability to interact with external systems, Anthropic decided to open-source MCP in early 2024 to encourage industry-wide adoption. By making MCP publicly available, they aimed to create a standardized framework for AI-to-tool communication, reducing reliance on proprietary integrations and enabling greater modularity and interoperability across AI applications.

MCP follows a client-server architecture where:

Extending Daraja MCP Beyond payments

While the M-Pesa Daraja API is primarily known for handling mobile payments, its capabilities can be extended to support a wider range of financial and business operations using MCP. Instead of just processing payments, businesses can integrate document processing, invoicing, and financial automation into their workflows.

From Payments to Full Invoice Processing

Imagine receiving an invoice from a supplier. Instead of manually entering details and initiating payment, an AI-powered Daraja MCP server can:

  1. Extract invoice details using Unstructured.io
  2. Store the extracted data in a database like MongoDB for tracking and reconciliation.
  3. Validate the invoice against purchase orders to ensure authenticity.
  4. Trigger an M-Pesa payment automatically via Daraja API once verified.
  5. Log the payment confirmation and update financial records.

How It Works