Working and Interest Groups

Within the MCP contributor community we maintain two types of collaboration formats: Interest Groups (IGs) and Working Groups (WGs).

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Quick Reference

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When to Use Which

Join an Interest Group when you:

• Have a problem but aren’t sure of the solution
• Want to explore whether an idea has community support
• Are new to MCP and want to learn about a topic area
• Want to share use cases and requirements

Join a Working Group when you:

• Have a specific solution to implement
• Are ready to write code or a SEP
• Can commit regular time to active development
• Want to help build a particular feature

Typical flow: Discuss a problem in an IG → Validate that it’s worth solving → Form or join a WG to build the solution → Submit a SEP → Implement

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Interest Groups (IGs)

Goal: Facilitate discussion and knowledge-sharing among MCP contributors who share interests in a specific topic. The focus is on identifying problems worth solving and gathering requirements.

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What IGs Do

• Host discussions in Discord channels
• Run regular meetings to share use cases
• Document problem statements and requirements
• Build consensus on what should be prioritized
• Provide input to Working Groups and SEPs

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Expectations

• Regular conversations in the IG’s Discord channel
• AND/OR recurring live meetings attended by IG members
• Meeting dates published on the MCP community calendar with the IG channel name (e.g., auth-ig)
• Notes publicly shared after meetings as a GitHub issue or public Google Doc

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Examples of Interest Groups

• Security in MCP
• Auth in MCP
• Using MCP in enterprise settings
• Tooling and practices for hosting MCP servers
• Tooling and practices for implementing MCP clients

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Creating an Interest Group

1. Fill out the creation template in the #wg-ig-group-creation channel on Discord
2. A community moderator will review and call for a vote in #community-moderators (72h period, majority approval)
3. Once approved, the Facilitator(s) organize the IG per the expectations above

Creation Template:

• Facilitator(s)
• Maintainer(s) (optional - an official MCP Steering Group representative)
• Related IGs with potentially similar goals
• How this IG differentiates itself from related IGs
• First topic to discuss within the IG

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IG Lifecycle

• No time limit - Successful IGs remain active as long as they’re maintained
• Retirement - Community moderators or Core/Lead Maintainers may retire an IG that’s no longer active or needed

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Working Groups (WGs)

Goal: Collaborate on a SEP, a series of related SEPs, or an officially endorsed project. WGs produce concrete deliverables.

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What WGs Do

• Write and iterate on SEPs
• Build reference implementations
• Maintain ongoing projects (Inspector, Registry, SDKs)
• Drive features from proposal to specification

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Expectations

• Meaningful progress towards at least one SEP or implementation OR maintenance responsibilities for a project
• Facilitators keep track of progress and communicate status
• Meeting dates published on the MCP community calendar with the WG channel name (e.g., agents-wg)
• Notes publicly shared after meetings

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Examples of Working Groups

• Registry
• Inspector
• Tool Filtering
• Server Identity

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Creating a Working Group

1. Fill out the creation template in #wg-ig-group-creation on Discord
2. Community moderator reviews and calls for vote (72h period, majority approval)
3. Facilitator(s) organize the WG per expectations

Creation Template:

• Facilitator(s)
• Maintainer(s) (optional)
• Explanation of interest/use cases (IG discussion helps but isn’t required)
• First Issue/PR/SEP the WG will work on

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WG Lifecycle

• Active - WG has ongoing work and regular participation
• Retirement - WG is retired when:
  • Community moderators or Core/Lead Maintainers determine it’s no longer active
  • The WG has no active Issue/PR for a month or has completed all planned work

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Facilitators

A Facilitator is an informal role anyone can self-nominate for. Facilitators:

• Shepherd discussions and collaboration
• Schedule and run meetings
• Ensure notes are published
• Keep the group on track

Being a Facilitator does not grant maintainership in the MCP organization. Lead and Core Maintainers may modify the list of Facilitators for any WG/IG at any time.

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Meeting Calendar

All IG and WG meetings are published on the public MCP community calendar at meet.modelcontextprotocol.io. Facilitators are responsible for posting meeting schedules in advance to enable broader participation.

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FAQ

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How do I get involved contributing to MCP?

These groups provide an on-ramp:

1. Join Discord and follow IGs relevant to you. Attend live calls. Participate in discussions.
2. Offer to facilitate calls. Share your use cases in SEP discussions.
3. When ready for hands-on work, contribute to WG deliverables.
4. Active contributors may be nominated by WG maintainers as new maintainers.

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Where can I find a list of all current WGs and IGs?

On the MCP Contributor Discord, there is a section of channels for each Working and Interest Group.

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Do I need to join an IG before starting a WG?

No. IG participation can help validate ideas and build support, but it’s not required. You can start a WG directly if you have a clear deliverable in mind.

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Do I need to be in a WG to submit a SEP?

No. Anyone can submit a SEP. However, WG collaboration can strengthen your proposal and increase its chances of success.

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What if my IG discussion leads to a concrete solution?

Great! You can either:

• Form a new WG to build the solution
• Join an existing WG if one covers the area
• Submit a SEP directly if the solution is well-defined

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Can one person be in multiple IGs/WGs?

Yes. Participate in as many groups as your time allows.