Microsoft announces native MCP support in Windows 11 at Build 2025

At Build 2025 on May 19, Microsoft announced native Model Context Protocol support in Windows 11, describing MCP integration as a standardized framework for AI agents to connect with native Windows apps. The platform introduced an MCP Registry for Windows as the single trusted source through which agents discover installed servers, plus built-in MCP servers exposing system functionality such as the File System, Windowing, and the Windows Subsystem for Linux. App Actions let third-party apps surface their own functionality to agents as MCP servers.

Microsoft paired the announcement with security requirements for servers appearing in the Windows registry, citing tool poisoning as a class of attack the controls are designed to prevent, and shipped the capability first as a private developer preview with select partners. Microsoft's current documentation describes the shipped form: an on-device agent registry (ODR) with server containment, and MCP connectors in surfaces like File Explorer.