Microsoft Developer presents an overview of MCP, A2A, and NLWeb agentic protocols, explaining their use and code implementation for building AI agents, as part of the “AI Agents for Beginners” course.

Using Agentic Protocols (MCP, A2A, and NLWeb)

This lesson, presented by Microsoft Developer, explores three major agentic protocols utilized in building AI agents on Microsoft platforms: Model Context Protocol (MCP), Agent to Agent (A2A), and NLWeb. The lesson is part of the comprehensive “AI Agents for Beginners” course, with additional resources and code samples available at aka.ms/ai-agents-beginners.

Course Resources

• Course Material & Code Samples: aka.ms/ai-agents-beginners
• Community Discord for Q&A: aka.ms/ai-agents/discord

Lesson Overview

1. Model Context Protocol (MCP)

• Concepts: Introduction to how MCP works as a protocol for providing and maintaining context for large language models, enabling smarter, context-aware responses.
• Code Samples: Demonstrates the practical implementation of MCP, including context injection and message handling within agent environments.

2. Agent to Agent (A2A)

• Concepts: Explains how AI agents can communicate with each other to coordinate actions, share state, and build collaborative AI applications.
• Code Samples: Shows how to set up A2A communication, define message formats, and establish handshake protocols between agents.

3. NLWeb

• Concepts: Introduces the NLWeb protocol, designed to enable natural language web interactions for AI agents, allowing them to interpret and act on web-based instructions.

Lesson Structure

• 00:00 — Introduction
• 00:56 — MCP: Concepts
• 02:45 — MCP: Code
• 07:22 — A2A: Concepts
• 08:43 — A2A: Code
• 13:20 — NLWeb: Concepts

Instructor

• Korey Stegared-Pace (Microsoft Developer)
  • LinkedIn
  • GitHub
  • X/Twitter

Key Takeaways

• Learn to integrate MCP, A2A, and NLWeb protocols in AI agents.
• Access full course content, code, and community support via the official links.
• Designed for beginners seeking hands-on knowledge of agentic protocols on Microsoft Azure and AI platforms.