ADAPTER CONTRACTS
What an MCP-AQL adapter needs to describe and implement
The spec does not stop at request envelopes. It also defines the declarative shape of adapters, the responsibilities of plugin layers, and the output constraints for generators and reference implementations.
Related reading
Go Deeper In The Full Spec
The website-hosted source docs carry the real contract details for schema shape, plugins, and generation behavior.
Related Summary Pages
These summaries help connect adapter contracts to conformance and real implementation posture.
Contract layers
| Layer | Primary source | What it governs |
|---|---|---|
| Adapter element schema | Element Type Specification | How operations, parameters, auth, and pagination are declared |
| Plugin interfaces | Plugin Interface Contracts | What runtime plugins must provide to implement the declared adapter surface |
| Generator outputs | Generator specification | How generated adapters preserve provenance, policy, and output constraints |
| Reference runtime | mcpaql-adapter repo | Architecture, runtime pipeline, and dispatch behavior in practice |
Public takeaways
Why this matters
- Adapters need a declared contract, not just ad hoc handler code.
- Tooling and generators only work if schemas and runtime plugins line up.
- The website can point public readers to the right source-of-truth document for each layer.