On the one-year anniversary of the Model Context Protocol (MCP), Fluent Commerce and Orium are celebrating how this open standard is reshaping the way developers build, configure, and optimize modern software systems.
Introduced in late 2024, MCP has rapidly gained traction as a standard for connecting agentic systems to other external systems without requiring deep knowledge of their APIs or data models. The result is a more fluid and intuitive way for developers to work across environments, connecting natural language assistants and IDEs directly to application logic.
Over the past year, MCP has evolved from an experiment into a cornerstone of context-aware development. Engineering teams and software vendors are embracing it to make developer workflows more seamless and intelligent.
For Fluent Commerce, MCP represents a chance to dramatically simplify the developer journey. Together with Orium, Fluent has incorporated a local MCP server into the Fluent CLI—enabling developers to generate and validate GraphQL queries, build and test custom rules, and analyze and modify OMS workflows—all from within MCP-compatible environments like Claude Code. Now in private beta, this innovation will be available to partners and customers later this year. The outcome is a faster, more confident, and more productive developer experience.
Why MCP Matters Now: The Momentum Behind Context-Aware Development
As MCP adoption accelerates, it has quickly become one of the most promising advancements in software development. Originally proposed to help AI systems “understand their surroundings,” MCP now serves as a bridge between intelligent agents and the developer tools they use every day.
Developers can ask for what they need in plain language, and MCP translates those requests into structured, executable actions. The protocol is now supported by a growing ecosystem of development environments such as Claude Code, Cursor, Kiro and Visual Studio Code extensions.
For Fluent Commerce and Orium, MCP offered a real-world opportunity to apply this standard at enterprise scale within one of the most configurable platforms in commerce technology. Their collaboration demonstrates how open standards can enhance productivity in environments where flexibility and precision are equally essential.
In a platform like Fluent OMS, where business logic is rule-driven and workflows are endlessly adaptable, MCP enables co-piloting for Fluent configuration in a way that can not be done purely via IDEs or LLMs. Developers can explore, configure, and refine logic faster and more intuitively than ever before.
The Fluent Developer Experience: Vision and Opportunity
Fluent Commerce’s mission is to make complex commerce operations more manageable and adaptable. Developers building with Fluent OMS often work at the intersection of rules, workflows, and integrations— tasks that demand both flexibility and precision.
Orium partnered with Fluent, bringing their leadership in composable commerce and agentic systems, to enhance the developer experience. Together, the teams envisioned a development model where interacting with an OMS feels as natural as asking a colleague for help.
The key insight was to embed this intelligence directly into the environment developers already use: the Fluent CLI. This allows CLI to be used to quickly setup the MCP server, and immediately begin using the tools and commands available. When a developer asks, “What does this rule do?” or “Add a fraud check to this workflow,” the assistant responds with the correct context, making configuration both faster and more reliable.
Key Design Decisions: Built for Speed, Clarity, and Accuracy
From the start, Fluent and Orium grounded their collaboration in three principles: speed, clarity, and accuracy.
Speed was achieved by running the MCP server directly on the developer’s machine and integrating it within the Fluent CLI. This approach simplifies setup and eliminates unnecessary context switching, allowing developers to generate, test, and refine logic in real time, right where they already work.
Clarity comes from the server’s ability to not only perform tasks but also explain them. Developers can ask about any rule, query, or workflow and receive clear, contextual answers. The MCP server turns what was once hidden system logic into accessible, understandable information, helping teams build with greater confidence and precision.
Accuracy foundational MCP components were configured to ensure that the outputs are accurate. No hallucinations when creating a GraphQL query. Workflows that meet best practice standards. Atomic rules where needed, reuse where available. The MCP server allows the LLMs to be the brains, but with the right context and instructions to deliver the right answers.
These principles shaped the collaboration between Fluent and Orium, resulting in a solution that delivers performance, transparency, and interoperability in equal measure.
Practical Use Cases: What Developers Can Do with the Fluent Builder MCP Server
The Fluent Builder MCP server is transforming how developers interact with Fluent OMS by combining intelligent automation with deep developer involvement. With it, they can:
- Generate and validate GraphQL queries quickly and accurately
- Locate and explain rules—both Fluent-native and custom—so developers understand the logic behind each configuration
- Generate or modify existing rules, and create unit tests that follow best practices
- Inspect and explain workflows, providing full visibility into the operational logic
- Modify workflows, including creating new rules when needed, and automatically testing them against best practices to ensure quality and compliance
What makes this experience unique is how the MCP server works with the developer through each task collaboratively, analyzing the current state, building a plan, confirming that plan, and then carrying out the work. This ensures developers remain fully engaged and in control, while the assistant accelerates progress with precision and transparency.
Closing: A Year of Progress and What Comes Next
In just one year, MCP has evolved from a promising idea into a catalyst for smarter, more connected development environments. The Fluent Builder MCP server demonstrates what happens when open standards meet practical innovation, turning intelligent tooling into a real productivity advantage. Look out for the formal release of this MCP server to partners and customers via the Fluent CLI in the coming months.
For Fluent Commerce and Orium, this collaboration represents more than technical progress. It signals the arrival of a new era in composable, intelligent systems, where AI and developers work in concert to accelerate innovation and impact.
