---
title: "A2A and MCP Handshake"
icon: "lucide/Handshake"
description: "AG-UI handshakes enable seamless protocol interoperability"
hideTOC: true
---

# A2A and MCP Handshake

AG-UI now includes **handshakes** with both **MCP** and **A2A** protocols, ensuring smooth interoperability across the full agentic stack.

## What Are Protocol Handshakes?

Protocol handshakes allow AG-UI to seamlessly communicate with agents using different interaction protocols. This means you can connect your frontend to agents that internally use MCP or A2A without any additional configuration.

## Benefits

### Full Interoperability
If your host agent connects to subagents using **MCP** or **A2A**, their UI properties can be propagated all the way through to the user-facing application.

### Security and Control
Handshakes preserve **full security, policy, and observability controls** throughout the communication chain.

### Simplified Architecture
No need to choose between protocols—use them all together in a single application.

## How It Works

1. **Frontend connects via AG-UI** - Your application uses AG-UI to connect to the host agent
2. **Host agent uses MCP/A2A** - The host agent can communicate with subagents using MCP or A2A
3. **UI properties propagate** - Generative UI and other properties flow back to your frontend automatically

## Learn More

- [AG-UI Protocol](/ag-ui-protocol)
- [MCP Integration](/connect-mcp-servers)
- [A2A Protocol](/a2a-protocol)
- [Agentic Protocols](/agentic-protocols)

