Server Features

Server Features

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Protocol Revision: 2024-11-05

Servers provide the fundamental building blocks for adding context to language models via MCP. These primitives enable rich interactions between clients, servers, and language models:

  • Prompts: Pre-defined templates or instructions that guide language model interactions
  • Resources: Structured data or content that provides additional context to the model
  • Tools: Executable functions that allow models to perform actions or retrieve information

Each primitive can be summarized in the following control hierarchy:

PrimitiveControlDescriptionExample
PromptsUser-controlledInteractive templates invoked by user choiceSlash commands, menu options
ResourcesApplication-controlledContextual data attached and managed by the clientFile contents, git history
ToolsModel-controlledFunctions exposed to the LLM to take actionsAPI POST requests, file writing

Explore these key primitives in more detail below: