MCP Server Primitives: Prompts

Prompts are one of the Model Context Protocol's (MCP) three server primitives, representing reusable prompt templates that a server exposes for agents and users to invoke by name with parameters. Unlike tools, which execute actions, and resources, which expose data, prompts provide pre-built interaction patterns, such as "summarize this document" or "review this code," that encapsulate domain expertise into discoverable, parameterized templates. This primitive is particularly valuable for organizations that want to standardize how their teams interact with AI across different tools and clients, because domain experts can craft effective prompt patterns once and share them through MCP servers without each developer recreating them.