---
title: "Prompts"
description: "Define and expose prompts from your MCP server"
icon: "message-square"
---

Prompts are reusable message templates that help AI agents interact with your server effectively. They provide structured ways to guide conversations and standardize common interactions.

## Example

```python
@server.prompt(
    name="code_review",
    title="Code Review",
    description="Generate a code review prompt for a given language and focus area",
)
def code_review_prompt(language: str, focus: str = "general") -> str:
    """Generate a code review prompt."""
    focus_instructions = {
        "general": "for overall quality, readability, and best practices.",
        "security": "focusing on security vulnerabilities and potential exploits.",
        "performance": "focusing on performance optimizations and efficiency.",
    }
    instruction = focus_instructions.get(focus, focus_instructions["general"])
    return f"Please review the following {language} code {instruction}"
```

## Anatomy of a Prompt

When a client calls `prompts/list`, the server returns metadata for each prompt including its arguments. Here's the JSON-RPC response that the example above produces when a client calls `prompts/list`:

```json
{
  "jsonrpc": "2.0",
  "id": 1,
  "result": {
    "prompts": [
      {
        "name": "code_review",
        "title": "Code Review",
        "description": "Generate a code review prompt for a given language and focus area",
        "arguments": [
          {
            "name": "language",
            "required": true
          },
          {
            "name": "focus",
            "required": false
          }
        ]
      }
    ]
  }
}
```

Here's what maps to what:

| Python | MCP Schema | Notes |
|--------|-----------|-------|
| `name="code_review"` | `"name"` | Falls back to function name if omitted |
| `title="Code Review"` | `"title"` | Human-readable display name |
| `description="Generate a code review..."` | `"description"` | Falls back to docstring if omitted |
| `language: str` (no default) | `{"name": "language", "required": true}` | Parameters without defaults are required |
| `focus: str = "general"` | `{"name": "focus", "required": false}` | Parameters with defaults are optional |
| `context: Context` | *(not in schema)* | Automatically excluded |

### Argument Descriptions

You can add descriptions to prompt arguments the same way as tools, using `Annotated` and `Field`:

```python
from typing import Annotated
from pydantic import Field

@server.prompt(name="code_review")
def code_review_prompt(
    language: Annotated[str, Field(description="The programming language of the code")],
    focus: Annotated[str, Field(description="Review focus area", default="general")],
) -> str:
    """Generate a code review prompt."""
    return f"Please review the following {language} code for {focus}."
```

This adds `description` to each argument in the response:

```json
{
  "arguments": [
    {
      "name": "language",
      "description": "The programming language of the code",
      "required": true
    },
    {
      "name": "focus",
      "description": "Review focus area",
      "required": false
    }
  ]
}
```

## Minimal Definition

At minimum, a prompt only needs a function:

```python
@server.prompt()
def greeting() -> str:
    """A friendly greeting prompt."""
    return "Hello! How can I help you today?"
```

The function name becomes the prompt name, and the docstring becomes the description.

## Using Context

Access the MCP context for advanced features. Add a `Context` parameter — it's automatically excluded from the prompt's arguments:

```python
from mcp_use.server import Context

@server.prompt(name="contextual")
async def contextual_prompt(context: Context) -> str:
    """A prompt that uses context information."""
    return "Based on the current context, please..."
```

## Multi-Message Prompts

Return structured messages for complex prompts:

```python
from mcp.types import PromptMessage, TextContent

@server.prompt(name="interview")
def interview_prompt(role: str) -> list[PromptMessage]:
    """Generate an interview prompt sequence."""
    return [
        PromptMessage(
            role="user",
            content=TextContent(
                type="text",
                text=f"I'm interviewing for a {role} position.",
            ),
        ),
        PromptMessage(
            role="assistant",
            content=TextContent(
                type="text",
                text=f"I'll help you prepare for your {role} interview. Let's start with common questions.",
            ),
        ),
    ]
```

## Async Prompts

Prompts can be async for dynamic content generation:

```python
@server.prompt(name="daily_brief")
async def daily_brief() -> str:
    """Generate a daily briefing prompt."""
    from datetime import datetime
    today = datetime.now().strftime("%A, %B %d")
    return f"Good morning! Today is {today}. What would you like to accomplish?"
```

## Prompts vs Tools vs Resources

| Aspect | Prompts | Tools | Resources |
|--------|---------|-------|-----------|
| Purpose | Guide interactions | Perform actions | Expose data |
| Returns | Message templates | Action results | Content/data |
| Use case | Conversation starters, templates | Operations | Files, configs |
| Invocation | User selects prompt | Agent calls tool | Agent reads resource |
