Model Context Protocol - Resources

Type: official-doc Tier: 1 (Official Doc) Author(s): Model Context Protocol Date: 2025-06-18 URL: https://modelcontextprotocol.io/specification/2025-06-18/server/resources Accessed: 2026-06-02

Why This Source Matters

This is the primary source for MCP resources. Resources are the context counterpart to tools: instead of asking a model to invoke an action, a server exposes data that a host can read and place into model context.

Key Claims

• MCP resources expose data that clients can read, such as files, schemas, API responses, memory entries, or application-specific objects.
• Each resource is identified by a URI and can include metadata such as name, description, MIME type, and annotations.
• Resources are application-controlled: hosts decide how to present, select, and include resources in model context.
• Servers may support listing resources, reading resources, templates, and change notifications.
• Resource design should make the data boundary explicit: what can be read, how it is identified, and what metadata helps the host decide how to use it.

Relevant To

• concepts: [mcp-resources, context-data, resource-uri, provider-consumer-split, provenance]
• projects: [04-pdf-research-assistant, 05-personal-memory-system, 09-personal-learning-os, elective-mcp-interface-layer]

Notes

For a future MCP elective, Project 05 memory entries are a natural resource surface: memory://entries and memory://entry/{id} can be read by multiple hosts without importing the memory implementation.