← Module 3Lesson 4

MCP Resources Explained

Resources expose contextual data through addressable URIs. They are useful when the main operation is reading information rather than asking the model to invoke an action.

Resources vs tools

A tool is action-oriented: search, create, update, deploy. A resource is data-oriented: a document, schema, configuration snapshot, or project file. A server may provide both for the same domain.

Addressable context

Resources have URIs so clients can identify and read them consistently. Resource templates allow parameterized URI patterns when the full resource set is too large to enumerate.

Caching

The 2026 specification adds explicit cache guidance to resource reads and lists. Servers can indicate freshness with ttlMs and whether results are safe for shared caches with cacheScope.

Good resource use cases