New in version: 2.0.0

Resources are data sources exposed by MCP servers. They can be static files or dynamic templates that generate content based on parameters.

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Types of Resources

MCP servers expose two types of resources:

  • Static Resources: Fixed content accessible via URI (e.g., configuration files, documentation)
  • Resource Templates: Dynamic resources that accept parameters to generate content (e.g., API endpoints, database queries)

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Listing Resources

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Static Resources

Use list_resources() to retrieve all static resources available on the server:

async with client:
    resources = await client.list_resources()
    # resources -> list[mcp.types.Resource]
    
    for resource in resources:
        print(f"Resource URI: {resource.uri}")
        print(f"Name: {resource.name}")
        print(f"Description: {resource.description}")
        print(f"MIME Type: {resource.mimeType}")

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Resource Templates

Use list_resource_templates() to retrieve available resource templates:

async with client:
    templates = await client.list_resource_templates()
    # templates -> list[mcp.types.ResourceTemplate]
    
    for template in templates:
        print(f"Template URI: {template.uriTemplate}")
        print(f"Name: {template.name}")
        print(f"Description: {template.description}")

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Reading Resources

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Static Resources

Read a static resource using its URI:

async with client:
    # Read a static resource
    content = await client.read_resource("file:///path/to/README.md")
    # content -> list[mcp.types.TextResourceContents | mcp.types.BlobResourceContents]
    
    # Access text content
    if hasattr(content[0], 'text'):
        print(content[0].text)
    
    # Access binary content
    if hasattr(content[0], 'blob'):
        print(f"Binary data: {len(content[0].blob)} bytes")

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Resource Templates

Read from a resource template by providing the URI with parameters:

async with client:
    # Read a resource generated from a template
    # For example, a template like "weather://{{city}}/current"
    weather_content = await client.read_resource("weather://london/current")
    
    # Access the generated content
    print(weather_content[0].text)  # Assuming text JSON response

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Content Types

Resources can return different content types:

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Text Resources

async with client:
    content = await client.read_resource("resource://config/settings.json")
    
    for item in content:
        if hasattr(item, 'text'):
            print(f"Text content: {item.text}")
            print(f"MIME type: {item.mimeType}")

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Binary Resources

async with client:
    content = await client.read_resource("resource://images/logo.png")
    
    for item in content:
        if hasattr(item, 'blob'):
            print(f"Binary content: {len(item.blob)} bytes")
            print(f"MIME type: {item.mimeType}")
            
            # Save to file
            with open("downloaded_logo.png", "wb") as f:
                f.write(item.blob)

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Working with Multi-Server Clients

When using multi-server clients, resource URIs are automatically prefixed with the server name:

async with client:  # Multi-server client
    # Access resources from different servers
    weather_icons = await client.read_resource("weather://weather/icons/sunny")
    templates = await client.read_resource("resource://assistant/templates/list")
    
    print(f"Weather icon: {weather_icons[0].blob}")
    print(f"Templates: {templates[0].text}")

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Raw MCP Protocol Access

For access to the complete MCP protocol objects, use the *_mcp methods:

async with client:
    # Raw MCP methods return full protocol objects
    resources_result = await client.list_resources_mcp()
    # resources_result -> mcp.types.ListResourcesResult
    
    templates_result = await client.list_resource_templates_mcp()
    # templates_result -> mcp.types.ListResourceTemplatesResult
    
    content_result = await client.read_resource_mcp("resource://example")
    # content_result -> mcp.types.ReadResourceResult

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Common Resource URI Patterns

Different MCP servers may use various URI schemes:

# File system resources
"file:///path/to/file.txt"

# Custom protocol resources  
"weather://london/current"
"database://users/123"

# Generic resource protocol
"resource://config/settings"
"resource://templates/email"

Resource URIs and their formats depend on the specific MCP server implementation. Check the server’s documentation for available resources and their URI patterns.