Agentic AI and MCP for Product Managers
The Three Things a Server Offers
An MCP server can expose three kinds of thing. Knowing the distinction helps you have precise conversations with engineering about what you need.
Type | What It Is | Example | Who Decides to Use It |
|---|---|---|---|
Tools | Actions the model can take | reschedule_pickup, send_update | The model, during the loop |
Resources | Data the model can read | A shipment record, a policy document | The application, or the model |
Prompts | Reusable instruction templates the server provides | A standard exception-report format | The user, usually by choosing it |
Tools are what you'll spend nearly all your time on, and they're the subject of the next chapter. The distinction that matters most for your purposes: a tool does something, a resource is something. If it changes state in a system, it's a tool and it needs the permission thinking in Chapter 4.