MCP Server page
The MCP Server page of a Workspace window runs an HTTP server for the workspace that window has open, and writes the configuration your agent needs. To connect an agent, see MCP server.
Opening it
- Select MCP Server in the workspace window's navigation pane. Its tooltip reads Model Context Protocol server control. The page is there when your license includes the MCP server.
| # | Name | Description |
|---|---|---|
| 1 | MCP Server | Opens this page, where you run Prism's HTTP MCP server for the open workspace and get the entry an agent needs to connect to it. |
| 2 | Transports | Explains the two transports. The controls on the page manage only the HTTP server; a stdio server runs in a process your agent starts. |
| 3 | Status | Whether the HTTP server is running: Stopped, Starting…, Running or Stopping…. An agent connects over HTTP only while it reads Running. |
| 4 | Port | The port the server listens on. While the server runs, it reads Port 47821 — in use by this server; while it is stopped, it holds the port controls. See Port, status and heartbeat. |
| 5 | MCP client config | Show mcp.json… opens the mcp.json popup. |
| 6 | Endpoint | The server's address, such as http://localhost:47821. Open in browser opens its information page while the server runs; Copy to clipboard copies the address. |
| 7 | HTTP server | The controls of the in-process HTTP server. While it is stopped, Start starts it. Stdio servers run in their own process and are not affected. |
| 8 | Stop | Stops the HTTP server and disconnects its clients. Calls in progress get up to five seconds to finish. Closing the workspace window stops it too. |
| 9 | Heartbeat | Connects an MCP client to the server, completes the handshake and lists the tools, to prove that the server answers. |
Port, status and heartbeat
| # | Control or text | Effect |
|---|---|---|
| 1 | Port status | Checking port…, Port is available, Port is in use, Port is in use by a program and its process ID when Prism can tell, or Port status unknown. |
| 2 | Re-check port availability now (refresh button) | Checks the port at once. Prism also checks it every 10 seconds. |
| 3 | Port box | The port, 1 to 65535. Prism remembers the last port you used; the first time it is 47821. Only while the server is stopped. |
| 4 | Find free | Takes the first free port from 47821 to 47920. Available while the server is stopped and the port is not known to be free. If none is free, a banner says No free port found in the default range 47821..47920. |
The page also shows, when they apply:
- Error banner: why the server failed, Failed to start: or Failed to stop: and the reason.
- Heartbeat result: OK — the server's name and version, the number of tools and the round-trip time; or Failed after the time and the reason.
Open in browser opens http://localhost:47821/info, a page with the server's
version and endpoint, the number of tools and resources, the MCP Inspector command and a sample
configuration. The MCP endpoint itself is the root address, which answers MCP clients only.
The mcp.json popup
Show mcp.json… opens a popup with the configuration entry for this workspace, ready to paste into your agent's MCP configuration file.
| Control or text | Effect |
|---|---|
| Client | The agent you are setting up; Visual Studio Code (Copilot) is selected first. It decides the file the entry goes in and the key it goes under; the line below names that file, after Paste into, and its scope. |
| HTTP (this window) | An entry that connects to the server this page runs, so it is ready as soon as Prism is. The server must be started, and the entry changes when you change the port. |
| stdio (own process) | An entry that makes the agent start a server of its own, which works with Prism closed. Each one builds its own symbol index and code graph when it starts. |
| Configuration | The entry, coloured, with notes below on what it depends on: the port, or how the workspace path resolves on another machine. |
| Copy file contents | Copies the whole file, for a client that has no file yet. It replaces what a file holds. |
| Copy only the Prism section | Copies the server's entry alone, for a file that already lists servers. Paste it inside the existing block, separated from its neighbours by a comma. |
| Client | File | Key |
|---|---|---|
| Visual Studio Code (Copilot) | .vscode/mcp.json at the root of the folder Visual Studio Code has open | "servers" |
| Claude Code | .mcp.json at the root of the repository | "mcpServers" |
| Other / generic | Your client's mcp.json, per project if it has one | "mcpServers" |
Every entry has "type" "http" or "stdio". Prism names the entry
prism-, the workspace's name and six characters derived from its full path, such as
prism-learnprism-2d56ec, so entries for two workspaces never overwrite each other. A stdio entry
uses ${workspaceFolder} where the client supports it, so it travels with the project; otherwise it
holds the absolute path. With no workspace open, the path is the placeholder <workspace path>;
replace it before use.
With a .code-workspace file open and Visual Studio Code (Copilot) selected, the
entry goes in the "settings" object of the .code-workspace file, because Visual Studio
Code reads .vscode/mcp.json only at the root of a workspace folder. The first button then reads
Copy mcp block, and a stdio entry holds the absolute path. With the
Prism for AL Connector installed, the popup says that the server is
registered already: check MCP: List Servers before you paste anything.
Capabilities and command lines
Below the controls, the page lists what the server offers and how to run it without the window.
| # | Name | Description |
|---|---|---|
| 1 | Capabilities | Cards for the HTTP transport and the stdio transport, and the number of Tools and Resources the server offers. |
| 2 | Command Line | The PrismCmd card, the Opened workspace path, and the two command lines that start the same server without Prism, over HTTP and over stdio, each with Copy to clipboard. See MCP server commands. |
| 3 | MCP Inspector | Two command lines that open the MCP Inspector, a browser tool for trying the server's tools and resources by hand: one for this page's HTTP server, one that starts a stdio server. They need Node.js. |
A stdio server indexes the workspace and builds the code graph each time the agent starts it, and its tools answer as that work finishes. On a workspace with 19 apps and the Base Application, the index is ready in about 15 to 20 seconds and the code graph in under a minute, a little longer the first time. The MCP Inspector remembers the last server address it used; if it shows another address than the page, correct it before you connect.
Tools and resources
| # | Name | Description |
|---|---|---|
| 1 | Category | A tool category with its number of tools. Select it to expand or collapse it. |
| 2 | Tool | The tool's name, as the agent calls it, such as find_symbols. |
| 3 | Description | The description the agent reads to decide when to call the tool. |
The Resources section at the end lists each resource with its title, URI and type.
Every tool wraps its parameters in a request object, uses RE2 regular expressions for pattern
parameters, pages large results and answers failures with a structured code instead of prose.
| Category | Tools |
|---|---|
| Module exploration | list_modules, get_module, get_module_graph |
| Namespace analysis | list_namespaces, find_namespace_dependencies |
| Symbol discovery | find_symbols, location_to_prism_path |
| Source retrieval | object_to_source, get_source_code, search_object_outline |
| Graph identity | node_ids_to_prism_paths, contextualize_nodes |
| Flow analysis | find_flows, find_shortest_path, find_reachability_set |
| Insight tools | find_commits, find_rimd, find_event_publishers, find_user_actions |
| Structural analysis | find_extensions, find_object_dependencies, find_references |
| Server management | list_resources, read_resource, reload_workspace, submit_mcp_feedback |
The documentation the agent needs ships with the server as resources: mcp://tools/guide
(recipes and per-tool sections), mcp://tools/input-enumerations (allowed values) and
mcp://vocabulary (the RDF vocabulary the graph tools emit). The agent reads them on demand, so you
do not have to write a prompt for it.
Related
- MCP server: connect an agent to this page's server.
- Workspace window: the window that hosts this page.
- MCP server commands: the same server without a Prism window.
- MCP server: when an agent cannot connect or calls fail.