MCP Server page
The MCP Server page of a Workspace window runs an HTTP server for the object store 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 rail, below Reports. Its tooltip reads AI assistant connectivity.
| # | Name | Description |
|---|---|---|
| 1 | MCP Server | Opens this page, where you run Prism's HTTP MCP server for the open object store 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 a number of milliseconds and the reason. It fades after a while.
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 object store, ready to paste into your agent's MCP configuration file.
| # | Name | Description |
|---|---|---|
| 1 | 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. |
| 2 | HTTP (this window) | An entry that connects to the server this page runs. The server must be started, and the entry changes when you change the port. |
| 3 | stdio (own process) | An entry that makes the agent start a server of its own, which works with Prism closed. It holds the absolute path of the object store, so it does not work on another machine unchanged. |
| 4 | Configuration | The entry as a whole file, coloured, with a note below on what it depends on. |
| 5 | Copy entry | 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. |
| 6 | Copy whole file | Copies the whole file, for a client that has no file yet. It replaces what a file holds. |
| 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 store's name and six characters derived from its full path, such as
prism-cronus-3f9a1c, so entries for two object stores never overwrite each other. With no object
store open, the path in a stdio entry is the placeholder <workspace path>; replace it
before use.
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 Command line. |
| 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. |
Below them, the Tools section lists the tools by category; see Tools. The Resources section at the end lists each resource with its title, URI and type. The MCP Inspector remembers the last server address it used; if it shows another address than the page, correct it before you connect.
Tools
| # | Name | Description |
|---|---|---|
| 1 | Category | A tool category with its number of tools, such as Symbol Search (5). 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. |
Related
- MCP server: connect an agent to this page's server.
- Workspace window: the window that hosts this page.
- Command line: the same server without a Prism window.
- MCP server: when an agent cannot connect or calls fail.