PromptServe - File based prompt management for MCP

A Model Context Protocol (MCP) server designed for managing, organizing, and serving AI prompts. PromptServe follows a "Prompts as Code" paradigm where prompts are stored in text files with frontmatter metadata.

Features

• Centralized Prompt Management: Store and organize your prompts and reusable workflows in one location.
• Prompt as Code: Use Markdown with frontmatter for human-readable and AI friendly, version-control compatible prompt definitions.
  • Dynamic Parameters: Use dynamic parameters in your prompts and fill them in at runtime.
  • Template Parts: Use template parts to build more complex prompts from reusable components.
• Automatic Detection of New Prompts: Automatically detects when new prompt files are added via periodic scanning.

Dependencies

• TypeScript
• MCP SDK (@modelcontextprotocol/sdk)
• Zod (for schema validation)
• gray-matter (for frontmatter parsing)

Setup

1. Install dependencies:

   npm install
   

2. Build the project:

   npm run build
   

Client Configurations

Claude Desktop

1. Add the following to ~/Library/Application Support/Claude/claude_desktop_config.json:

{
  "mcpServers": {
    "prompt-serve": {
      "command": "node",
      "args": ["/path/to/prompt-serve/dist/index.js"],
      "env": {
        "PROMPTS_DIR": "/path/to/your/prompts"
      }
    }
  }
}

2. Replace /path/to/prompt-serve/dist/index.js and /path/to/your/prompts with the correct absolute paths on your system.
3. After saving changes to claude_desktop_config.json, you will need to restart Claude Desktop for the new configuration to be loaded.

Cursor / RooCode / GitHub Copilot (via PromptLink Extension)

To use PromptServe prompts with Cursor, RooCode, or GitHub Copilot, you need the PromptLink VS Code Extension. This extension acts as a bridge between MCP servers (like PromptServe) and these tools.

1. Install the PromptLink Extension from the VS Code Marketplace.

2. Configure PromptLink in your VS Code settings.json to connect to your running PromptServe instance. Add an entry to the promptLink.servers array:

   "promptLink.servers": [
     {
       "name": "PromptServe",
       "command": "node",
       "args": [
         "/path/to/prompt-serve/dist/index.js"
       ],
       "env": {
         "PROMPTS_DIR": "/path/to/your/prompts"
       }
     }
   ],
   

3. Replace /path/to/prompt-serve/dist/index.js and /path/to/your/prompts with the correct absolute paths on your system.

4. Once configured, you can use the PromptLink command (default: Cmd+Shift+A / Ctrl+Shift+A) to select a prompt from PromptServe and send it to Cursor, RooCode, or Copilot.

Configuration

Prompt Serve uses environment variables for configuration:

• PROMPTS_DIR (Required): The absolute path to the directory containing your .md prompt files.
• PROMPT_SCAN_INTERVAL_MS (Optional): The interval, in milliseconds, at which the server scans the PROMPTS_DIR for new files. Defaults to 10000 (10 seconds) if not set or invalid.

Development

• Use npm run dev to run in watch mode during development (compiles TypeScript on change).
• Use npm run clean to clean the build directory.

Project Structure

prompt-serve/
├── src/           # Source code
├── dist/          # Compiled JavaScript (generated)
├── example-prompts/ # Example prompt files
├── package.json   # Project configuration
└── tsconfig.json  # TypeScript configuration

Prompt Files

Prompt files are Markdown files with frontmatter metadata. Example:

---
name: Github PR
description: Generates a PR, git commit message, and provides a code review.
schema:
  type: object
  properties:
    changes:
      description: The code changes to review
      required: true
    issueNumber:
      description: The issue number this PR addresses
    context:
      description: Additional context about the changes
---

Your prompt content here...

Frontmatter Fields

• name: The display name for the prompt (can include spaces and special characters). This is the primary identifier shown in MCP clients.
• description: A description of what the prompt does.
• schema: (Optional) A JSON schema defining the prompt's parameters.

The server uses the name field from frontmatter as the prompt identifier in the UI, allowing for more user-friendly prompt names with spaces and special characters.

Schema Definition

The schema field uses a simplified schema format to define prompt parameters, based on the Model Context Protocol documentation.

• Properties: Define parameters with their descriptions and requirements.
• Required Fields: Mark required parameters using required: true in the property definition.
• Types: All parameters are handled as strings.
• Descriptions: Each parameter can have a description that will appear in the UI of your AI client.

Example schema:

{
  "type": "object",
  "properties": {
    "changes": {
      "description": "The code changes to review",
      "required": true
    },
    "issueNumber": {
      "description": "The issue number this PR addresses"
    },
    "context": {
      "description": "Additional context about the changes"
    }
  }
}

Default Values for Parameters

You can provide default values for optional parameters directly within the prompt template using the || operator. This is useful when you want a fallback value if an optional argument isn't provided by the user.

• Syntax: ${parameterName || 'Your Default Value'} or ${parameterName || "Your Default Value"}
• Requirement: The parameter (parameterName in the example) must be defined as optional (i.e., not have required: true) in the prompt's schema.
• Quotes: The default value must be enclosed in either single (') or double (") quotes.

Example:

If you have an optional language parameter, you could use:

Explain this code snippet, assuming it's ${language || 'code'}:

If the user provides a language argument, it will be used. If not, the text "code" will be substituted.

Importing Content (@import) with Template Parts

You can include content from other Markdown files within your prompt directory using the @import directive. This allows you to reuse common sections or structure complex prompts.

Files whose names start with an underscore (e.g., _shared_header.md) are treated as partials. They won't be loaded as standalone prompts by the server but can be included using the @import syntax.

This allows you to build complex prompts from reusable components like building blocks.

Example Prompts

The project includes several example prompts in the example-prompts/ directory:

• github-pr.md: Demonstrates a complex prompt with both required (changes) and optional (issueNumber, context) arguments defined in the schema.
• explain-code.md: Shows a mix of required (code) and optional (language) arguments. It also utilizes the default value syntax (${language || 'code'}) for an optional parameter with a fallback value.
• random-idea-generator.md: An example of a prompt that requires no arguments (empty schema properties).
• meeting-summary.md: Uses a required argument (notes) and demonstrates the template part import feature by including @_common-formatting.md.
• _common-formatting.md: A partial file (name starts with _) intended to be included in other prompts. It is not loaded as a standalone prompt itself.

These examples showcase various features like:

• Defining required and optional arguments using the schema.
• Using default values for optional arguments (${arg || 'default'}).
• Creating prompts with no arguments.
• Reusing content via template parts (@_partial.md).

Troubleshooting

Common issues and solutions:

1. PROMPTS_DIR not set: Make sure to set the PROMPTS_DIR environment variable in your client configuration to the correct path.
2. New prompts not detected quickly: Detection occurs via periodic scanning. Check the PROMPT_SCAN_INTERVAL_MS setting (defaults to 10 seconds). If new files still aren't detected after the interval, check file permissions and ensure the server process is running correctly.
3. Modifications to existing prompts not reflected: This is the current expected behavior and is a limitation of the current MCP SDK (see PR #247). Changes to existing prompt files require a server restart to be loaded.

Contributing

1. Fork the repository.
2. Create a feature branch.
3. Make your changes.
4. Submit a pull request.

Please ensure your changes follow the existing code style and include appropriate documentation.

License

This project is licensed under the GNU General Public License v2.0 or later (GPLv2+). See the LICENSE file for details.