Biohub MCP resource tools reference

Use these tools when your client can’t list or read MCP resources directly, for example to load a Skill. They return the same resources as native MCP resource requests, and they need no sign-in.

Tool	Use it to
`list_resources`	List every resource the server publishes, without reading any.
`read_resource`	Read one resource by its exact URI.

List resources

list_resources takes no arguments and returns the complete catalog without reading any resource content.

Field	Description
`resources`	MCP descriptors for every resource: each Skill file, and the structure viewer app.
`resources[].uri`, `name`	The exact resource URI and name.
`resource_templates`	MCP descriptors for parameterized resources. Biohub MCP publishes none, so this list is empty.
Descriptor metadata	`title`, `description`, `mimeType`, and `_meta`, when available. Skill files carry their version and hashes in `_meta`.

The result is complete or an error, with no pagination or truncation. Listing starts no compute, and the tool is marked read-only.

Read resource

Input	Type	Required	Constraints
`uri`	string	Yes	1 to 65,536 characters. Use an exact URI from `list_resources` or a Skill page, such as `skill://waveorder-tutorial/SKILL.md`.

The result uses the MCP resource-read format:

Field	Description
`contents`	Resource content items.
`contents[].uri`	The requested resource URI.
`contents[].mimeType`	The content MIME type, when available.
`contents[].text`	The complete text of a text item.
`contents[].blob`	Base64-encoded content of a binary item.
`_meta`, `contents[]._meta`	Published result and content metadata, when available.

Both tools return structured content and the same JSON as text. Neither tool fetches web pages or reads files on your computer. read_resource starts no compute when it reads a Skill file. It isn’t marked read-only, because its annotation covers any resource the server publishes: readOnlyHint false, destructiveHint false, idempotentHint false, and openWorldHint true.

Limits

A list_resources or read_resource result is limited to 128 KiB (131,072 bytes), counting both copies of the result, JSON escaping, and metadata. A larger result returns resource_too_large with size_bytes and max_bytes, and no partial content.

Errors

Code	What to do
`not_found`	Copy the exact URI from `list_resources`.
`resource_too_large`	Read the resource through your client’s own MCP resource support.

The tool schema rejects invalid input.

Example prompts

List the Biohub MCP resources without reading them.
Use read_resource to read skill://waveorder-tutorial/SKILL.md and tell me what the Skill needs on my computer.
Read skill://waveorder-tutorial/_manifest and list the files it publishes.

Biohub MCP

Skills

Tool reference

Security and support

Biohub MCP resource tools reference

List resources

Read resource

Limits

Errors

Example prompts

Biohub MCP

Skills

Tool reference

Security and support

​List resources

​Read resource

​Limits

​Errors

​Example prompts

List resources

Read resource

Limits

Errors

Example prompts