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Prompts are explanatory texts scoped to a namespace. They teach AI agents how a provider’s tools work together — pagination patterns, error codes, rate limits, combining endpoints. Prompts explain, they don’t instruct (that’s what Skills do).

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Prompts vs Skills

AspectPromptsSkills
PurposeExplain how tools workInstruct step-by-step workflows
Tone”Here’s how pagination works…""Step 1: Call X. Step 2: Pass result to Y.”
Model dependencyModel-neutralModel-specific (testedWith required)
ScopeSingle namespaceCan reference tools from own schema
See Prompt Architecture for the full two-tier system (Provider-Prompts vs Agent-Prompts).

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Defining Prompts

Prompts are declared in main.prompts and loaded from external .mjs files via contentFile: 
export const main = {
    namespace: 'coingecko',
    // ... other fields ...
    prompts: {
        'about': { contentFile: './prompts/about.mjs' },
        'pagination-guide': { contentFile: './prompts/pagination-guide.mjs' }
    }
}

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Prompt File Format

Each prompt is a .mjs file exporting a prompt object: 
// prompts/about.mjs
export const prompt = {
    name: 'about',
    version: 'flowmcp-prompt/1.0.0',
    provider: 'coingecko',
    description: 'Overview of CoinGecko API capabilities and best practices',
    dependsOn: ['coingecko.simplePrice', 'coingecko.coinMarkets', 'coingecko.coinMarketChart'],
    references: [],
    content: `CoinGecko provides cryptocurrency market data through three main tools:

Use {{tool:simplePrice}} for current prices of one or more tokens.
Use {{tool:coinMarkets}} for market cap rankings with sorting and pagination.
Use {{tool:coinMarketChart}} for historical price data over {{input:days}} days.

All price endpoints return values in the currency specified by {{input:vsCurrency}}.
Rate limit: 30 requests per minute on the free tier.`
}

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Placeholder Syntax

Use {{type:name}} placeholders in the content field to reference schema elements:
PlaceholderResolves ToExample
{{tool:name}}A tool in the same namespace{{tool:simplePrice}}
{{input:key}}A user input parameter{{input:tokenId}}
{{resource:name}}A resource in the same namespace{{resource:companiesDb}}
The about convention — Every provider should have an about prompt that describes the overall API capabilities, common patterns, and gotchas. This is the first thing an AI agent reads when encountering a new namespace.

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Complete Example

A CoinGecko schema with an about prompt: 
// coingecko-coins.mjs
export const main = {
    namespace: 'coingecko',
    name: 'CoinData',
    version: '3.0.0',
    root: 'https://api.coingecko.com/api/v3',
    tools: {
        simplePrice: { /* ... */ },
        coinMarkets: { /* ... */ },
        coinMarketChart: { /* ... */ }
    },
    prompts: {
        'about': { contentFile: './prompts/about.mjs' }
    }
}

// prompts/about.mjs
export const prompt = {
    name: 'about',
    version: 'flowmcp-prompt/1.0.0',
    provider: 'coingecko',
    description: 'How to use CoinGecko tools effectively',
    dependsOn: ['coingecko.simplePrice', 'coingecko.coinMarkets', 'coingecko.coinMarketChart'],
    references: [],
    content: `CoinGecko provides real-time and historical cryptocurrency data.

{{tool:simplePrice}} returns current prices. Pass comma-separated token IDs.
{{tool:coinMarkets}} returns paginated market data sorted by market cap.
  - Use page and per_page parameters for pagination (max 250 per page).
  - Default sort is market_cap_desc.
{{tool:coinMarketChart}} returns OHLC + volume over {{input:days}} days.
  - Granularity is automatic: 1-2 days = 5min, 3-30 days = hourly, 31+ = daily.

All endpoints accept {{input:vsCurrency}} (e.g. "usd", "eur", "btc").`
}