MCP Resources Overview

MCP Resources provide a standardized way to expose structured data from infrastructure systems. Resources are addressable via URI schemes and return JSON-formatted data that AI models can inspect and analyze.

What are MCP Resources?

Resources in the Model Context Protocol (MCP) are data endpoints that:

Use URI schemes for addressing (e.g., oracle://, mysql://, mikrotik://)
Return structured JSON data
Provide real-time access to system state
Enable AI models to monitor and analyze infrastructure
Work across multiple infrastructure types

Resources are read-only. They provide inspection and monitoring capabilities without modifying the underlying systems.

Resource URI Patterns

Each MCP server implements resources using a consistent URI pattern:

<protocol>://<target>/<resource-type>/<identifier>

Components:

protocol: The MCP server type (oracle, mysql, mikrotik, qnap)
target: Connection target (database name, host, etc.)
resource-type: Type of resource (table, disk, interface, etc.)
identifier: Specific resource identifier (name, ID, etc.)

Database Resources

Oracle Database Resources

URI Pattern: oracle://<USER>/<table>/schema Provides JSON schema information for Oracle database tables. Features:

Column names and data types
Table metadata
Automatically discovered from Oracle metadata
Scoped to current connected user

Example:

oracle://HR/EMPLOYEES/schema
oracle://HR/DEPARTMENTS/schema
oracle://SCOTT/EMP/schema

Sample resource data:

{
  "table_name": "EMPLOYEES",
  "owner": "HR",
  "columns": [
    {
      "name": "EMPLOYEE_ID",
      "data_type": "NUMBER",
      "nullable": "N",
      "data_length": 22
    },
    {
      "name": "FIRST_NAME",
      "data_type": "VARCHAR2",
      "nullable": "Y",
      "data_length": 20
    },
    {
      "name": "LAST_NAME",
      "data_type": "VARCHAR2",
      "nullable": "N",
      "data_length": 25
    }
  ]
}

Use cases:

Schema discovery and documentation
Query planning and validation
Data modeling and analysis
Automated code generation

MySQL Database Resources

URI Pattern: mysql://<database>/<table>/schema Provides JSON schema information for MySQL database tables. Features:

Column names and data types
Table metadata and constraints
Index information
Automatically discovered from MySQL metadata

Example:

mysql://mydb/users/schema
mysql://mydb/orders/schema
mysql://analytics/events/schema

Sample resource data:

{
  "table_name": "users",
  "database": "mydb",
  "columns": [
    {
      "name": "id",
      "type": "int",
      "nullable": false,
      "key": "PRI",
      "default": null,
      "extra": "auto_increment"
    },
    {
      "name": "email",
      "type": "varchar(255)",
      "nullable": false,
      "key": "UNI",
      "default": null,
      "extra": ""
    },
    {
      "name": "created_at",
      "type": "timestamp",
      "nullable": false,
      "key": "",
      "default": "CURRENT_TIMESTAMP",
      "extra": ""
    }
  ],
  "indexes": [
    {
      "name": "PRIMARY",
      "columns": ["id"],
      "unique": true
    },
    {
      "name": "email_unique",
      "columns": ["email"],
      "unique": true
    }
  ]
}

Use cases:

Database schema documentation
Migration planning
Query optimization
ORM configuration

Network Resources

MikroTik RouterOS Resources

MikroTik resources provide access to router configuration and state.

Interfaces

URI Pattern: mikrotik://interface/<name> Access detailed information about network interfaces. Example:

mikrotik://interface/ether1
mikrotik://interface/ether2
mikrotik://interface/wlan1
mikrotik://interface/bridge1

Sample resource data:

{
  "name": "ether1",
  "type": "ether",
  "mtu": "1500",
  "mac-address": "D4:CA:6D:12:34:56",
  "running": "true",
  "disabled": "false",
  "tx-bytes": "1234567890",
  "rx-bytes": "9876543210",
  "tx-packets": "12345678",
  "rx-packets": "98765432"
}

Bridges

URI Pattern: mikrotik://bridge/<name> Access bridge configuration and status. Example:

mikrotik://bridge/bridge1

Sample resource data:

{
  "name": "bridge1",
  "mtu": "auto",
  "ageing-time": "5m",
  "priority": "0x8000",
  "protocol-mode": "rstp",
  "running": "true"
}

Bridge Ports

URI Pattern: mikrotik://bridge/<bridge_name>/<interface_name> Access information about interfaces within a bridge. Example:

mikrotik://bridge/bridge1/ether2
mikrotik://bridge/bridge1/ether3

Sample resource data:

{
  "interface": "ether2",
  "bridge": "bridge1",
  "priority": "0x80",
  "path-cost": "10",
  "horizon": "none",
  "disabled": "false"
}

IP Routes

URI Pattern: mikrotik://route/<id> Access routing table entries.

Internal IDs are used for routing entries. Use the mk-get /ip/route tool to discover route IDs.

Example:

mikrotik://route/400AF317
mikrotik://route/500BF428

Sample resource data:

{
  ".id": "*400AF317",
  "dst-address": "0.0.0.0/0",
  "gateway": "192.168.88.1",
  "distance": "1",
  "scope": "30",
  "target-scope": "10",
  "active": "true",
  "dynamic": "false",
  "disabled": "false"
}

Use cases:

Network topology discovery
Interface monitoring
Traffic analysis
Configuration validation

Storage Resources

QNAP NAS Resources

QNAP resources provide real-time access to storage system health and status.

Disks

URI Pattern: qnap://<host>:<port>/disk/<disk-id> Access real-time disk health, model, serial number, and temperature. Example:

qnap://10.1.1.241:8080/disk/0
qnap://10.1.1.241:8080/disk/1
qnap://nas.local:8080/disk/2

Sample resource data:

{
  "disk_id": "0",
  "model": "WDC WD40EFRX-68N32N0",
  "serial": "WD-WCC7K1234567",
  "capacity": "4000787030016",
  "capacity_human": "4.0 TB",
  "health": "GOOD",
  "temperature": "38",
  "temperature_unit": "C",
  "smart_status": "PASSED",
  "power_on_hours": "12456",
  "firmware": "80.00A80"
}

Volumes

URI Pattern: qnap://<host>:<port>/volume/<volume-id> Access detailed storage usage, capacity, and volume status. Example:

qnap://10.1.1.241:8080/volume/0
qnap://10.1.1.241:8080/volume/1
qnap://nas.local:8080/volume/0

Sample resource data:

{
  "volume_id": "0",
  "label": "DataVol1",
  "total_size": "7999999999999",
  "total_size_human": "7.27 TB",
  "free_size": "3421234567890",
  "free_size_human": "3.11 TB",
  "used_size": "4578765432109",
  "used_size_human": "4.16 TB",
  "used_percent": "57.2",
  "status": "Ready",
  "filesystem": "ext4",
  "raid_level": "RAID5",
  "disk_count": "4"
}

Use cases:

Storage capacity planning
Disk health monitoring
SMART status tracking
Temperature monitoring
RAID status verification

Resource Access Patterns

Direct Resource Access

AI models can directly access resources using their URI:

Please check the health of disk 0 on the QNAP NAS
→ Access: qnap://10.1.1.241:8080/disk/0

What is the schema of the employees table?
→ Access: oracle://HR/EMPLOYEES/schema

Show me the status of ether1 interface
→ Access: mikrotik://interface/ether1

Resource Discovery

Resources are typically discovered through:

Listing operations (via tools like mk-get, database queries)
Reports (via tools like qnap-report, mk-report)
Documentation (this guide and server-specific docs)

Resource Monitoring

Resources enable continuous monitoring:

# Pseudo-code example
while monitoring:
    disk_health = access_resource("qnap://nas/disk/0")
    if disk_health["temperature"] > 50:
        alert("High disk temperature")
    
    volume_status = access_resource("qnap://nas/volume/0")
    if volume_status["used_percent"] > 90:
        alert("Low disk space")

Best Practices

Resource Naming

Resource identifiers are case-sensitive. Use exact names as reported by the system.

✓ oracle://HR/EMPLOYEES/schema
✗ oracle://hr/employees/schema

✓ mikrotik://interface/ether1
✗ mikrotik://interface/Ether1

Resource Caching

Resource data represents real-time state. Cache appropriately based on your monitoring needs.

Static metadata (schemas, models): Cache for hours/days
Dynamic state (temperature, traffic): Cache for seconds/minutes
Health status: Cache for minutes

Error Handling

Resources may be unavailable if:

Connection to the system is lost
Resource identifier is invalid
Permissions are insufficient
Resource has been deleted

Always handle resource access errors gracefully.

Resource Comparison

Server	Protocol	Resource Types	Update Frequency	Use Case
Oracle	`oracle://`	Table schemas	Static	Schema discovery
MySQL	`mysql://`	Table schemas	Static	Schema discovery
MikroTik	`mikrotik://`	Interfaces, bridges, routes	Real-time	Network monitoring
QNAP	`qnap://`	Disks, volumes	Real-time	Storage monitoring

Integration Examples

Multi-System Monitoring

Combine resources from multiple systems:

# Check database and storage health
oracle://HR/EMPLOYEES/schema → Verify table structure
qnap://nas/volume/0 → Check database volume capacity
qnap://nas/disk/0 → Verify disk health

# Network and database coordination
mikrotik://interface/ether1 → Check network connectivity
mysql://mydb/users/schema → Access database schema

Automated Health Checks

# Storage health check
qnap://nas/disk/0 → temperature < 50°C
qnap://nas/disk/1 → SMART status = PASSED
qnap://nas/volume/0 → used_percent < 85%

# Network health check
mikrotik://interface/ether1 → running = true
mikrotik://interface/ether2 → disabled = false
mikrotik://route/400AF317 → active = true

Infrastructure Documentation

Generate documentation from resources:

# Database documentation
List all tables → oracle://HR/*/schema
Document each schema → Generate ERD

# Network documentation
List all interfaces → mikrotik://interface/*
List all bridges → mikrotik://bridge/*
Generate topology map

# Storage documentation
List all disks → qnap://nas/disk/*
List all volumes → qnap://nas/volume/*
Generate capacity report

Database Tools

Infrastructure Tools

Resources

MCP Resources

MCP Resources Overview

What are MCP Resources?

Resource URI Patterns

Database Resources

Oracle Database Resources

MySQL Database Resources

Network Resources

MikroTik RouterOS Resources

Interfaces

Bridges

Bridge Ports

IP Routes

Storage Resources

QNAP NAS Resources

Disks

Volumes

Resource Access Patterns

Direct Resource Access

Resource Discovery

Resource Monitoring

Best Practices

Resource Naming

Resource Caching

Error Handling

Resource Comparison

Integration Examples

Multi-System Monitoring

Automated Health Checks

Infrastructure Documentation

Build docs developers (and LLMs) love

Database Tools

Infrastructure Tools

Resources

​MCP Resources Overview

​What are MCP Resources?

​Resource URI Patterns

​Database Resources

​Oracle Database Resources

​MySQL Database Resources

​Network Resources

​MikroTik RouterOS Resources

​Interfaces

​Bridges

​Bridge Ports

​IP Routes

​Storage Resources

​QNAP NAS Resources

​Disks

​Volumes

​Resource Access Patterns

​Direct Resource Access

​Resource Discovery

​Resource Monitoring

​Best Practices

​Resource Naming

​Resource Caching

​Error Handling

​Resource Comparison

​Integration Examples

​Multi-System Monitoring

​Automated Health Checks

​Infrastructure Documentation

Build docs developers (and LLMs) love

MCP Resources Overview

What are MCP Resources?

Resource URI Patterns

Database Resources

Oracle Database Resources

MySQL Database Resources

Network Resources

MikroTik RouterOS Resources

Interfaces

Bridges

Bridge Ports

IP Routes

Storage Resources

QNAP NAS Resources

Disks

Volumes

Resource Access Patterns

Direct Resource Access

Resource Discovery

Resource Monitoring

Best Practices

Resource Naming

Resource Caching

Error Handling

Resource Comparison

Integration Examples

Multi-System Monitoring

Automated Health Checks

Infrastructure Documentation