What are MCP prompts and why are they so useful?

Prompts in MCP servers let you define pre-built, high-quality instructions that clients can use instead of writing their own prompts from scratch. Think of them as carefully crafted templates that give better results than what users might come up with on their own. Users can already ask Claude to do most tasks directly, but they will get much better results if you provide a thoroughly tested, specialized prompt that handles edge cases and follows best practices. As the MCP server author, you can spend time crafting and evaluating prompts that work consistently. Users benefit from your expertise without having to become prompt engineering experts themselves.