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Collection Schema Reference

Collection manifests (.collection.yml) define the structure and contents of a prompt collection.

Annotated Example​

id: python-development              # Required. Lowercase, numbers, hyphens only
name: Python Development Suite      # Required. Human-readable display name (max 100 chars)
description: Prompts for Python dev # Required. What this collection does (max 500 chars)
version: 2.1.0                      # Optional. Semantic version
author: Python Team                 # Optional. Creator name
tags:                               # Optional. For discoverability
  - python
  - testing

items:                              # Required. List of resources (max 50)
  - path: prompts/write-tests.prompt.md   # Required. Relative path to file
    kind: prompt                          # Required. One of: prompt, instruction, chat-mode, agent
    title: Test Writer                    # Optional. Display title
    description: Generates unit tests     # Optional. Item description
    tags: [testing, pytest]               # Optional. Item-level tags

  - path: instructions/standards.instructions.md
    kind: instruction

  - path: agents/runner.agent.md
    kind: agent
readme:                                   # Optional. Documentation for the collection.
  path: docs/python-development/readme.md 

mcp:                                # Optional. MCP server configurations
  inputs:                           # Optional. Input definitions for secrets/configurable values
    - id: apiToken                  # Required. Referenced as ${input:apiToken} in server config
      type: promptString            # Required. One of: promptString, pickString, command
      description: API access token # Optional. Label shown to the user
      password: true                # Optional. Mask the value (for secrets)
    - id: environment
      type: pickString
      description: Target environment
      options: [staging, production]
      default: staging
  items:
    # Stdio server (local process)
    python-analyzer:                # Server name
      type: stdio                   # Optional. Default: stdio
      command: python               # Required for stdio. Command to start server
      args:                         # Optional. Command arguments
        - "${bundlePath}/server.py" # ${bundlePath} = installed bundle path
      env:                          # Optional. Environment variables
        LOG_LEVEL: info
        TOKEN: "${input:apiToken}"  # Reference an input
      envFile: "${bundlePath}/.env" # Optional. Path to env file
      disabled: false               # Optional. Default: false
      description: Python analyzer  # Optional. Human-readable description

    # Remote HTTP server
    api-server:
      type: http                    # Required for remote. One of: http, sse
      url: "https://api.example.com/mcp"  # Required for remote
      headers:                      # Optional. Authentication headers
        Authorization: "Bearer ${input:apiToken}"  # Use an input for secrets

    # Remote SSE server
    streaming-server:
      type: sse
      url: "https://stream.example.com/mcp/events"

display:                            # Optional. UI preferences
  color: "#3776AB"                  # Color theme
  icon: python                      # Icon identifier
  ordering: manual                  # manual or alphabetical
  show_badge: true                  # Show badge in UI

MCP Input Definitions​

Use mcp.inputs to declare secrets or user-configurable values. VS Code will prompt the user when the server starts. Inputs are referenced in server configuration using ${input:id}.

FieldRequiredDescription
id✅Unique identifier (alphanumeric, -, _)
type✅promptString, pickString, or command
description—Label shown to the user
password—Mask the input (use for secrets)
default—Pre-filled value
options—List of choices for pickString

Install behaviour: inputs from mcp.inputs are merged into .vscode/mcp.json. Existing inputs with the same id are preserved — they are never overwritten.

Uninstall behaviour: when a bundle is uninstalled, inputs that are no longer referenced by any remaining MCP server are automatically removed from mcp.json.

MCP Server Duplicate Detection​

When multiple collections define the same MCP server, AI Primitives Hub automatically detects and manages duplicates to prevent conflicts in VS Code's mcp.json.

Documentation​

Make sure to provide a readme for your collections. This is what gets displayed in the detailed view of the collection in the marketplace.

Note : The current version only supports absolute links for images.

example : ![alt text](https://somedomain.com/awesomeimage.jpg) ✅ ![alt text](./assets/awesomeimage.jpg) ❌

How It Works​

Server Identity is computed based on server type:

  • Stdio servers: command + args (e.g., node server.js --port 3000)
  • Remote servers: url (e.g., https://api.example.com/mcp)

Behavior:

  1. First installed server with a given identity remains enabled
  2. Subsequent duplicates are disabled with a description noting the original
  3. When the active server's bundle is uninstalled, a disabled duplicate is re-enabled
  4. At least one instance stays active until all bundles with that server are removed

This allows multiple collections to safely share common MCP servers without conflicts.

Validation​

Open the Command Palette (Ctrl+Shift+P on Windows/Linux or Cmd+Shift+P on macOS) and run AI Primitives Hub: Validate Collections.

See Also​