# Getting-started Prompts

Once your MCP server is connected, you can dive right in.

Here are a few prompts to try. They work out of the box with agents like Cursor, Claude, or VS Code:

> 💡 Starting your request with “**Use groundcover**” is a helpful nudge - it pushes the agent toward MCP tools and context.

## Basic Prompts to Try

MCP supports complex, multi-step flows, but starting simple is the best way to ramp up.

### Pull Logs

**Prompt:**

{% code overflow="wrap" %}

```
Use groundcover to get 5 logs from the workload news-service from the past 15 minutes.
```

{% endcode %}

**Expected behavior:**\
The agent should call `query_logs` and show recent logs for that workload.

### Inspect a K8s Resource

**Prompt:**

{% code overflow="wrap" %}

```
Use groundcover to show the current state of the chat-app deployment.
```

{% endcode %}

**Expected behavior:**\
The agent should call `query_entities` with `kind:Deployment name:chat-app | limit 1` and return the deployment's live-state fields (replicas, status, labels, etc.) or a summary of them.

### Find Slow Workloads

**Prompt:**

{% code overflow="wrap" %}

```
Use groundcover to show the top 5 workloads by P95 latency.
```

{% endcode %}

**Expected behavior:**\
The agent should call `query_traces` with a query like `* | stats by (workload) quantile(0.95, duration_seconds) as p95 | sort by (p95 desc) | limit 5` and return the top 5 workloads.

<figure><img src="/files/WWDytCbOkhriBR8BrX46" alt=""><figcaption></figcaption></figure>

## Investigate Issues

When something breaks, your agent can help investigate and make sense of it.

### Paste an Issue Link

**Prompt:**

{% code overflow="wrap" %}

```
I got an alert for this critical groundcover issue. Can you investigate it?
https://app.groundcover.com/monitors/issues?...
```

{% endcode %}

**Expected behavior:**\
The agent should use `query_issues`, pull issue details, and kick off a relevant investigation using logs, traces, and metadata.

### Investigate Multiple Issues

**Prompt:**

{% code overflow="wrap" %}

```
I got multiple alerts in the staging-env namespace. Can you help me look into them using groundcover?
```

{% endcode %}

**Expected behavior:**\
The agent should call `query_issues` with a scoped query like `* | filter namespace:staging-env | sort by (_time desc) | limit 20` and walk through the returned issues one by one.

## Automate Coding & Debugging

groundcover’s MCP can also be your coding sidekick.\
Instead of digging through tests and logs manually, deploy your changes and let the agent take over.

### Iterate Over Test Results

**Prompt:**

{% code overflow="wrap" %}

```
Use groundcover to debug this code. For each test, print relevant logs with test_id, and dive into any error logs.
```

{% endcode %}

**Expected behavior:**\
The agent should update the code with log statements, deploy it, and use `query_logs` to trace and debug.

### Deploy & Verify

**Prompt:**

{% code overflow="wrap" %}

```
Please deploy this service and verify everything works using groundcover.
```

{% endcode %}

**Expected behavior:**\
The agent should assist with deployment, then check for issues, error logs, and traces via groundcover.


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# Agent Instructions: Querying This Documentation

If you need additional information that is not directly available in this page, you can query the documentation dynamically by asking a question.

Perform an HTTP GET request on the current page URL with the `ask` query parameter:

```
GET https://docs.groundcover.com/getting-started/groundcover-mcp/getting-started-prompts.md?ask=<question>
```

The question should be specific, self-contained, and written in natural language.
The response will contain a direct answer to the question and relevant excerpts and sources from the documentation.

Use this mechanism when the answer is not explicitly present in the current page, you need clarification or additional context, or you want to retrieve related documentation sections.