diff --git a/crates/tinymcp-bus/src/registry/test.rs b/crates/tinymcp-bus/src/registry/test.rs
index 5cbb8c8..a7707f1 100644
--- a/crates/tinymcp-bus/src/registry/test.rs
+++ b/crates/tinymcp-bus/src/registry/test.rs
@@ -230,6 +230,7 @@ fn an_overview_round_trips_with_its_tools() {
         qualified_name: "@test/server".into(),
         display_name: "Test".into(),
         description: Some("does things".into()),
+        instructions: Some("call list_accounts first".into()),
         tools: vec![McpTool::new("a"), McpTool::new("b")],
     };
     let encoded = serde_json::to_value(&overview).unwrap();
@@ -239,6 +240,23 @@ fn an_overview_round_trips_with_its_tools() {
     );
 }
 
+#[test]
+fn an_overview_written_before_instructions_existed_still_decodes() {
+    // `#[serde(default)]`, so a payload from an older peer — or a stored
+    // snapshot — decodes as "no instructions" rather than failing the whole
+    // overview and taking the server listing with it.
+    let overview: ConnectedServerOverview = serde_json::from_value(json!({
+        "server_id": "uuid-1",
+        "qualified_name": "@test/server",
+        "display_name": "Test",
+        "description": "does things",
+        "tools": [{ "name": "a" }]
+    }))
+    .unwrap();
+    assert_eq!(overview.instructions, None);
+    assert_eq!(overview.tools.len(), 1);
+}
+
 // ---------------------------------------------------------------------------
 // ServerStatus and McpAuthHint
 // ---------------------------------------------------------------------------
diff --git a/crates/tinymcp-bus/src/registry/types.rs b/crates/tinymcp-bus/src/registry/types.rs
index c85980c..62762b7 100644
--- a/crates/tinymcp-bus/src/registry/types.rs
+++ b/crates/tinymcp-bus/src/registry/types.rs
@@ -255,6 +255,17 @@ pub struct ConnectedServerOverview {
     /// hint a host can show.
     #[serde(default)]
     pub description: Option<String>,
+    /// The server's own `initialize` instructions, when it sent any.
+    ///
+    /// A hand-added server has no registry entry and therefore no
+    /// [`description`](Self::description) — the handshake's `instructions` is
+    /// then the only thing that can say what the server is *for*, and without it
+    /// a host has nothing to show but a name and a tool count.
+    ///
+    /// Untrusted remote free-form text, on the same footing as `description`:
+    /// sanitize before placing it in an LLM's context.
+    #[serde(default)]
+    pub instructions: Option<String>,
     /// The tools the server advertises.
     ///
     /// Kept in full so a host can fall back to a tool count when a server has
diff --git a/crates/tinymcp/src/registry/connections/types.rs b/crates/tinymcp/src/registry/connections/types.rs
index 88aef3b..a6a519e 100644
--- a/crates/tinymcp/src/registry/connections/types.rs
+++ b/crates/tinymcp/src/registry/connections/types.rs
@@ -111,6 +111,20 @@ impl ActiveClient {
         }
     }
 
+    /// The `instructions` the server sent in its handshake, if any.
+    ///
+    /// Both transports cache the initialize result, so this reads the completed
+    /// handshake rather than performing one. `None` on a transport error for the
+    /// same reason it is `None` for a server that sent nothing: the caller is
+    /// describing a server, and a missing description is not worth failing over.
+    async fn instructions(&self) -> Option<String> {
+        let initialized = match self {
+            Self::Stdio(client) => client.initialize().await,
+            Self::Http(client) => client.initialize().await,
+        };
+        initialized.ok().and_then(|result| result.instructions)
+    }
+
     /// Calls a tool.
     async fn call_tool(&self, name: &str, arguments: Value) -> Result<McpServerToolResult> {
         match self {
@@ -137,6 +151,11 @@ struct Connection {
     qualified_name: String,
     display_name: String,
     description: Option<String>,
+    /// The handshake's `instructions`, captured once at connect time.
+    ///
+    /// Stored rather than re-read per overview: the value cannot change without
+    /// a reconnect, which rebuilds this whole record anyway.
+    instructions: Option<String>,
 }
 
 impl Connection {
@@ -263,12 +282,18 @@ impl Connections {
             })
             .collect();
 
+        // Read before the client is moved into the record. The handshake is
+        // already complete by here — `list_tools` above cannot have succeeded
+        // otherwise — so this reads the cached result and does not dial again.
+        let instructions = client.instructions().await;
+
         let connection = Arc::new(Connection {
             client,
             tools: RwLock::new(tools.clone()),
             qualified_name: server.qualified_name.clone(),
             display_name: server.display_name.clone(),
             description: server.description.clone(),
+            instructions,
         });
 
         self.live
@@ -553,6 +578,7 @@ impl Connections {
                 qualified_name: connection.qualified_name.clone(),
                 display_name: connection.display_name.clone(),
                 description: connection.description.clone(),
+                instructions: connection.instructions.clone(),
                 tools: connection.tools_snapshot().await,
             });
         }