MCP AI Server for Visual Studio

Other tools read your files. MCP AI Server understands your code.

The first and only Visual Studio extension that gives AI assistants access to the C# compiler (Roslyn) and the Visual Studio Debugger through the Model Context Protocol. 41 tools. 13 powered by Roslyn. 19 debugging tools (Preview). Semantic understanding, not text matching.

Install

**Install from Visual Studio Marketplace**

Or search for "MCP AI Server" in Visual Studio Extensions Manager.

See it in Action

*Click to watch on YouTube*

Why MCP AI Server?

AI coding tools (Claude Code, Codex CLI, Gemini CLI, OpenCode, Cursor, Copilot, Windsurf...) operate at the filesystem level — they read text, run grep, execute builds. They don't understand your code the way Visual Studio does.

MCP AI Server bridges this gap by exposing IntelliSense-level intelligence and the Visual Studio Debugger as MCP tools. Your AI assistant gets the same semantic understanding that powers F12 (Go to Definition), Shift+F12 (Find All References), safe refactoring — and now runtime debugging.

What becomes possible:

22 Stable Tools

Semantic Navigation (Roslyn-powered)

Code Understanding (Roslyn-powered)

Code Analysis (Roslyn-powered)

Refactoring (Roslyn-powered)

Project & Build

Editor Integration

19 Debugging Tools (Preview)

Your AI assistant can now debug your .NET code at runtime through the Visual Studio Debugger. Set breakpoints, step through code, inspect variables, attach to Docker containers and WSL processes.

Debug Control (10 tools)

Debug Inspection (5 tools)

Breakpoint Management (4 tools)

AI Debugging Guide

Complete reference for AI agents — all 19 tools, 10 workflows, Docker & WSL setup, polling patterns, and best practices.

**Download AI Debugging Guide (.md)** — add it to your AI's context for full debugging capabilities.

Compatible Clients

Works with any MCP-compatible AI tool:

CLI Agents:

• Claude Code — Anthropic's terminal AI coding agent
• Codex CLI — OpenAI's terminal coding agent
• Gemini CLI — Google's open-source terminal agent
• OpenCode — Open-source AI coding agent (45k+ GitHub stars)
• Goose — Block's open-source AI agent
• Aider — AI pair programming in terminal

Desktop & IDE:

• Claude Desktop — Anthropic's desktop app
• Cursor — AI-first code editor
• Windsurf — Codeium's AI IDE
• VS Code + Copilot — GitHub Copilot with MCP
• Cline — VS Code extension
• Continue — Open-source AI assistant

Any MCP client — open protocol, universal compatibility

Quick Start

1. **Install** from Visual Studio Marketplace

2. Open your .NET solution in Visual Studio

3. Configure port in MCP Server Settings (default: 3010)

4. Add to your MCP client:

"vs-mcp": {
  "type": "http",
  "url": "http://localhost:3010/sdk/"
}

5. Start asking your AI semantic questions about your code

MCP Client Configuration

Any tool supporting Model Context Protocol will work.

Configure AI Preferences (Recommended)

Add these instructions to your project's AI config file (see table above) to ensure your AI automatically prefers MCP tools:

## MCP Tools - ALWAYS PREFER

When `mcp__vs-mcp__*` tools are available, ALWAYS use them instead of Grep/Glob/LS:

| Instead of | Use |
|------------|-----|
| `Grep` for symbols | `FindSymbols`, `FindSymbolUsages` |
| `LS` to explore projects | `GetSolutionTree` |
| Reading files to find code | `FindSymbolDefinition` then `Read` |
| Searching for method calls | `GetMethodCallers`, `GetMethodCalls` |

**Why?** MCP tools use Roslyn semantic analysis - 10x faster, 90% fewer tokens.

Multi-Solution: Understand Your Dependencies

Need the AI to understand a library you depend on? Clone the source from GitHub, open it in a second Visual Studio — each instance runs its own MCP server on a configurable port.

Your project                          → port 3010
Library source (cloned from GitHub)   → port 3011
Framework source                      → port 3012

Your AI connects to all of them. It can trace calls, find usage patterns, and understand inheritance across your code and library code.

MCP client configuration — three options depending on your client:

Clients with native HTTP support (Claude Desktop, Claude Code):

{
  "mcpServers": {
    "vs-mcp": {
      "type": "http",
      "url": "http://localhost:3010/sdk/"
    },
    "vs-mcp-whisper": {
      "type": "http",
      "url": "http://localhost:3011/sdk/"
    }
  }
}

Clients without HTTP support (via mcp-remote proxy):

{
  "mcpServers": {
    "vs-mcp": {
      "command": "npx",
      "args": ["-y", "mcp-remote", "http://localhost:3010/sdk/"]
    },
    "vs-mcp-whisper": {
      "command": "npx",
      "args": ["-y", "mcp-remote", "http://localhost:3011/sdk/"]
    }
  }
}

Codex CLI (TOML):

[mcp_servers.vs-mcp]
type = "stdio"
command = "npx"
args = ["mcp-remote", "http://localhost:3010/sdk/"]

[mcp_servers.vs-mcp-whisper]
type = "stdio"
command = "npx"
args = ["mcp-remote", "http://localhost:3011/sdk/"]

Settings

Tools → MCP Server Settings

Changes apply on next server start.

vs. Other Approaches

Requirements

• Visual Studio 2022 (17.13+) or Visual Studio 2026
• Windows (amd64 or arm64)
• Any MCP-compatible AI tool

Issues & Feature Requests

Found a bug or have an idea? Open an issue!

About

**0ics srl** — Italian software company specializing in AI-powered development tools. Part of the example4.ai ecosystem.

Built by Ladislav Sopko — 30 years of software development, from assembler to enterprise .NET.

*MCP AI Server: Because your AI deserves the same intelligence as your IDE.*