🔗 MCP C# Template

🚀 Build powerful Model Context Protocol servers and clients in C# with .NET 9

Featuring stdio, HTTP, and SSE transport protocols • Enhanced console UI • Production-ready

🌟 Three Projects, Multiple Transports, Unlimited Possibilities

🖥️ StdioServer	🌐 HttpServer	🎯 Client
Local Development	Remote Deployment	Universal Testing
Claude Desktop Ready	Scalable & Cloud-Native	Beautiful Console UI
Zero Configuration	Docker Compatible	Multi-Transport

✨ Features

🎯 StdioServer Project: Standard I/O MCP server with example tools (DateTool, EchoTool, PingPongTool)
🌐 HttpServer Project: Modern HTTP server with Streamable HTTP and SSE fallback support
🎨 Client Project: Universal client with enhanced Spectre.Console interface supporting all transports
🔧 Extensibility: Add new tools effortlessly - they appear in both servers automatically
📦 Production Ready: Built on official Microsoft ModelContextProtocol packages
🚀 Multiple Transports: stdio, Streamable HTTP, and legacy SSE support

Features

StdioServer Project: A standard input/output MCP server that includes three example tools (DateTool, EchoTool, and PingPongTool) automatically exposed via stdio transport.
HttpServer Project: A modern HTTP-based MCP server with streamable HTTP and Server-Sent Events (SSE) fallback support for remote deployment scenarios.
Client Project: A versatile MCP client that connects to any MCP server (not limited to .NET) using multiple transport protocols (stdio, HTTP, SSE) with an enhanced console interface.
Extensibility: Easily add new tools to either server or extend the client's capabilities.

Architecture

The template includes four main projects:

StdioServer: Standard I/O transport server for local development and integration
HttpServer: HTTP/SSE transport server for remote deployment and web scenarios
Client: Universal client supporting all transport types with command-line interface
Core: Shared library containing common tools and utilities

Getting Started

Prerequisites

.NET 9 SDK installed on your machine
A code editor like Visual Studio 2022 or Visual Studio Code

Running the StdioServer

The StdioServer project exposes tools via standard input/output, ideal for local development and AI client integration.

Using MCP Inspector

Navigate to the src/StdioServer directory
Run: npx @modelcontextprotocol/inspector dotnet run

Starting MCP inspector...
⚙️ Proxy server listening on port 6277
🔍 MCP Inspector is up and running at http://127.0.0.1:6274 🚀

Open your browser to the URL shown (e.g., http://127.0.0.1:6274)
Click "Connect" → "List Tools" → Select and run tools

Running the HttpServer

The HttpServer project provides HTTP-based MCP with SSE streaming support for remote deployment scenarios.

Navigate to the src/HttpServer directory
Run: dotnet run
Server will start on http://localhost:5000 with MCP endpoint ready

The HttpServer supports:

Streamable HTTP: Modern HTTP POST/GET with optional SSE streaming
Legacy SSE: Full Server-Sent Events transport for older clients
Auto-detection: Automatically handles both transport modes

Using MCP Inspector

Launch the MCP Inspector
Select Streamable HTTP as the Transport Type
Enter the URL: http://localhost:5000
Click "Connect" → "List Tools" → Select and run tools

Viewing Server Logs

You can view the server logs in the console output where the HttpServer is running. It will display incoming requests, tool execution results, and any errors encountered.

# Some output omitted for clarity and brevity

[2025-06-10 17::58:09] info: Microsoft.Hosting.Lifetime[14] Now listening on: http://localhost:5000
[2025-06-10 17::58:09] info: Microsoft.Hosting.Lifetime[0] Application started. Press Ctrl+C to shut down.
[2025-06-10 17::58:09] info: Microsoft.Hosting.Lifetime[0] Hosting environment: Production
[2025-06-10 17::58:09] info: Microsoft.Hosting.Lifetime[0] Content root path: C:\krk\mcp\mcp-csharp-template\src\HttpServer
[2025-06-10 17::58:45] info: McpServer => method 'initialize' request handler called.
[2025-06-10 17::58:45] info: McpServer =>  Client (mcp-inspector) method 'initialize' request handler completed.
[2025-06-10 17::58:56] info: McpServer =>  Client (mcp-inspector) method 'tools/list' request handler called.
[2025-06-10 17::58:56] info: McpServer =>  Client (mcp-inspector) method 'tools/list' request handler completed.
[2025-06-10 17::58:58] info: McpServer =>  Client (mcp-inspector) method 'tools/call' request handler called.
[2025-06-10 17::58:58] info: McpServer =>  Client (mcp-inspector) method 'tools/call' request handler completed.

Running the Client

The Client project features a modern console interface with Spectre.Console and supports multiple transport protocols.

Quick Start with Launch Profiles

Navigate to src/Client and use predefined profiles:

# Connect to StdioServer
dotnet run --launch-profile dotnet-stdio

# Connect to HttpServer (modern HTTP)
dotnet run --launch-profile http-modern

# Connect to HttpServer (legacy SSE)
dotnet run --launch-profile sse-legacy

Manual Configuration

The client supports various transport types through command-line arguments:

# .NET stdio server
dotnet run -- dotnet -n StdioServer -p "../StdioServer/StdioServer.csproj"

# HTTP server (modern streamable HTTP)
dotnet run -- http -n HttpServer -u "http://localhost:5000"

# SSE server (legacy compatibility)
dotnet run -- sse -n HttpServer -u "http://localhost:5000"

# NPM package server
dotnet run -- npx -n weather-server -p "@modelcontextprotocol/server-weather"

# Python server with uvx
dotnet run -- uvx -n filesystem -p "mcp-server-filesystem"

Enhanced Console Experience

The client now features:

Rich UI: Powered by Spectre.Console with colors and styled output
Tool Selection: Interactive numbered menu with descriptions
Input Validation: Required vs optional parameter handling
Response Display: Formatted output panels with proper styling

Example interaction:

Example Tools

The template includes three demonstration tools:

DateTool: Returns the current date formatted as "dddd MMMM d, yyyy"
EchoTool: Echoes back any input provided by the user
PingPongTool: Responds with "pong" when "ping" is sent, otherwise returns "clearly you are not a ping pong master"

Configuration

GitHub Copilot in VS Code

Add to your VS Code settings.json:

Stdio

{
  "mcp": {
    "mcpCSharpTemplateStdio": {
      "type": "stdio",
      "command": "dotnet",
      "args": [
        "run",
        "--project",
        "C:\\path\\to\\mcp-csharp-template\\src\\StdioServer\\StdioServer.csproj"
      ]
    }
  }
}

Streamable HTTP

{
  "mcp": {
    "mcpCSharpTemplateHttp": {
      "type": "http",
      "url": "http://localhost:5000",
      "headers": {
        "VERSION": "1.0"
      }
    }
  }
}

Claude Desktop Configuration

For StdioServer (recommended)

{
  "mcpServers": {
    "mcpCSharpTemplate": {
      "type": "stdio",
      "command": "dotnet",
      "args": [
        "run",
        "--no-build",
        "--project",
        "C:\\path\\to\\mcp-csharp-template\\src\\StdioServer"
      ]
    }
  }
}

For HttpServer with SSE Proxy

Since Claude Desktop doesn't natively support HTTP/SSE, use a proxy:

{
  "mcpServers": {
    "mcpCSharpHttp": {
      "command": "npx",
      "args": [
        "mcp-remote",
        "http://localhost:5000"
      ]
    }
  }
}

Development

Project Structure

├── src/
│   ├── Core/                 # Shared tools and utilities
│   ├── StdioServer/          # Standard I/O MCP server
│   ├── HttpServer/           # HTTP/SSE MCP server
│   └── Client/               # Universal MCP client
├── test/
│   └── Unit/                 # Unit tests for tools
└── Directory.Build.props     # Shared build configuration

Adding New Tools

Create your tool in the src/Core/Tools/ directory:

[McpServerToolType]
public static class MyTool
{
    [McpServerTool]
    [Description("Description of what your tool does")]
    public static string MyMethod(string parameter) => $"Result: {parameter}";
}

Tools are automatically discovered and exposed by both servers

Transport Protocols

The template supports multiple MCP transport protocols:

Stdio: Standard input/output for local integration
Streamable HTTP: Modern HTTP POST/GET with optional SSE streaming (MCP spec 2025-03-26)
Legacy SSE: Full Server-Sent Events transport for backward compatibility

Deployment

StdioServer

Best for local development and AI client integration
No network configuration required
Ideal for Claude Desktop, VS Code, and development tools

HttpServer

Deploy to cloud platforms (Azure App Service, AWS, etc.)
Supports remote MCP scenarios
Can be containerized with Docker
Scales horizontally for multiple client connections

Package Information

The template uses the official Microsoft ModelContextProtocol packages:

ModelContextProtocol - Main package with hosting and dependency injection extensions
ModelContextProtocol.AspNetCore - Library for HTTP-based MCP servers

This project is in preview; breaking changes can be introduced without prior notice.

License

This project is licensed under the MIT License - see the LICENSE file for details.

Contributing

Contributions are welcome! Feel free to fork the repository and submit a pull request.

Repository: https://github.com/krk-architect/mcp-csharp-template

Acknowledgments

Microsoft's collaboration with Anthropic to create the official C# SDK for Model Context Protocol
Model Context Protocol - The open protocol specification
The .NET community for their support and resources

Name		Name	Last commit message	Last commit date
Latest commit History 13 Commits
files		files
src		src
test		test
.editorconfig		.editorconfig
.gitignore		.gitignore
Directory.Build.props		Directory.Build.props
Directory.Packages.props		Directory.Packages.props
LICENSE		LICENSE
McpCsharpTemplate.sln.DotSettings		McpCsharpTemplate.sln.DotSettings
McpCsharpTemplate.slnx		McpCsharpTemplate.slnx
README.md		README.md
nuget.config		nuget.config
repomix.config.json		repomix.config.json

License

krk-architect/mcp-csharp-template

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🔗 MCP C# Template

🌟 Three Projects, Multiple Transports, Unlimited Possibilities

✨ Features

Table of Contents

Features

Architecture

Getting Started

Prerequisites

Running the StdioServer

Using MCP Inspector

Running the HttpServer

Using MCP Inspector

Viewing Server Logs

Running the Client

Quick Start with Launch Profiles

Manual Configuration

Enhanced Console Experience

Example Tools

Configuration

GitHub Copilot in VS Code

Stdio

Streamable HTTP

Claude Desktop Configuration

For StdioServer (recommended)

For HttpServer with SSE Proxy

Development

Project Structure

Adding New Tools

Transport Protocols

Deployment

StdioServer

HttpServer

Package Information

License

Contributing

Acknowledgments

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