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Create a project template for an MCP server (#6547)
The conventions we're pushing for on NuGet are: 1. `PackAsTool` 2. `McpServer` package type (in addition to the default `DotnetTool`) 3. Embed server.json This provides an `mcpserver` template as part of `Microsoft.Extensions.AI.Templates`. This currently only covers a local MCP server, with stdio transport.
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‎src/ProjectTemplates/GeneratedContent.targets‎

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<_LocalChatTemplateVariant>aspire</_LocalChatTemplateVariant>
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<_ChatWithCustomDataContentRoot>$(MSBuildThisFileDirectory)Microsoft.Extensions.AI.Templates\src\ChatWithCustomData\</_ChatWithCustomDataContentRoot>
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<_McpServerContentRoot>$(MSBuildThisFileDirectory)Microsoft.Extensions.AI.Templates\src\McpServer\</_McpServerContentRoot>
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</PropertyGroup>
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<Target Name="ComputeGeneratedContentProperties">
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<TemplatePackageVersion_AzureIdentity>1.14.0</TemplatePackageVersion_AzureIdentity>
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<TemplatePackageVersion_AzureSearchDocuments>11.6.0</TemplatePackageVersion_AzureSearchDocuments>
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<TemplatePackageVersion_CommunityToolkitAspire>9.4.1-beta.291</TemplatePackageVersion_CommunityToolkitAspire>
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<TemplatePackageVersion_MicrosoftExtensionsHosting>10.0.0-preview.5.25277.114</TemplatePackageVersion_MicrosoftExtensionsHosting>
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<TemplatePackageVersion_MicrosoftExtensionsServiceDiscovery>9.3.0</TemplatePackageVersion_MicrosoftExtensionsServiceDiscovery>
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<TemplatePackageVersion_MicrosoftSemanticKernel>1.53.0</TemplatePackageVersion_MicrosoftSemanticKernel>
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<TemplatePackageVersion_MicrosoftSemanticKernel_Preview>1.53.0-preview</TemplatePackageVersion_MicrosoftSemanticKernel_Preview>
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<TemplatePackageVersion_ModelContextProtocol>0.3.0-preview.1</TemplatePackageVersion_ModelContextProtocol>
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<TemplatePackageVersion_OllamaSharp>5.1.18</TemplatePackageVersion_OllamaSharp>
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<TemplatePackageVersion_OpenTelemetry>1.12.0</TemplatePackageVersion_OpenTelemetry>
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<TemplatePackageVersion_PdfPig>0.1.10</TemplatePackageVersion_PdfPig>
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TemplatePackageVersion_AzureIdentity=$(TemplatePackageVersion_AzureIdentity);
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TemplatePackageVersion_AzureSearchDocuments=$(TemplatePackageVersion_AzureSearchDocuments);
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TemplatePackageVersion_CommunityToolkitAspire=$(TemplatePackageVersion_CommunityToolkitAspire);
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TemplatePackageVersion_MicrosoftExtensionsHosting=$(TemplatePackageVersion_MicrosoftExtensionsHosting);
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TemplatePackageVersion_MicrosoftExtensionsServiceDiscovery=$(TemplatePackageVersion_MicrosoftExtensionsServiceDiscovery);
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TemplatePackageVersion_MicrosoftSemanticKernel=$(TemplatePackageVersion_MicrosoftSemanticKernel);
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TemplatePackageVersion_MicrosoftSemanticKernel_Preview=$(TemplatePackageVersion_MicrosoftSemanticKernel_Preview);
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TemplatePackageVersion_ModelContextProtocol=$(TemplatePackageVersion_ModelContextProtocol);
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TemplatePackageVersion_OllamaSharp=$(TemplatePackageVersion_OllamaSharp);
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TemplatePackageVersion_OpenTelemetry=$(TemplatePackageVersion_OpenTelemetry);
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TemplatePackageVersion_PdfPig=$(TemplatePackageVersion_PdfPig);
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<GeneratedContent
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Include="$(_ChatWithCustomDataContentRoot)ChatWithCustomData-CSharp.ServiceDefaults\ChatWithCustomData-CSharp.ServiceDefaults.csproj.in"
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OutputPath="$(_ChatWithCustomDataContentRoot)ChatWithCustomData-CSharp.ServiceDefaults\ChatWithCustomData-CSharp.ServiceDefaults.csproj" />
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<GeneratedContent
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Include="$(_McpServerContentRoot)McpServer-CSharp\McpServer-CSharp.csproj.in"
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OutputPath="$(_McpServerContentRoot)McpServer-CSharp\McpServer-CSharp.csproj" />
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<!-- The following content only gets generated when using just-built packages -->
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<_GeneratedContentEnablingJustBuiltPackages

‎src/ProjectTemplates/Microsoft.Extensions.AI.Templates/Microsoft.Extensions.AI.Templates.csproj‎

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**\NuGet.config;
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**\Directory.Build.targets;
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**\Directory.Build.props;" />
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<!-- Keep the exclude patterns below in sync with those in McpServerSnapshotTests.cs -->
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<Content
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Include="src\McpServer\**\*"
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Exclude="
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**\bin\**;
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**\obj\**;
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**\.vs\**;
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**\*.sln;
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**\*.in;" />
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<None Include="THIRD-PARTY-NOTICES.TXT" Pack="true" PackagePath="." />
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<Compile Remove="**\*" />
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</ItemGroup>

‎src/ProjectTemplates/Microsoft.Extensions.AI.Templates/src/McpServer/McpServer-CSharp/.mcp/server.json‎

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{
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"description": "<your description here>",
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"name": "io.github.<your GitHub username here>/<your repo name>",
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"packages": [
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{
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"registry_name": "nuget",
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"name": "<your package ID here>",
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"version": "0.1.0-beta",
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"package_arguments": [],
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"environment_variables": []
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}
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],
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"repository": {
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"url": "https://github.com/<your GitHub username here>/<your repo name>",
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"source": "github"
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},
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"version_detail": {
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"version": "0.1.0-beta"
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}
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}

‎src/ProjectTemplates/Microsoft.Extensions.AI.Templates/src/McpServer/McpServer-CSharp/.template.config/dotnetcli.host.json‎

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{
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"$schema": "https://json.schemastore.org/dotnetcli.host",
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"symbolInfo": {},
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"usageExamples": [
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""
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]
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}

‎src/ProjectTemplates/Microsoft.Extensions.AI.Templates/src/McpServer/McpServer-CSharp/.template.config/ide.host.json‎

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{
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"$schema": "https://json.schemastore.org/ide.host",
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"order": 0,
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"icon": "ide/icon.ico",
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"symbolInfo": []
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}

‎src/ProjectTemplates/Microsoft.Extensions.AI.Templates/src/McpServer/McpServer-CSharp/.template.config/ide/icon.ico‎

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‎src/ProjectTemplates/Microsoft.Extensions.AI.Templates/src/McpServer/McpServer-CSharp/.template.config/template.json‎

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{
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"$schema": "http://json.schemastore.org/template",
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"author": "Microsoft",
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"classifications": [
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"Common",
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"AI",
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"MCP"
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],
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"identity": "Microsoft.Extensions.AI.Templates.McpServer.CSharp",
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"name": "Local MCP Server Console App",
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"description": "A project template for creating a Model Context Protocol (MCP) server using C# and the ModelContextProtocol package.",
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"shortName": "mcpserver",
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"defaultName": "McpServer",
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"sourceName": "McpServer-CSharp",
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"preferNameDirectory": true,
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"tags": {
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"language": "C#",
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"type": "project"
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},
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"symbols": {
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"hostIdentifier": {
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"type": "bind",
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"binding": "HostIdentifier"
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}
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},
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"primaryOutputs": [
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{
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"path": "./README.md"
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},
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{
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"path": "./McpServer-CSharp.csproj"
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}
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],
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"postActions": [
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{
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"condition": "(hostIdentifier != \"dotnetcli\" && hostIdentifier != \"dotnetcli-preview\")",
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"description": "Opens README file in the editor",
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"manualInstructions": [],
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"actionId": "84C0DA21-51C8-4541-9940-6CA19AF04EE6",
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"args": {
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"files": "0"
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},
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"continueOnError": true
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}
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]
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}

‎src/ProjectTemplates/Microsoft.Extensions.AI.Templates/src/McpServer/McpServer-CSharp/McpServer-CSharp.csproj.in‎

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<Project Sdk="Microsoft.NET.Sdk">
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<PropertyGroup>
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<TargetFramework>net10.0</TargetFramework>
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<OutputType>Exe</OutputType>
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<Nullable>enable</Nullable>
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<ImplicitUsings>enable</ImplicitUsings>
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<!-- Set up the NuGet package to be an MCP server -->
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<PackAsTool>true</PackAsTool>
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<PackageType>McpServer</PackageType>
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<!-- Set recommended package metadata -->
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<PackageReadmeFile>README.md</PackageReadmeFile>
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<PackageId>SampleMcpServer</PackageId>
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<PackageVersion>0.1.0-beta</PackageVersion>
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<PackageTags>AI; MCP; server; stdio</PackageTags>
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<Description>An MCP server using the MCP C# SDK.</Description>
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</PropertyGroup>
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<!-- Include additional files for browsing the MCP server. -->
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<ItemGroup>
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<None Include=".mcp\server.json" Pack="true" PackagePath="/.mcp/" />
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<None Include="README.md" Pack="true" PackagePath="/" />
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</ItemGroup>
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<ItemGroup>
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<PackageReference Include="Microsoft.Extensions.Hosting" Version="${TemplatePackageVersion_MicrosoftExtensionsHosting}" />
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<PackageReference Include="ModelContextProtocol" Version="${TemplatePackageVersion_ModelContextProtocol}" />
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</ItemGroup>
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</Project>

‎src/ProjectTemplates/Microsoft.Extensions.AI.Templates/src/McpServer/McpServer-CSharp/Program.cs‎

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using Microsoft.Extensions.DependencyInjection;
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using Microsoft.Extensions.Hosting;
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using Microsoft.Extensions.Logging;
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var builder = Host.CreateApplicationBuilder(args);
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// Configure all logs to go to stderr (stdout is used for the MCP protocol messages).
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builder.Logging.AddConsole(o => o.LogToStandardErrorThreshold = LogLevel.Trace);
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// Add the MCP services: the transport to use (stdio) and the tools to register.
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builder.Services
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.AddMcpServer()
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.WithStdioServerTransport()
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.WithTools<RandomNumberTools>();
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await builder.Build().RunAsync();

‎src/ProjectTemplates/Microsoft.Extensions.AI.Templates/src/McpServer/McpServer-CSharp/README.md‎

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# MCP Server
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This README was created using the C# MCP server template project. It demonstrates how you can easily create an MCP server using C# and then package it in a NuGet package.
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See [aka.ms/nuget/mcp/guide](https://aka.ms/nuget/mcp/guide) for the full guide.
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## Checklist before publishing to NuGet.org
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- Test the MCP server locally using the steps below.
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- Update the package metadata in the .csproj file, in particular the `<PackageId>`.
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- Update `.mcp/server.json` to declare your MCP server's inputs.
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- See [configuring inputs](https://aka.ms/nuget/mcp/guide/configuring-inputs) for more details.
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- Pack the project using `dotnet pack`.
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The `bin/Release` directory will contain the package file (.nupkg), which can be [published to NuGet.org](https://learn.microsoft.com/nuget/nuget-org/publish-a-package).
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## Using the MCP Server in VS Code
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Once the MCP server package is published to NuGet.org, you can use the following VS Code user configuration to download and install the MCP server package. See [Use MCP servers in VS Code (Preview)](https://code.visualstudio.com/docs/copilot/chat/mcp-servers) for more information about using MCP servers in VS Code.
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```json
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{
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"mcp": {
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"servers": {
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"McpServer-CSharp": {
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"type": "stdio",
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"command": "dotnet",
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"args": [
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"tool",
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"exec",
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"<your package ID here>",
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"--version",
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"<your package version here>",
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"--yes"
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]
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}
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}
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}
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}
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```
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Now you can ask Copilot Chat for a random number, for example, `Give me 3 random numbers`. It should prompt you to use the `get_random_number` tool on the `McpServer-CSharp` MCP server and show you the results.
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## Developing locally in VS Code
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To test this MCP server from source code (locally) without using a built MCP server package, create a `.vscode/mcp.json` file (a VS Code workspace settings file) in your project directory and add the following configuration:
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```json
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{
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"servers": {
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"McpServer-CSharp": {
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"type": "stdio",
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"command": "dotnet",
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"args": [
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"run",
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"--project",
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"<RELATIVE PATH TO PROJECT DIRECTORY>"
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]
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}
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}
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}
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```
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Alternatively, you can configure your VS Code user settings to use your local project:
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```json
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{
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"mcp": {
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"servers": {
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"McpServer-CSharp": {
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"type": "stdio",
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"command": "dotnet",
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"args": [
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"run",
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"--project",
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"<FULL PATH TO PROJECT DIRECTORY>"
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]
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}
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}
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}
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}
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```

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