DotNet Tools MCP Server

An MCP (Model Context Protocol) server for building and testing .NET projects using dotnet build and dotnet test from Cursor.

This server provides a workaround for Cursor's current terminal issues when trying to build and test .NET projects directly.

Installation

You can either:

• Download a prebuilt release. It's just a single executeable file with everything that it needs to run inside of it.
• Build from source using dotnet publish (AOT compiled into a single file, must be configured for the correct platform)

Configuration

Add this to your Cursor settings to use the MCP server:

{
  "mcpServers": {
    "dotnet-tools": {
      "name": "DotNet Tools Server",
      "stdio": true,
      "command": "C:\\path\\to\\your\\DotNetToolsMcpServer.exe"
    }
  }
}

Replace the command path with the actual location of the executable on your system.

Usage

MCP Server Mode

When run without command line arguments, the server operates as an MCP server for Cursor integration.

CLI Mode

When run with command line arguments, the server operates as a CLI tool for managing library documentation configuration.

CLI Commands

• add-library --name="LibraryName" --url="https://..." - Add a library documentation URL
• remove-library --name="LibraryName" - Remove a library from configuration
• list-libraries - List all configured libraries
• config-path - Display the path to the configuration file
• open-config - Open the configuration file in the default editor

Help

• -h, -help, --help - Show help information

Examples

# Show help
DotNetToolsMcpServer -h
DotNetToolsMcpServer --help

# Add a library
DotNetToolsMcpServer add-library --name="EasyReasy" --url="https://raw.githubusercontent.com/AdamTovatt/easy-reasy/refs/heads/master/EasyReasy/README.md"

# List all libraries
DotNetToolsMcpServer list-libraries

# Show config file location
DotNetToolsMcpServer config-path

# Open config file for editing
DotNetToolsMcpServer open-config

Configuration File

The configuration is stored in a local markdown file at:

• Windows: %APPDATA%\DotNetToolsMcpServer\libraries.md
• macOS/Linux: ~/.config/DotNetToolsMcpServer/libraries.md

The file uses markdown format:

- [LibraryName](https://url-to-documentation.md)

Tools

This MCP server provides the following tools:

• mcp_dotnet-tools_build - Builds a .NET project using dotnet build
• mcp_dotnet-tools_build_solution - Builds a .NET solution using dotnet build
• mcp_dotnet-tools_run_tests - Runs all tests in a .NET test project
• mcp_dotnet-tools_run_specific_tests - Runs specific tests using custom filters
• mcp_dotnet-tools_list_available_documentation_files - Lists all available documentation files
• mcp_dotnet-tools_get_documentation_for_library - Gets documentation for a specific library by NuGet package name

Library Documentation

The server supports user-configurable library documentation. Instead of using a hardcoded URL, users can add their own library documentation files through the CLI commands. The documentation tool will read from the local configuration file to provide documentation for configured libraries.