MCP Server

dotsider-mcp is a standalone Model Context Protocol server that exposes dotsider’s analysis engine to AI coding assistants.

Install

dotnet tool (recommended)

dotnet tool install -g Dotsider.Mcp

Homebrew (macOS / Linux)

brew install willibrandon/tap/dotsider-mcp

WinGet (Windows)

winget install willibrandon.dotsider-mcp

Scoop (Windows)

scoop install dotsider-mcp

Download binary

Grab a standalone binary from Releases. Binaries are self-contained — no .NET SDK needed.

Configure

Add to your MCP client configuration (e.g. .mcp.json for Claude Code):

{
  "mcpServers": {
    "dotsider": {
      "command": "dotsider-mcp"
    }
  }
}

What it provides

40 tools across:

Category	Tools
Assembly analysis	`get_assembly_info`, `list_types`, `list_methods`, `find_members`
Field analysis	`list_fields`
IL disassembly	`disassemble_method`, `get_method_debug_info`, `get_source_link`, `search_il_opcodes`
Metadata inspection	`get_pe_headers`, `get_clr_header`, `get_sections`, `get_custom_attributes`, `get_resources`, `resolve_token`
Dependencies	`get_assembly_refs`, `get_dependency_graph`, `get_type_refs`
Size analysis	`get_size_breakdown`, `get_largest_methods`
String extraction	`extract_strings`
Diffing	`diff_assemblies`
NuGet packages	`analyze_nupkg`
Bundle inspection	`get_bundle_info`, `list_bundle_entries`
Runtime discovery	`find_framework_assembly`, `resolve_assembly`
Navigation	`get_current_view`, `navigate_to`, `capture_screen`, `navigate_to_il_definition`, `navigate_back`, `push_assembly`
Sessions	`discover_dotsider_sessions`, `get_session_info`
Tracing	`get_trace_events`, `get_trace_counters`, `get_process_output`, `start_trace`, `stop_trace`

Tools work in two modes:

Direct mode — pass an assembly path, get results (no TUI needed)
Session mode — connect to a running dotsider TUI via Unix domain socket for live state, tracing, and navigation

Single-file executables and native apphosts are handled transparently in direct mode — the server extracts the entry assembly from bundles and redirects apphosts to their companion DLLs, matching CLI and TUI behavior. Portable PDB data is exposed when present, including provenance, Source Link mappings, sequence points, and local names.

Session sockets are access-controlled. The socket directory and socket file are restricted to the current user on all platforms, connections are verified against the process owner, and a versioned protocol rejects mismatched clients. Concurrent connections are capped at four per session.

Guided prompts

5 prompts for common workflows:

Prompt	Purpose
Security audit	Analyze an assembly for security concerns
API surface review	Map the public API surface
Breaking change detection	Compare two versions for breaking changes
Dependency health	Assess dependency risk and freshness
Bundle analysis	Inspect a single-file bundle: structure, entry assembly, and dependency resolution

Generating AI skill files

dotsider agent init --ai claude

This writes a skill file to the provider’s conventional location. Supported providers: claude, gemini, copilot, cursor-agent, opencode, codex, windsurf, kilocode, amp, qwen.