What is Spring Boot Mcp

spring-boot-mcp is a Spring Boot starter that enables automatic exposure of Spring REST controllers as Model Context Protocol (MCP) tools, requiring zero configuration.

Use cases

Use cases for spring-boot-mcp include exposing REST APIs as tools for external systems, facilitating tool discovery in microservices, and automating interactions between different services.

How to use

To use spring-boot-mcp, add the dependency to your Spring Boot project, configure the properties in ‘application.properties’ or ‘application.yml’, and the starter will automatically expose your REST endpoints as MCP tools accessible at ‘/mcp’.

Key features

Key features include automatic exposure of Spring REST controllers as MCP tools, configurable settings via application properties, and support for tool discovery and execution.

Where to use

spring-boot-mcp can be used in applications that require integration with the Model Context Protocol, particularly in microservices architectures and RESTful services.

Spring Boot MCP Starter

A Spring Boot starter to make your application compliant with the Model Context Protocol (MCP).

Features

• Automatically expose Spring REST controllers as MCP tools.
• Configurable via application.properties or application.yml.
• Supports tool discovery and execution.

Installation

Add the dependency to your Spring Boot project:

<dependency>
    <groupId>com.msra.mcp</groupId>
    <artifactId>spring-boot-mcp-starter</artifactId>
    <version>1.0.0</version>
</dependency>

Configuration

Add the following properties to your application.properties:

mcp.server.enabled=true
mcp.server.path=/mcp
mcp.server.name=My MCP Server

Usage

Once added, the starter will automatically expose your @RestController endpoints as MCP tools. You can access the MCP server at /mcp.

Available Endpoints

• /mcp/tools: Lists all available tools.
• /mcp/execute: Executes a specific tool based on the provided request.

Building and Using Locally

If you want to use this starter in another project (e.g., spring-boot-mcp-demo), follow these steps:

1. Build the Project

Run the following command to build the project and publish it to your local Maven repository:

./gradlew clean build publishToMavenLocal

This will compile the code, run tests, and publish the artifact to your local Maven repository (usually located at ~/.m2/repository).

2. Add Dependency to Your Project

In your spring-boot-mcp-demo project, add the following dependency to your build.gradle:

dependencies {
    implementation 'com.msra.mcp:spring-boot-mcp-starter:1.0.0'
}

If you are using Maven, add this to your pom.xml:

<dependency>
    <groupId>com.msra.mcp</groupId>
    <artifactId>spring-boot-mcp-starter</artifactId>
    <version>1.0.0</version>
</dependency>

3. Verify Integration

Ensure that the spring-boot-mcp-starter is correctly integrated by running your spring-boot-mcp-demo application and testing the MCP server functionality.

Testing

To test the Spring Boot MCP Starter, follow these steps:

1. Create a Test Spring Boot Application

Create a new Spring Boot application and add the MCP starter dependency to your build.gradle or pom.xml.

Example build.gradle:

dependencies {
    implementation 'com.msra.mcp:spring-boot-mcp-starter:1.0.0'
}

Example pom.xml:

<dependency>
    <groupId>com.msra.mcp</groupId>
    <artifactId>spring-boot-mcp-starter</artifactId>
    <version>1.0.0</version>
</dependency>

2. Define REST Endpoints

Add some @RestController endpoints to your test application. For example:

@RestController
@RequestMapping("/api")
public class TestController {

    @GetMapping("/hello")
    public String sayHello() {
        return "Hello, MCP!";
    }

    @PostMapping("/echo")
    public String echo(@RequestBody String message) {
        return message;
    }
}

3. Run the Application

Start your Spring Boot application. The MCP server will automatically expose the endpoints as MCP tools.

4. Test the MCP Server

• Access the MCP server at the configured path (e.g., /mcp).
• Use an MCP client (e.g., Cursor or Claude Desktop) to connect to the MCP server.
• Verify that the tools corresponding to your REST endpoints are discovered and can be executed.

5. Unit Tests

You can also write unit tests for your application using Spring Boot’s testing framework. For example:

@SpringBootTest
@AutoConfigureMockMvc
class McpIntegrationTest {

    @Autowired
    private MockMvc mockMvc;

    @Test
    void testMcpEndpoint() throws Exception {
        mockMvc.perform(get("/mcp"))
               .andExpect(status().isOk());
    }
}

6. Debugging

If the MCP server is not working as expected:

• Check the logs for errors or warnings.
• Verify that the mcp.server.enabled property is set to true.
• Ensure your REST endpoints are properly annotated with @RestController and mapping annotations like @GetMapping.

License

MIT License.