Coding agents

netwiv mcp runs a local Model Context Protocol server on standard input and output. A coding agent that supports MCP, such as Claude Code, Codex or Cursor, can use it to read the NetWiv guides for the CLI version in use and the current project’s configuration, capabilities and commands. The server runs locally over stdio and does not host an HTTP service. Tool results are delivered to the connected coding agent, which may send them to its model provider according to that client’s settings.

The tools only read. Building, running and editing stay with the agent’s own file and terminal tools and the netwiv CLI.

New projects

netwiv new writes .mcp.json at the project root:

{
  "mcpServers": {
    "netwiv": {
      "command": "dotnet",
      "args": ["tool", "run", "netwiv", "--", "mcp"]
    }
  }
}

The command runs the project’s local CLI from .config/dotnet-tools.json, so the guides match the NetWiv version the project uses. Restore the local tool once before an agent starts the server:

dotnet tool restore

Agents that read .mcp.json, such as Claude Code, pick it up when the project folder is opened and may ask for approval the first time. Commit the file so the registration is shared with the project.

Other agents and existing projects

The server is an ordinary stdio command; register it with the agent’s own MCP configuration. Start it from the project folder so dotnet tool run finds the local tool manifest:

Agent	Registration
Claude Code	Project .mcp.json as above, or claude mcp add netwiv -- dotnet tool run netwiv -- mcp from the project folder
Codex	An [mcp_servers.netwiv] entry with command = "dotnet" and args = ["tool", "run", "netwiv", "--", "mcp"] in its configuration
Cursor	The same JSON as .mcp.json in .cursor/mcp.json
Others	Command dotnet, arguments tool run netwiv -- mcp, stdio transport

Before a project exists, a globally installed CLI can serve the guides with netwiv mcp. Use the project’s local CLI afterwards so the guides follow the project’s version.

Tools

Tool	Returns
netwiv_docs_search	Guide sections that match the query words, with the guide name and heading
netwiv_docs_read	Available guide names when name is omitted; otherwise a whole guide or one section with its subsections
netwiv_project_info	CLI version, the configuration file and merged overlays, identifiers, build settings, the application project and its NetWiv package references
netwiv_capabilities	Inline capabilities, capability files and recursive application permission files
netwiv_commands	The commands of the last built application as generated TypeScript declarations and, where enabled, the typed C# client

The project tools accept an optional directory, relative to the server’s working directory. netwiv_project_info reports when the project’s NetWiv package version differs from the CLI serving the guides.

Use this server only with projects and MCP clients you trust. The directory argument and configuration references follow local CLI path rules; the working directory is not a filesystem sandbox. Returned configuration and generated declarations can contain project-sensitive values. No OS/device inventory is collected, and tools do not launch builds, execute application assemblies or run project hooks.

Limits

• The guides are the docs/ folder of the NetWiv revision the CLI was built from. Search matches words in headings and text; it is not semantic search.
• netwiv_commands reads metadata from the newest built application assembly under the application’s bin/ or the configured project root’s target/, without loading or running it. All literal AssemblyName values in the project (including conditional declarations), the default project name and configured mainBinaryName are candidates for the newest output. MSBuild conditions and property expressions are not evaluated. Build the application after changing commands; an application without [assembly: GenerateFrontendBindings] has no command metadata to show.
• Package versions are read from project XML without executing MSBuild. Imported, conditional and centrally managed versions are not evaluated; unresolved values do not establish that the application’s resolved version matches the CLI.
• netwiv_capabilities shows the configured files as written. It does not compute the effective permissions for a window; see plugin configuration for the rules. File and directory links are skipped during capability/permission enumeration.
• Standard output carries only protocol messages while the server runs. Diagnostics go to standard error.

Maintainer checks

dotnet run --project tests/NetWiv.Cli.Tests -c Release -- --filter mcp exercises guide discovery, project/permission/command reads and an actual stdio subprocess, including initialization, tool calls, protocol-only stdout and clean exit on stdin EOF. Set NETWIV_MCP_TEST_EXECUTABLE to a published CLI executable or an installed tool shim and select --filter "mcp stdio" to run the same functional check on that artifact. This also checks that its bundled guides are available.