Q&A
Building and Using MCP Servers in Visual Studio
Large language model (LLMs) are changing the way developers work, but even the most capable AI assistant is limited by the context it can see. That becomes a practical problem when a developer wants help that depends on current documentation, private code, GitHub issues, pull requests, CI/CD logs, internal APIs, databases or other information that sits outside the model's training data.
That's where Model Context Protocol (MCP) comes in. MCP is emerging as a standard way to connect AI models with external tools, data and workflows, giving AI-powered developer tools a more consistent way to retrieve relevant context and take useful actions. For .NET developers, MCP is especially interesting because it can bring AI assistance closer to real-world development tasks inside familiar environments such as Visual Studio and GitHub Copilot.
That will be the focus of the Building and Using MCP Servers in Visual Studio session at Visual Studio Live! @ Microsoft HQ 2026, taking place July 27-31 at Microsoft headquarters in Redmond, Wash. The introductory-to-intermediate session is scheduled for Wednesday, July 29, from 3:30 p.m. to 4:45 p.m.
In the session, Leslie Richardson, Sr. Product Manager at Microsoft, and Mike Kistler, Product Manager at Microsoft, and will show attendees how to build MCP servers using C#, how those servers can plug into Visual Studio, and what developers should know about practical patterns, common gotchas and the direction of the C# MCP SDK and Visual Studio tooling.
"I wanted to present on this topic so that .NET / Visual Studio developers can walk away with a better understanding of what MCP servers are and how they can use or create them to strengthen and better customize communications with their LLM / chat client of choice."
Leslie Richardson, Sr. Product Manager, Microsoft
Ahead of the session, Leslie shared more on why MCP matters for .NET developers, how MCP servers can reduce context switching, where they can immediately improve AI-assisted workflows, and why security should be front and center as teams begin connecting AI models to external systems.
VisualStudioMagazine: What Inspired You To Present on This Topic?
Leslie: The AI development landscape is constantly evolving, and it can be hard to know when and how to take advantage of different tools in that space, such as MCP servers. I wanted to present on this topic so that .NET / Visual Studio developers can walk away with a better understanding of what MCP servers are and how they can use or create them to strengthen and better customize communications with their LLM / chat client of choice.
What Specific Problem Does MCP Solve That Developers Face Today?
MCP (Model Context Protocol) provides a universal standard for all LLMs to access external data like databases, personal files, APIs and external tools like GitHub or MS Learn. This enables devs to have more accurate, customized, and grounded conversations with clients like GitHub Copilot when discussing external information and data that the LLM wouldn't typically be trained on by default.
How Does an MCP Server Integrate Into a Typical Development Workflow?
Using MCP servers ultimately helps remove additional context switching and lets you have a more continuous conversation with an LLM. For example, you want to chat with GitHub Copilot about two PRs with overlapping content and you want to create a new PR addressing their combined gaps. Without a GitHub MCP server, you'd probably need to locate each PR, copy/paste the relevant PR info to Copilot (good luck trying to manually share any related CI/CD logs), and manually create a new PR after Copilot gives its (hopefully) accurate analysis.
If you do have the GitHub MCP server, you can just give Copilot the relevant PR numbers and ask what gaps need to be addressed. From there, Copilot can retrieve the full info for both PRs, perform diffs on code changes and view CI/CD logs, and give a full report on gaps, including missing files, functions, or logic. From there, you could just ask Copilot to create and publish a new PR containing that content!
What Is the Simplest Way To Get Started Building an MCP Server in Visual Studio?
The easiest way to get started is by checking out our Getting Started tutorial on creating a minimal MCP server with the C# SDK for MCP on MS Learn.
What Is One Real-World Scenario Where MCP Immediately Adds Value?
If you asked GitHub Copilot what features were added in the latest version (i.e. 18.5) of VS 2026 without a relevant MCP server, the LLM might hallucinate and give you an irrelevant or outdated response because your LLM hasn't been trained on that new VS version yet. If you have the MS Learn MCP server installed and ask the same GitHub Copilot the same question, the LLM client will invoke the MS Learn server to search and retrieve the most up-to-date version info (i.e. the 18.5 release notes) and Copilot will give the user a list of features from 18.5.
What Challenges Should Developers Expect When Adopting MCP in Production?
Security is probably the biggest challenge. Since external and/or personal data is involved, it's important to make an informed decision before installing any MCP server from a security standpoint. When writing your own MCP servers, it's also important to consider establishing authentication requirements (i.e. OAuth tokens, permissions, API keys, etc.) if you plan to scale your server to a wide audience.
How Do You Ensure Consistent Communication Between Tools Using MCP?
MCP provides mechanisms for LLMs to access MCP server tools. Those tools may perform actions and/or return information to the LLM through the MCP Host (AI application). There is no communication between tools per se, but the LLM may pass results from one tool to another when that will help accomplish the task it has been asked to perform.
How Can Attendees Learn More About This Topic, and Prepare for Your Session?
Anthropic's official MCP docs site is a great place to get the most up-to-date info on all things MCP. I'll also be using the C# SDK for MCP to write an MCP server or two during the talk. I'll try to cover as much introductory content to using and writing MCP servers as possible, so bring your questions and maybe download the latest Visual Studio version (if you haven't already) if you want to follow along!
Note: Those wishing to attend the session can save money by registering early, according to the event's pricing page. "Save $400 by registering by the May 15 Super Early Bird Savings deadline!" said the organizer of the event, which is presented by the parent company of Visual Studio Magazine.
About the Author
David Ramel is an editor and writer at Converge 360.