What is Glider MCP?

Glider is a Model Context Protocol (MCP) server that uses Microsoft's Roslyn compiler platform to provide semantic understanding of C# codebases to AI assistants. Unlike grep-based search, Glider understands code structure, types, and relationships.

Which AI assistants work with Glider?

Any MCP-compatible client: Claude Code, Cursor, GitHub Copilot, Codex CLI, Gemini CLI, and more. If your AI tool supports MCP, it can use Glider.

Does it support .NET Framework?

Yes! Glider works with .NET Framework, .NET Core, .NET 5/6/7/8/9/10+ solutions. Roslyn can analyze any C# code that compiles.

Why use Glider instead of grep, LSP, or relying on the LLM alone?

LLM alone: Without tooling, LLMs hallucinate symbol names, miss cross-file relationships, and cannot verify that code compiles. They work from stale training data and lack visibility into your actual codebase.

Grep/ripgrep: Text search cannot distinguish between a class named Foo and a variable named Foo. Glider provides semantic understanding — it knows that IService in one file refers to the same interface as in another, and can find implementations, usages, and perform safe renames.

LSP: Language servers provide editor features (autocomplete, go-to-definition) but were not designed for AI workflows. Glider offers stable symbol keys for precise multi-step operations, batch operations to reduce round-trips, impact analysis and call graphs, safe refactoring with preview diffs, semantic queries (e.g., find async methods without CancellationToken), and external source viewing for NuGet packages.

Why do versions expire?

Each version expires 1 month after release to ensure users stay on recent versions with the latest fixes. Simply run dotnet tool update --global glider to get the latest version.

Can I use HTTP transport?

Yes. Run glider --transport http to start a Streamable HTTP MCP server (default: http://localhost:5001/mcp). This is useful for clients like Codex that connect over HTTP.

How does automatic file watching work?

When you load a solution or project with the workingDirectory parameter, Glider watches that directory for file changes and automatically syncs them into the in-memory workspace. This is faster than reloading the entire solution.

If you prefer manual control, simply use load without workingDirectory and call sync or reload when needed.

How do I view NuGet package source code?

Use the view_external_definition tool. It first tries SourceLink to get original source, then falls back to ILSpy decompilation if SourceLink is unavailable.