Glider MCP

Glider is a Roslyn-powered Model Context Protocol (MCP) server for semantic C# code analysis and refactoring in MCP clients (for example, Claude Code).

For full documentation and setup guides, see glidermcp.com.

What you can do with Glider

• Resolve symbols the same way the compiler does (not grep).
• Resolve ambiguous names into stable keys (symbolKey) and use them across tool calls.
• Find references, overrides, and implementations by exact symbolKey.
• Query symbols by semantic predicates and search solution text (literal/regex).
• Navigate type hierarchies, call graphs, and change impact.
• Inspect APIs with detailed type information and method signatures.
• Surface compiler diagnostics for a loaded solution/project.
• Refactor safely: rename symbols and move types/members with reference updates.
• Apply deterministic formatting with preview diffs.
• Analyze architecture via dependency and complexity metrics.
• Batch multiple tool calls into a single request.

Tool overview

• Diagnostics: server_status, get_diagnostics
• Solution management: load, reload, sync
• Symbol discovery: resolve_symbol, search_symbols, get_symbol_at_position, get_symbol_info
• References & relationships: find_references, find_overrides, find_implementations
• Code analysis: get_type_info, get_method_signature, get_type_source, get_method_source
• Semantic & text search: semantic_query, search_text
• Type hierarchy: get_type_hierarchy, get_derived_types, find_member_in_hierarchy
• Call graph & impact: find_callers, get_outgoing_calls, analyze_change_impact
• Refactoring: rename_symbol, move_type, move_member
• Formatting: organize_usings, format_document
• External source: view_external_definition
• Architecture & metrics: get_type_dependencies, analyze_complexity
• Batching: batch

Installation

Prerequisites

• .NET 10.0 SDK or later

Install / update / uninstall

dotnet tool install --global glider
dotnet tool update --global glider
dotnet tool uninstall --global glider

Running Glider

Glider supports two transports:

• Stdio (default): for local MCP clients like Claude Code
• HTTP: for MCP clients that connect over Streamable HTTP

# Stdio (default)
glider

# Show CLI help and exit
glider --help
glider -h

# Print version and exit
glider --version
glider -v

# Enable logs and (for stdio) a startup banner on stderr
glider --verbose

# HTTP (default port: 5001)
glider --transport http
# Listens on http://localhost:5001/mcp

glider --transport http --port 8080
# Listens on http://localhost:8080/mcp

Using with Claude Code (stdio)

# Project-scoped config (recommended)
claude mcp add --transport stdio glider --scope project -- ~/.dotnet/tools/glider

If you prefer not to call the shim directly:

claude mcp add --transport stdio glider --scope project -- dotnet tool run --global glider

Example prompts

Load the C# solution at /path/to/YourProject.sln

I changed some files on disk. Reload the current solution and then re-run diagnostics.

Find all usages of MyNamespace.MyType.MyMethod

Resolve MyNamespace.MyType.MyMethod, then find_references for the selected symbolKey

Rename the symbol OldName to NewName (preview the diff first).

Troubleshooting

glider “hangs” when I run it

That’s expected for stdio mode: it’s an MCP server waiting for a client connection, and it’s intentionally quiet by default. Configure it in your MCP client instead of running it in a terminal by itself (use --verbose if you want startup output/logs on stderr).

glider not found after install

Make sure the .NET tools directory is on your PATH:

• macOS/Linux: export PATH="$PATH:$HOME/.dotnet/tools"
• Windows (PowerShell): $env:PATH += ";$env:USERPROFILE\\.dotnet\\tools"

Solution/project won’t load

Use an absolute path to the .sln / .slnx / .csproj file.