MCP Server Arcgis Pro Addin

🚀 MCP Server with ArcGIS Pro Add-In (C# .NET 8)

This repository showcases how to integrate a Model Context Protocol (MCP) server with an ArcGIS Pro Add-In. The aim is to expose ArcGIS Pro functionality as MCP tools, enabling GitHub Copilot (in Agent mode) or any MCP client to interact with your GIS environment.

🚀 Quick Start

This integration allows Copilot (Agent Mode) to perform various operations directly in ArcGIS Pro, such as querying maps, listing layers, counting features, and zooming to layers.

✨ Features

• ArcGIS Pro Add-In (C# with ArcGIS Pro SDK): Runs in-process with ArcGIS Pro and exposes GIS operations through a local IPC channel (Named Pipes).
• MCP Server (.NET 8 console app): Defines MCP tools, communicates with the Add-In via Named Pipes, and is configured as an MCP server in Visual Studio through .mcp.json.

📦 Installation

Prerequisites

• Visual Studio 2022 17.14 or later (for MCP Agent Mode support)
• ArcGIS Pro SDK for .NET
• ArcGIS Pro installed (same machine)
• .NET 8 SDK

💻 Usage Examples

Solution Structure

ArcGisProMcpSample/
+- ArcGisProBridgeAddIn/           # ArcGIS Pro Add-In project (in-process)
¦  +- Config.daml
¦  +- Module.cs
¦  +- ProBridgeService.cs          # Named Pipe server + command handler
¦  +- IpcModels.cs                 # IPC request/response DTOs
+- ArcGisMcpServer/                # MCP server project (.NET 8)
¦  +- Program.cs
¦  +- Tools/ProTools.cs            # MCP tool definitions (bridge client)
¦  +- Ipc/BridgeClient.cs          # Named Pipe client
¦  +- Ipc/IpcModels.cs             # Shared IPC DTOs
+- .mcp.json                       # MCP server manifest for VS Copilot

ArcGIS Pro Add-In

The Add-In starts a Named Pipe server on ArcGIS Pro launch. It handles operations like:

• pro.getActiveMapName
• pro.listLayers
• pro.countFeatures
• pro.zoomToLayer

Basic Usage

// Example: `Module.cs` (in sample is in a button)
protected override bool Initialize()
{
    _service = new ProBridgeService("ArcGisProBridgePipe");
    _service.Start();
    return true; // initialization successful
}

protected override bool CanUnload()
{
    _service?.Dispose();
    return true;
}

Advanced Usage

// Example: `ProBridgeService` handler
case "pro.countFeatures":
{
    if (req.Args == null ||
        !req.Args.TryGetValue("layer", out string? layerName) ||
        string.IsNullOrWhiteSpace(layerName))
        return new(false, "arg 'layer' required", null);

    int count = await QueuedTask.Run(() =>
    {
        var fl = MapView.Active?.Map?.Layers
            .OfType<FeatureLayer>()
            .FirstOrDefault(l => l.Name.Equals(layerName, StringComparison.OrdinalIgnoreCase));
        if (fl == null) return 0;
        using var fc = fl.GetFeatureClass();
        return (int)fc.GetCount();
    });

    return new(true, null, new { count });
}

MCP Server (.NET 8)

The MCP server uses the official ModelContextProtocol NuGet package.

Basic Usage

// `Program.cs`
await Host.CreateDefaultBuilder(args)
    .ConfigureServices(services =>
    {
        services.AddSingleton(new BridgeClient("ArcGisProBridgePipe"));
        services.AddMcpServer()
            .WithStdioServerTransport()
            .WithToolsFromAssembly(typeof(ProTools).Assembly);
    })
    .RunConsoleAsync();

Advanced Usage

// Example tool
[McpServerToolType]
public static class ProTools
{
    private static BridgeClient _client;
    public static void Configure(BridgeClient client) => _client = client;

    [McpServerTool(Title = "Count features in a layer", Name = "pro.countFeatures")]
    public static async Task<object> CountFeatures(string layer)
    {
        var r = await _client.OpAsync("pro.countFeatures", new() { ["layer"] = layer });
        if (!r.Ok) throw new Exception(r.Error);
        var count = ((System.Text.Json.JsonElement)r.Data).GetProperty("count").GetInt32();
        return new { layer, count };
    }
}

.mcp.json Manifest

Place in solution root (.mcp.json):

{
  "servers": {
    "arcgis": {
      "type": "stdio",
      "command": "dotnet",
      "args": [
        "run",
        "--project",
        "McpServer/ArcGisMcpServer/ArcGisMcpServer.csproj"
      ]
    }
  }
}

Running in Visual Studio

1. Open the solution in Visual Studio 2022 (=17.14).
2. Ensure ArcGIS Pro is running with the Add-In loaded (so the Named Pipe exists).
3. In VS, open Copilot Chat Agent Mode.
4. Copilot reads .mcp.json and starts the MCP server.
5. Type in chat:
   • pro.listLayers ? returns the layers in the active map
   • pro.countFeatures layer=Buildings ? returns the feature count

📚 Documentation

Next Steps

• Extend tools with operations like pro.selectByAttribute, pro.getCurrentExtent, pro.exportLayer.
• Add retry/timeout logic for IPC communication.
• Containerize the MCP server for deployment.