LlmTornado

Model Context Protocol (MCP) ​

Overview ​

The Model Context Protocol (MCP) is an open standard that enables seamless integration between AI models and external tools, data sources, and services. LlmTornado provides first-class support for MCP through the LlmTornado.Mcp adapter, allowing you to easily connect your applications to MCP servers and use their tools in your AI workflows.

Quick Start ​

Please see https://github.com/GongRzhe/Gmail-MCP-Server for more details on setting up OAuth

csharp

    MCPServer gmailServer = new MCPServer(
        serverLabel:"gmail",
        command: "npx", 
        arguments: new[] { "@gongrzhe/server-gmail-autoauth-mcp" },
        allowedTools: [
            "read_email", 
            "draft_email", 
            "search_emails"]);

    await gmailServer.InitializeAsync(); // This will handle MCP Client connection to setup tools

    TornadoAgent agent = new TornadoAgent(
        client,
        model: ChatModel.OpenAi.Gpt41.V41Mini,
        instructions: "You are a useful assistant for managing Gmail."
            );


    agent.AddMcpTools(gmailServer.AllowedTornadoTools.ToArray()); // Register MCP tools to the agent

    Conversation result = await agent.RunAsync("Did mom respond?");

    Console.WriteLine(result.Messages.Last().Content);

Best Practices ​

Connection Management ​

  • Properly dispose MCP clients using await using or try-finally blocks
  • Reuse MCP clients across multiple conversations when possible
  • Handle connection failures gracefully with retry logic
  • Monitor MCP server health and availability

Tool Usage ​

  • Cache tool lists to avoid repeated discovery calls
  • Validate tool arguments before sending to MCP server
  • Provide clear error messages when tools fail
  • Log tool calls for debugging and monitoring

Security ​

  • Validate MCP server endpoints before connecting
  • Use secure transports (TLS/SSL) for remote servers
  • Implement authentication when required
  • Sanitize tool inputs and outputs

Performance ​

  • Use streaming for long-running MCP operations
  • Implement timeouts for tool calls
  • Consider batching multiple tool calls when possible
  • Monitor and optimize tool execution times

Common Issues ​

Issue: MCP Client Connection Fails ​

Problem: Cannot connect to MCP server Solutions:

  • Verify server is running and accessible
  • Check transport configuration (command, port, etc.)
  • Ensure correct protocol version compatibility
  • Review server logs for connection errors

Issue: Tools Not Appearing ​

Problem: ListTornadoToolsAsync() returns empty list Solutions:

  • Verify MCP server has tools registered
  • Check server is properly initialized
  • Ensure tool schemas are valid
  • Review server tool configuration

Issue: Tool Execution Fails ​

Problem: ResolveRemote() throws exceptions Solutions:

  • Validate tool arguments match schema
  • Check MCP server logs for errors
  • Ensure required dependencies are available
  • Implement proper error handling

Issue: Result Parsing Problems ​

Problem: Cannot extract tool results from MCP content Solutions:

  • Check content block types (text, resource, etc.)
  • Handle all possible content block variants
  • Validate result structure matches expectations
  • Log raw MCP responses for debugging

API Reference ​

Extension Methods ​

ListTornadoToolsAsync ​

csharp
public static async Task<List<Tool>> ListTornadoToolsAsync(this IMcpClient client)

Fetches all tools from the MCP server and converts them to LlmTornado Tool objects.

ResolveRemote ​

csharp
public static async Task ResolveRemote(this FunctionCall call, object arguments)

Executes a function call on the remote MCP server.

MCP Server Configuration ​

MCPServer Class ​

csharp
public class MCPServer
{
    public MCPServer(IMcpClient client)
    public IMcpClient Client { get; }
}

MCP Content Types ​

  • McpContent - Container for MCP content blocks
  • McpContentBlockText - Text content block
  • McpContentBlockResource - Resource reference block
  • McpContentBlockImage - Image content block