DotNetSearch — MCP Search & PDF Server

DotNetSearch is a self-contained MCP (Model Context Protocol) server that empowers GitHub Copilot, Claude, Cursor, and other AI agents with high-performance codebase search, NuGet package decompilation, whitespace token reduction, and deep PDF document reading and analysis:

Key Tools Overview

Instead of reading full files (~2500 tokens each), the agent gets back only the matching lines (~110 tokens) — saving up to 98% of context window per query. For files that must be read in full, use compress_code first to strip whitespace overhead and save an additional 10–20% of tokens. For PDF documentation, technical manuals, and specifications, dedicated tools extract targeted text, images, and tables without overwhelming the model context window.

Step 1 — Download the executable

Go to the latest release and download the file for your platform:

No .NET installation required. The runtime is bundled inside the executable.

Save it somewhere permanent, e.g.:

• Windows: C:\Tools\DotNetSearch.exe

• Linux/macOS: /usr/local/bin/DotNetSearch

On Linux/macOS, make it executable:

chmod +x /usr/local/bin/DotNetSearch

Related MCP server: HTTP Client MCP Server

Step 2 — Add to your MCP config

Open (or create) your global MCP config file:

Windows configuration

Add this to the servers section:

{
  "servers": {
    "DotNetSearch": {
      "type": "stdio",
      "command": "C:\\Tools\\DotNetSearch.exe"
    }
  }
}

Linux / macOS configuration

{
  "servers": {
    "DotNetSearch": {
      "type": "stdio",
      "command": "/usr/local/bin/DotNetSearch"
    }
  }
}

If you already have other servers in the file, just add the "DotNetSearch" block inside the existing "servers" object.

Step 3 — Verify it is active

Visual Studio / VS Code:

1. Open GitHub Copilot Chat

2. Switch to Agent Mode

3. Click the wrench / Select Tools icon

4. Confirm the DotNetSearch tools appear in the list and are enabled:

   • Code & Navigation: search, search_related, decompile_type, compress_code, read_file

   • PDF Document Inspection: read_pdf_text, get_pdf_info, render_pdf_page_as_image, extract_pdf_images, get_pdf_bookmarks, get_pdf_form_fields, extract_pdf_attachments, get_pdf_hyperlinks

Step 4 — Update your Copilot instructions

To make Copilot automatically prefer DotNetSearch over built-in file reading, add the instructions below to your Copilot instructions file. There are two places you can put this — repo-level (affects only that repo) or global (affects all repos).

Option A — Repo-level instructions (recommended)

File location:

<your-repo-root>\.github\copilot-instructions.md

This file is read by GitHub Copilot for every conversation in that repository. It is the recommended place if you want DotNetSearch to be preferred only for a specific project.

How to find or create it:

• Navigate to your repository root folder

• Look for a .github subfolder — if it doesn't exist, create it

• Inside .github, look for copilot-instructions.md — if it doesn't exist, create the file

Option B — Global instructions (applies to all repos)

File location:

How to find or create it:

• Open the path above in File Explorer (paste into the address bar)

• If the folder doesn't exist, create it

• If copilot-instructions.md doesn't exist in the folder, create the file

Note: If you add instructions to both files, Copilot merges them — both will be active at the same time.

Instructions to add

Paste the following into whichever file you chose above:

## Search Preference
When searching for code, symbols, or text in this repository, always prefer
the `DotNetSearch` MCP tool (`search` and `search_related`) over reading full
files or using built-in workspace search. DotNetSearch returns only matching
lines and is significantly more token-efficient (~98% fewer tokens per query).
Do not call DotNetSearch tools in parallel — run one search at a time.

## PDF Document Reading
When reading, analyzing, or searching PDF documents:
- Always prefer `read_pdf_text` and `get_pdf_info` over raw file operations.
- First call `get_pdf_info` to inspect total pages and document metadata.
- Call `read_pdf_text` with specific page ranges (`startPage`, `endPage`) to avoid token overflow.
- If the PDF contains visual charts, flowcharts, architectural diagrams, or scanned pages, use `render_pdf_page_as_image` to rasterize the page.
- For interactive PDF forms, use `get_pdf_form_fields` to extract user inputs.

## NuGet Type Inspection
When the user asks about a third-party or NuGet type and the source code is not
available in the workspace, use the `DotNetSearch` MCP tool `decompile_type` to
decompile the type from the project's referenced assemblies. Pass the short or
fully qualified type name and the absolute path to the .csproj file. The project
must have been built at least once before calling this tool.

## Code Compression
When reading source files to minimize context window usage, use the
`DotNetSearch` MCP tool `compress_code` — BUT ONLY for the following fully-safe
languages where indentation is cosmetic and braces/keywords define scope:

  C#, Java, JavaScript, TypeScript, C, C++, Kotlin, Swift, Rust, Scala,
  PHP, Ruby, CSS, SCSS, Less, JSON, XML

NEVER call `compress_code` on any other language. In particular, NEVER use it on
Python, YAML, CoffeeScript, Pug/Jade, HAML, or Makefile — these are
indentation-sensitive and compression WILL silently corrupt the file structure.

Before calling `compress_code`, check the file extension:
- Allowed:  .cs .java .js .ts .jsx .tsx .kt .swift .rs .scala .php .rb .css .scss .less .json .xml .c .cpp .h
- Blocked:  .py .yaml .yml .coffee .pug .jade .haml  (and Makefiles with no extension)

Pass the absolute file path. For JavaScript/TypeScript projects using 2-space
indentation, set `sourceIndentSize=2`.

Step 5 — You're done

No special commands or workflow changes are needed. Just continue your normal coding tasks in Copilot Agent Mode — DotNetSearch will be used automatically whenever Copilot needs to search your codebase or inspect PDF documents.

Over time you will notice a reduction in token usage per conversation. This is because DotNetSearch returns only the matching lines (typically ~110 tokens) instead of full file contents (~2500 tokens), saving up to 98% of context window per search operation.

Tool reference

search

Searches a local directory for files whose content matches a keyword or natural-language query. Uses BM25 ranking with CamelCase and snake_case token expansion.

search_related

Finds code chunks structurally similar to a specific location in a file. Use after search to explore related implementations, callers, or patterns.

read_file

Reads a text file from disk and returns its contents. Use it after search when you already know the target file and need the full context. Supports an absolute or relative path plus optional start_line and end_line range arguments.

read_pdf_text

Extracts clean, formatted text from a PDF file with page markers. Ideal for documentation, technical specifications, papers, and architecture guides. Supports whole-document extraction or targeted page ranges.

get_pdf_info

Retrieves comprehensive metadata and physical layout information about a PDF file without reading its full text content. Use this first to plan targeted extractions.

Returns: Total page count, dimensions per page (widthPt, heightPt), document title, author, subject, keywords, creator, producer, creation date, and modification date.

render_pdf_page_as_image

Rasterizes a specific PDF page into a high-resolution PNG image on disk. Essential for pages with complex graphical diagrams, architectural flowcharts, schematics, tables, or scanned documents where raw text extraction is insufficient.

Returns: Path to the rendered .png image and image pixel dimensions.

extract_pdf_images

Extracts all embedded raster images (e.g., photos, diagrams, embedded JPEGs/PNGs) from a PDF page and saves them directly to disk.

get_pdf_bookmarks

Extracts the hierarchical bookmark outline (Table of Contents tree) from a PDF. Helps agents understand the complete document structure before requesting specific chapters or pages.

Returns: Recursive tree of bookmarks with titles and target destination page numbers.

get_pdf_form_fields

Reads all interactive AcroForm form fields embedded in a PDF document.

Returns: List of form fields with field names, field types (textbox, checkbox, combobox, radio button), and current values.

extract_pdf_attachments

Extracts files embedded directly inside the PDF catalog (e.g., attached source code, sample data, schemas, or companion files) and writes them to disk.

get_pdf_hyperlinks

Extracts all hyperlinks and clickable annotations present on PDF pages.

Returns: URL targets, destination page jumps, and bounding coordinates for each hyperlink.

decompile_type

Decompiles a .NET type (class, interface, enum, struct, or delegate) from NuGet package assemblies referenced by a .NET project. Useful when you need to understand third-party APIs without source code.

Note: The project must be built at least once so the bin\ output folder is populated with NuGet assemblies.

compress_code

Reduces code indentation from 4-space (or configurable) to 1-space per indent level and removes blank lines. Saves 10–20% tokens with zero semantic change — safe because brace-scoped and keyword-scoped languages treat indentation as cosmetic. Accepts either an absolute file path or a raw code string. Returns compressed code plus metrics: originalLength, compressedLength, savingsPercent, and line counts.

✅ Safe for (brace-scoped / keyword-scoped): C#, Java, JavaScript, TypeScript, C, C++, Kotlin, Swift, Rust, Scala, PHP, Ruby, CSS, SCSS, Less, JSON, XML

❌ Do NOT use on (indentation-sensitive — will corrupt code): Python, YAML, CoffeeScript, Pug/Jade, HAML, Makefile

⚠️ Conditional:

• Go — safe for LLM reading; uses tabs natively so set sourceIndentSize=4 (tab width). Round-trip compilation would need gofmt.

• Markdown — avoid; 4-space indent = code block in Markdown spec.

• JavaScript/TypeScript — set sourceIndentSize=2 for 2-space projects.

• Multi-line string literals (C# verbatim strings, Java """, JS template literals) — internal whitespace is also reduced. Code is still readable by an LLM but not round-trip safe for strings that depend on exact internal indentation.

Supported file types

.pdf .cs .ts .js .jsx .tsx .json .md .txt .xml .yaml .yml .html .css .py .java .cpp .c .h .go .rs .sh .ps1 .psm1 .psd1 .toml .ini .env .config .csproj .props .targets .razor .vue .svelte

License

MIT — see LICENSE for details.