tessl/maven-org-springframework-ai--spring-ai-mcp

Spring Framework integration for Model Context Protocol (MCP), providing Spring AI function calling capabilities and Spring-friendly abstractions for MCP clients and MCP servers

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Quick Start Guide

Name: tessl/maven-org-springframework-ai--spring-ai-mcp
Author: tessl

This guide will walk you through setting up Spring AI MCP and integrating your first MCP tools.

Prerequisites

Java 17 or later
Spring Boot 3.x
Maven or Gradle
An MCP server to connect to

Step 1: Add Dependencies

Maven

<dependencies>
    <!-- Spring AI MCP -->
    <dependency>
        <groupId>org.springframework.ai</groupId>
        <artifactId>spring-ai-mcp</artifactId>
        <version>1.1.2</version>
    </dependency>
    
    <!-- MCP SDK -->
    <dependency>
        <groupId>io.modelcontextprotocol</groupId>
        <artifactId>mcp-client</artifactId>
        <version>1.0.0</version>
    </dependency>
    
    <!-- Spring AI Core -->
    <dependency>
        <groupId>org.springframework.ai</groupId>
        <artifactId>spring-ai-core</artifactId>
        <version>1.0.0</version>
    </dependency>
    
    <!-- Project Reactor (for async operations) -->
    <dependency>
        <groupId>io.projectreactor</groupId>
        <artifactId>reactor-core</artifactId>
    </dependency>
</dependencies>

Gradle

dependencies {
    implementation 'org.springframework.ai:spring-ai-mcp:1.1.2'
    implementation 'io.modelcontextprotocol:mcp-client:1.0.0'
    implementation 'org.springframework.ai:spring-ai-core:1.0.0'
    implementation 'io.projectreactor:reactor-core'
}

Gradle Kotlin DSL

dependencies {
    implementation("org.springframework.ai:spring-ai-mcp:1.1.2")
    implementation("io.modelcontextprotocol:mcp-client:1.0.0")
    implementation("org.springframework.ai:spring-ai-core:1.0.0")
    implementation("io.projectreactor:reactor-core")
}

Step 2: Create MCP Client

First, create an MCP client to connect to your MCP server:

import io.modelcontextprotocol.client.McpSyncClient;
import io.modelcontextprotocol.client.McpClient;

// Create synchronous MCP client
McpSyncClient mcpClient = McpClient.sync()
    .serverInfo(/* server connection details */)
    .build();

For asynchronous operations:

import io.modelcontextprotocol.client.McpAsyncClient;

// Create asynchronous MCP client
McpAsyncClient asyncClient = McpClient.async()
    .serverInfo(/* server connection details */)
    .build();

Step 3: Discover Tools (Simple Approach)

Use the utility method for quick tool discovery:

import org.springframework.ai.mcp.McpToolUtils;
import org.springframework.ai.tool.ToolCallback;
import java.util.List;

// Quick discovery with default settings
List<ToolCallback> callbacks = 
    McpToolUtils.getToolCallbacksFromSyncClients(mcpClient);

System.out.println("Discovered " + callbacks.size() + " tools");

Step 4: Discover Tools (Provider Approach)

For more control, use a tool callback provider:

import org.springframework.ai.mcp.SyncMcpToolCallbackProvider;

// Create provider
SyncMcpToolCallbackProvider provider = 
    SyncMcpToolCallbackProvider.builder()
        .mcpClients(mcpClient)
        .build();

// Get all discovered tools
ToolCallback[] toolCallbacks = provider.getToolCallbacks();

// Print discovered tools
for (ToolCallback callback : toolCallbacks) {
    System.out.println("Tool: " + callback.getToolDefinition().name());
}

Step 5: Integrate with Spring AI ChatClient

Connect the discovered tools to Spring AI's ChatClient:

import org.springframework.ai.chat.client.ChatClient;
import org.springframework.ai.chat.model.ChatModel;
import org.springframework.beans.factory.annotation.Autowired;
import org.springframework.stereotype.Service;

@Service
public class AiChatService {

    private final ChatClient chatClient;

    @Autowired
    public AiChatService(ChatModel chatModel, 
                         SyncMcpToolCallbackProvider mcpToolProvider) {
        // Create ChatClient with MCP tools
        this.chatClient = ChatClient.builder(chatModel)
            .defaultFunctions(mcpToolProvider.getToolCallbacks())
            .build();
    }

    public String chat(String userMessage) {
        return chatClient.prompt()
            .user(userMessage)
            .call()
            .content();
    }
}

Step 6: Spring Boot Configuration

Create a Spring Boot configuration class:

import org.springframework.context.annotation.Bean;
import org.springframework.context.annotation.Configuration;
import org.springframework.ai.mcp.SyncMcpToolCallbackProvider;
import io.modelcontextprotocol.client.McpSyncClient;
import io.modelcontextprotocol.client.McpClient;

@Configuration
public class McpConfiguration {

    @Bean
    public McpSyncClient weatherMcpClient() {
        // Configure your MCP client
        return McpClient.sync()
            .serverInfo(/* connection details */)
            .build();
    }

    @Bean
    public SyncMcpToolCallbackProvider mcpToolProvider(
            List<McpSyncClient> mcpClients) {
        return SyncMcpToolCallbackProvider.builder()
            .mcpClients(mcpClients)
            .build();
    }
}

Step 7: Test Your Integration

Create a simple test or controller:

import org.springframework.web.bind.annotation.*;
import org.springframework.beans.factory.annotation.Autowired;

@RestController
@RequestMapping("/chat")
public class ChatController {

    @Autowired
    private AiChatService chatService;

    @PostMapping
    public String chat(@RequestBody String message) {
        return chatService.chat(message);
    }
}

Test it:

curl -X POST http://localhost:8080/chat \
  -H "Content-Type: text/plain" \
  -d "What tools are available?"

Common Patterns

Working with Multiple MCP Servers

@Bean
public SyncMcpToolCallbackProvider mcpToolProvider(
        McpSyncClient weatherClient,
        McpSyncClient databaseClient,
        McpSyncClient filesystemClient) {
    
    return SyncMcpToolCallbackProvider.builder()
        .mcpClients(weatherClient, databaseClient, filesystemClient)
        .toolNamePrefixGenerator(new DefaultMcpToolNamePrefixGenerator())
        .build();
}

Filtering Tools

import org.springframework.ai.mcp.McpToolFilter;

@Bean
public SyncMcpToolCallbackProvider mcpToolProvider(
        List<McpSyncClient> mcpClients) {
    
    // Only allow non-internal, production-ready tools
    McpToolFilter filter = (connectionInfo, tool) ->
        !tool.name().startsWith("_") &&
        !tool.description().contains("[beta]");
    
    return SyncMcpToolCallbackProvider.builder()
        .mcpClients(mcpClients)
        .toolFilter(filter)
        .build();
}

Using Async Operations

For long-running tools or reactive applications:

import org.springframework.ai.mcp.AsyncMcpToolCallbackProvider;
import io.modelcontextprotocol.client.McpAsyncClient;

@Bean
public AsyncMcpToolCallbackProvider asyncMcpToolProvider(
        List<McpAsyncClient> asyncClients) {
    
    return AsyncMcpToolCallbackProvider.builder()
        .mcpClients(asyncClients)
        .build();
}

@Service
public class AsyncChatService {

    private final ChatClient chatClient;

    @Autowired
    public AsyncChatService(ChatModel chatModel,
                           AsyncMcpToolCallbackProvider asyncProvider) {
        this.chatClient = ChatClient.builder(chatModel)
            .defaultFunctions(asyncProvider.getToolCallbacks())
            .build();
    }
}

Troubleshooting

No Tools Discovered

Problem: getToolCallbacks() returns empty array

Solution:

// Check if MCP client is connected
McpSchema.ListToolsResult result = mcpClient.listTools();
System.out.println("Available tools: " + result.tools().size());

Connection Errors

Problem: ToolExecutionException with connection errors

Solution: Verify MCP server is running and accessible:

try {
    String result = callback.call(input);
} catch (ToolExecutionException e) {
    if (e.getCause() instanceof java.net.ConnectException) {
        System.err.println("Cannot connect to MCP server");
        // Check server address and port
    }
}

Duplicate Tool Names

Problem: IllegalStateException about duplicate names

Solution: Use name prefixing:

import org.springframework.ai.mcp.DefaultMcpToolNamePrefixGenerator;

SyncMcpToolCallbackProvider provider = 
    SyncMcpToolCallbackProvider.builder()
        .mcpClients(client1, client2)
        .toolNamePrefixGenerator(new DefaultMcpToolNamePrefixGenerator())
        .build();

Next Steps

Real-World Scenarios - See complete usage examples
Edge Cases - Handle advanced scenarios
Architecture - Understand the design
Synchronous Tool Callbacks - Detailed API reference
Tool Filtering and Naming - Customization strategies

Complete Minimal Example

import org.springframework.boot.SpringApplication;
import org.springframework.boot.autoconfigure.SpringBootApplication;
import org.springframework.context.annotation.Bean;
import org.springframework.ai.mcp.SyncMcpToolCallbackProvider;
import io.modelcontextprotocol.client.McpSyncClient;
import io.modelcontextprotocol.client.McpClient;

@SpringBootApplication
public class McpDemoApplication {

    public static void main(String[] args) {
        SpringApplication.run(McpDemoApplication.class, args);
    }

    @Bean
    public McpSyncClient mcpClient() {
        return McpClient.sync()
            .serverInfo(/* your server details */)
            .build();
    }

    @Bean
    public SyncMcpToolCallbackProvider toolProvider(McpSyncClient client) {
        return SyncMcpToolCallbackProvider.builder()
            .mcpClients(client)
            .build();
    }
}

Run with:

mvn spring-boot:run

Your MCP tools are now integrated with Spring AI!

Install with Tessl CLI

npx tessl i tessl/maven-org-springframework-ai--spring-ai-mcp

docs

examples

guides

quick-start.md

reference

index.md

tile.json