Tech Choices and Implementation Order

Tech choices

  • Implementation: .NET (C#). Use the official MCP .NET SDK for the MCP server (stdio transport) and ASP.NET Core (or equivalent) to expose REST endpoints for the same tools and resources. Stdio for IDE (e.g. Cursor); REST for scripts, CI, and remote clients.
  • TODO engine library: Encapsulate the TODO/work-item domain logic in a reusable library (e.g. ProjectMcp.TodoEngine). The library provides DI extension methods for setup and assumes services and data contexts are already registered in IServiceProvider. It follows the Go4 MVC pattern using GPS.SimpleMvc; all TODO API interaction goes through a View interface that extends IView. It uses EF Core with configurable providers for PostgreSQL, SQLite, and SQL Server.
  • Storage: PostgreSQL for v1 deployments; provider selection is configurable via EF Core. Connection string via env (e.g. DATABASE_URL or PROJECT_MCP_CONNECTION_STRING).
  • Discovery: Server started by the IDE (e.g. Cursor) via command for stdio; when run as an HTTP host, the server listens on a configurable port (e.g. env or ASPNETCORE_URLS).

Note: Work items and tasks are the same entity; a task is a work item with level = Task.

Implementation order (when moving to code)

  1. Scaffold — .NET project that supports both stdio (MCP .NET SDK) and HTTP (e.g. ASP.NET Core); add MCP .NET SDK, single tool (e.g. project_get_info) to verify server runs over stdio and REST.
  2. TODO engine library — Create the reusable TODO engine library with DI extension methods (e.g. AddTodoEngine) that resolve services/data contexts from IServiceProvider, implement the Go4 MVC structure using GPS.SimpleMvc, and route all TODO API interaction through a View interface extending IView.
  3. Data layer — Model types for Project, **WorkItem (level = Work Task)**, Milestone, Release; PostgreSQL schema (tables/migrations); data access with EF Core and provider packages for PostgreSQL, SQLite, and SQL Server.
  4. Resources — Implement project://current/spec, project://current/tasks, project://current/plan by reading from the data layer.
  5. Project tools — project_update, project_get_info (if not already), tech stack updates.
  6. Task tools — task_create, task_update, task_list, task_delete (work items with level = Task).
  7. Planning tools — milestone_*, release_*.
  8. Docs and config — README (how to add server to Cursor, env vars, database setup), migration/schema docs or example seed data.

Future: integrations

  • Adapter interface — e.g. IProjectStore with GetProject(), GetTasks(), SaveTask(), etc. (tasks are work items with level = Task). Primary implementation: PostgreSQL (e.g. PostgresProjectStore or EF Core).
  • GitHub — GitHubProjectStore: tasks → Issues, milestones → GitHub Milestones, optional Project board; auth via GITHUB_TOKEN and repo config.
  • Config — Env or config to choose backend (e.g. PROJECT_MCP_BACKEND=local|github) and repo/owner for GitHub.