Model Context Protocol Client

The MCP Client is a key component in the Model Context Protocol (MCP) architecture, responsible for establishing and managing connections with MCP servers. It implements the client-side of the protocol, handling:

Protocol version negotiation to ensure compatibility with servers
Capability negotiation to determine available features
Message transport and JSON-RPC communication
Tool discovery and execution
Resource access and management
Prompt system interactions
Optional features like roots management and sampling support

The core io.modelcontextprotocol.sdk:mcp module provides STDIO and SSE client transport implementations without requiring external web frameworks.Spring-specific transport implementations are available as an optional dependency io.modelcontextprotocol.sdk:mcp-spring-webflux for Spring Framework users.

The client provides both synchronous and asynchronous APIs for flexibility in different application contexts.

Sync API
Async API

// Create a sync client with custom configuration
McpSyncClient client = McpClient.sync(transport)
    .requestTimeout(Duration.ofSeconds(10))
    .capabilities(ClientCapabilities.builder()
        .roots(true)      // Enable roots capability
        .sampling()       // Enable sampling capability
        .build())
    .sampling(request -> new CreateMessageResult(response))
    .build();

// Initialize connection
client.initialize();

// List available tools
ListToolsResult tools = client.listTools();

// Call a tool
CallToolResult result = client.callTool(
    new CallToolRequest("calculator", 
        Map.of("operation", "add", "a", 2, "b", 3))
);

// List and read resources
ListResourcesResult resources = client.listResources();
ReadResourceResult resource = client.readResource(
    new ReadResourceRequest("resource://uri")
);

// List and use prompts
ListPromptsResult prompts = client.listPrompts();
GetPromptResult prompt = client.getPrompt(
    new GetPromptRequest("greeting", Map.of("name", "Spring"))
);

// Add/remove roots
client.addRoot(new Root("file:///path", "description"));
client.removeRoot("file:///path");

// Close client
client.closeGracefully();

// Create an async client with custom configuration
McpAsyncClient client = McpClient.async(transport)
    .requestTimeout(Duration.ofSeconds(10))
    .capabilities(ClientCapabilities.builder()
        .roots(true)      // Enable roots capability
        .sampling()       // Enable sampling capability
        .build())
    .sampling(request -> Mono.just(new CreateMessageResult(response)))
    .toolsChangeConsumer(tools -> Mono.fromRunnable(() -> {
        logger.info("Tools updated: {}", tools);
    }))
    .resourcesChangeConsumer(resources -> Mono.fromRunnable(() -> {
        logger.info("Resources updated: {}", resources);
    }))
    .promptsChangeConsumer(prompts -> Mono.fromRunnable(() -> {
        logger.info("Prompts updated: {}", prompts);
    }))
    .build();

// Initialize connection and use features
client.initialize()
    .flatMap(initResult -> client.listTools())
    .flatMap(tools -> {
        return client.callTool(new CallToolRequest(
            "calculator", 
            Map.of("operation", "add", "a", 2, "b", 3)
        ));
    })
    .flatMap(result -> {
        return client.listResources()
            .flatMap(resources -> 
                client.readResource(new ReadResourceRequest("resource://uri"))
            );
    })
    .flatMap(resource -> {
        return client.listPrompts()
            .flatMap(prompts ->
                client.getPrompt(new GetPromptRequest(
                    "greeting", 
                    Map.of("name", "Spring")
                ))
            );
    })
    .flatMap(prompt -> {
        return client.addRoot(new Root("file:///path", "description"))
            .then(client.removeRoot("file:///path"));            
    })
    .doFinally(signalType -> {
        client.closeGracefully().subscribe();
    })
    .subscribe();

Client Transport

The transport layer handles the communication between MCP clients and servers, providing different implementations for various use cases. The client transport manages message serialization, connection establishment, and protocol-specific communication patterns.

STDIO
SSE (HttpClient)
SSE (WebFlux)

Creates transport for in-process based communication

ServerParameters params = ServerParameters.builder("npx")
    .args("-y", "@modelcontextprotocol/server-everything", "dir")
    .build();
McpTransport transport = new StdioClientTransport(params);

Creates a framework agnostic (pure Java API) SSE client transport. Included in the core mcp module.

McpTransport transport = new HttpClientSseClientTransport("http://your-mcp-server");

Creates WebFlux-based SSE client transport. Requires the mcp-webflux-sse-transport dependency.

WebClient.Builder webClientBuilder = WebClient.builder()
    .baseUrl("http://your-mcp-server");
McpTransport transport = new WebFluxSseClientTransport(webClientBuilder);

Client Capabilities

The client can be configured with various capabilities:

var capabilities = ClientCapabilities.builder()
    .roots(true)      // Enable filesystem roots support with list changes notifications
    .sampling()       // Enable LLM sampling support
    .build();

Roots Support

Roots define the boundaries of where servers can operate within the filesystem:

// Add a root dynamically
client.addRoot(new Root("file:///path", "description"));

// Remove a root
client.removeRoot("file:///path");

// Notify server of roots changes
client.rootsListChangedNotification();

The roots capability allows servers to:

Request the list of accessible filesystem roots
Receive notifications when the roots list changes
Understand which directories and files they have access to

Sampling Support

Sampling enables servers to request LLM interactions (“completions” or “generations”) through the client:

// Configure sampling handler
Function<CreateMessageRequest, CreateMessageResult> samplingHandler = request -> {
    // Sampling implementation that interfaces with LLM
    return new CreateMessageResult(response);
};

// Create client with sampling support
var client = McpClient.sync(transport)
    .capabilities(ClientCapabilities.builder()
        .sampling()
        .build())
    .sampling(samplingHandler)
    .build();

This capability allows:

Servers to leverage AI capabilities without requiring API keys
Clients to maintain control over model access and permissions
Support for both text and image-based interactions
Optional inclusion of MCP server context in prompts

Using MCP Clients

Tool Execution

Tools are server-side functions that clients can discover and execute. The MCP client provides methods to list available tools and execute them with specific parameters. Each tool has a unique name and accepts a map of parameters.

Sync API
Async API

// List available tools and their names
var tools = client.listTools();
tools.forEach(tool -> System.out.println(tool.getName()));

// Execute a tool with parameters
var result = client.callTool("calculator", Map.of(
    "operation", "add",
    "a", 1,
    "b", 2
));

// List available tools asynchronously
client.listTools()
    .doOnNext(tools -> tools.forEach(tool -> 
        System.out.println(tool.getName())))
    .subscribe();

// Execute a tool asynchronously
client.callTool("calculator", Map.of(
        "operation", "add",
        "a", 1,
        "b", 2
    ))
    .subscribe();

Resource Access

Resources represent server-side data sources that clients can access using URI templates. The MCP client provides methods to discover available resources and retrieve their contents through a standardized interface.

Sync API
Async API

// List available resources and their names
var resources = client.listResources();
resources.forEach(resource -> System.out.println(resource.getName()));

// Retrieve resource content using a URI template
var content = client.getResource("file", Map.of(
    "path", "/path/to/file.txt"
));

// List available resources asynchronously
client.listResources()
    .doOnNext(resources -> resources.forEach(resource -> 
        System.out.println(resource.getName())))
    .subscribe();

// Retrieve resource content asynchronously
client.getResource("file", Map.of(
        "path", "/path/to/file.txt"
    ))
    .subscribe();

Prompt System

The prompt system enables interaction with server-side prompt templates. These templates can be discovered and executed with custom parameters, allowing for dynamic text generation based on predefined patterns.

Sync API
Async API

// List available prompt templates
var prompts = client.listPrompts();
prompts.forEach(prompt -> System.out.println(prompt.getName()));

// Execute a prompt template with parameters
var response = client.executePrompt("echo", Map.of(
    "text", "Hello, World!"
));

// List available prompt templates asynchronously
client.listPrompts()
    .doOnNext(prompts -> prompts.forEach(prompt -> 
        System.out.println(prompt.getName())))
    .subscribe();

// Execute a prompt template asynchronously
client.executePrompt("echo", Map.of(
        "text", "Hello, World!"
    ))
    .subscribe();

​Model Context Protocol Client

​Client Transport

​Client Capabilities

​Roots Support

​Sampling Support

​Using MCP Clients

​Tool Execution

​Resource Access

​Prompt System

Model Context Protocol Client

Client Transport

Client Capabilities

Roots Support

Sampling Support

Using MCP Clients

Tool Execution

Resource Access

Prompt System