How to dynamically refresh MCP Server Tools at runtime?

[experdot]

Pre-submission Checklist

• I have checked that this question would not be more appropriate as an issue in a specific repository
• I have searched existing discussions and documentation for answers

Question Category

• Protocol Specification
• SDK Usage
• Server Implementation
• General Implementation
• Documentation
• Other

Your Question

Problem Description

I'm encountering an issue when using ModelContextProtocol where I need to dynamically refresh MCP Server tools at runtime.

Current Implementation

Currently, my code looks like this:

public void ConfigureServices(IServiceCollection services)
{
    var mcpServer = services.AddMcpServer();
    mcpServer.WithTools(MCPHelper.GetMcpTools()).WithHttpTransport();

    ServerFilesManger.ServerCommandsChanged += (sender, e) =>
    {
        mcpServer.Services.RemoveAll(typeof(McpServerTool));
        mcpServer.WithTools(MCPHelper.GetMcpTools());
    };
}

Issue

When the ServerCommandsChanged event is triggered, I attempt to:

1. Remove existing tools using mcpServer.Services.RemoveAll(typeof(McpServerTool))
2. Re-add tools using mcpServer.WithTools(MCPHelper.GetMcpTools())

However, this approach doesn't seem to work correctly - the tools are not being properly refreshed.

I tried using WithListToolsHandler, which works, but I would also need to implement WithCallToolHandler manually, which is less convenient than using WithTools.

Expected Behavior

I would like to be able to dynamically at runtime:

• Remove existing MCP tools
• Add new or updated MCP tools
• Have these changes take effect immediately without requiring a service restart

Questions

1. Is Services.RemoveAll(typeof(McpServerTool)) the correct way to remove tools?
2. Does calling WithTools() at runtime properly re-register the tools?
3. Are there other recommended approaches for implementing dynamic MCP tools refresh?

Environment Information

• ModelContextProtocol version: 0.3.0-preview.2
• .NET version: net8.0
• Operating System: Windows

Additional Information

This functionality is important for my application as tools may need to be dynamically updated based on changes to server commands. If the current approach is incorrect, could you provide a proper implementation solution?

Thank you for your help!