Four in a Row - MCP Game

Connect Four

A Connect Four-style game implemented as a Model Context Protocol (MCP) server using Spring Boot.

Overview

This project implements a Four in a Row (also known as Connect Four) game as a Model Context Protocol (MCP) server built using Spring Boot. The game allows players to compete against GitHub Copilot in a classic game of vertical checkers where the goal is to connect four pieces in a row - horizontally, vertically, or diagonally.

Prerequisites

Java JDK 17 or later
Maven 3.6 or later
Visual Studio Code with the GitHub Copilot extension installed

Setup and Installation

Clone the repository:
```
git clone <repository-url>
cd mcp-fiar
```
Build the project using Maven:
```
./mvnw clean install
```
This will create the JAR file at target/mcp-fiar-0.0.1-SNAPSHOT.jar

Starting the MCP Server

The project includes a VS Code MCP configuration file (mcp.json in the .vscode folder) that makes it easy to start the server:

Open the project in Visual Studio Code
Make sure the GitHub Copilot Chat extension is installed and enabled
Open the command palette (Cmd+Shift+P or Ctrl+Shift+P)
Type and select: "Copilot: Open Chat"
The MCP server should start automatically when you interact with Copilot Chat

If the server doesn't start automatically, ensure the MCP configuration is correctly set up in the .vscode/mcp.json file:

{
  "servers": {
    "fiar-game-mcp-weather": {
      "command": "java",
      "args": [
        "-Dspring.ai.mcp.server.stdio=true",
        "-Dspring.main.web-application-type=none",
        "-Dlogging.pattern.console=",
        "-jar",
        "${workspaceFolder}/target/mcp-fiar-0.0.1-SNAPSHOT.jar"
      ]
    }
  }
}

Hover with the mouse over the server entry and click the "Start Server" button that appears. This will launch the MCP server for GitHub Copilot to interact with.

Playing the Game

Once the server is running, you can interact with GitHub Copilot to play the game:

In the GitHub Copilot Chat panel, type a prompt like:
- "Let's play Four in a Row"
- "Start a Four in a Row game with a 6×6 grid"
- "Can we play Connect Four with a 5×5 board?"
Copilot will create a new game and act as your opponent
To make a move, simply respond with the column number (1-7 for standard boards) where you want to place your piece
Copilot will make its move and show the updated board after each turn

Game Commands

Here are some useful prompts you can use during gameplay:

1 to 7 - Drop your piece in the specified column
"Show me the board" - Display the current board state
"Reset all games" - Clear all stored games
"Get all games" - List all active and completed games

Project Structure

The project is organized as follows:

src/main/java/com/microsoft/germany/csu/mcp_fiar/ - Core application code
- McpFiarApplication.java - Spring Boot application entry point
- service/api/ - API interfaces and model classes
  - FiarService.java - Game service interface
  - Game.java - Game state model
  - GameStatus.java - Enum for game status (IN_PROGRESS, PLAYER_ONE_WON, etc.)
- service/impl/ - Service implementations
  - FiarServiceImpl.java - Implementation of the game logic

Game Rules

Players take turns dropping their pieces into one of the columns
Pieces fall to the lowest available position in the selected column
The first player to connect four of their pieces in a row (horizontally, vertically, or diagonally) wins
If all positions are filled without a winner, the game is a draw

Development Notes

This project uses:

Spring Boot for the application framework
Spring AI Model Context Protocol (MCP) for communication with GitHub Copilot
JUnit for testing

To extend or modify the game, the main classes to look at are:

FiarServiceImpl.java - contains the core game logic
Game.java - represents the game state

Resources

Spring AI MCP Documentation - Official documentation for Spring AI Model Context Protocol
Spring Boot Documentation - Reference for Spring Boot framework
GitHub Copilot Documentation - Information about GitHub Copilot features and capabilities

Four-in-a-Row