LSP4J-MCP Server

A Java MCP (Model Context Protocol) server that wraps JDTLS (Eclipse JDT Language Server) using LSP4J to provide Java IDE features to AI assistants like Claude.

Features

This MCP server exposes the following tools:

Tool	Description
`find_symbols`	Search for Java symbols (classes, methods, fields) by name
`find_references`	Find all references to a symbol at a given file location
`find_definition`	Go to the definition of a symbol
`document_symbols`	Get all symbols defined in a Java file
`find_interfaces_with_method`	Find all interfaces containing a method with a given name

Prerequisites

Java 21+
Maven 3.8+
JDTLS installed (e.g., via Homebrew: brew install jdtls)

Build

mvn clean package

This creates a shaded JAR at target/lsp4j-mcp-1.0.0-SNAPSHOT.jar.

Usage

Option 1: Run Script

./run.sh /path/to/your/java/project

Option 2: Direct Java Command

java -jar target/lsp4j-mcp-1.0.0-SNAPSHOT.jar <workspace-path> <jdtls-command>

Example:

java -jar target/lsp4j-mcp-1.0.0-SNAPSHOT.jar /Users/me/projects/myapp jdtls

Option 3: Claude Code MCP Configuration

Add to your .mcp.json:

{
  "mcpServers": {
    "java-lsp": {
      "command": "java",
      "args": [
        "-jar",
        "/path/to/LSP4J-MCP/target/lsp4j-mcp-1.0.0-SNAPSHOT.jar",
        "/path/to/your/java/project",
        "jdtls"
      ],
      "env": {
        "LOG_FILE": "/tmp/lsp4j-mcp.log"
      }
    }
  }
}

Project Structure

LSP4J-MCP/
├── pom.xml                              # Maven build configuration
├── run.sh                               # Startup script
├── mcp-config.json                      # Example MCP configuration
├── src/
│   ├── main/
│   │   ├── java/com/devoxx/lsp4jmcp/
│   │   │   ├── client/
│   │   │   │   ├── JdtlsClient.java         # LSP client for JDTLS
│   │   │   │   └── JdtlsLanguageClient.java # LSP callback handler
│   │   │   ├── tools/
│   │   │   │   └── JavaTools.java           # Tool implementations
│   │   │   └── server/
│   │   │       └── McpServerMain.java       # MCP server entry point
│   │   └── resources/
│   │       └── logback.xml                  # Logging configuration
│   └── test/
│       └── java/com/devoxx/lsp4jmcp/
│           ├── client/JdtlsClientTest.java
│           ├── tools/JavaToolsTest.java
│           └── server/McpServerMainTest.java
└── README.md

Testing

Run all tests:

mvn test

Dependencies

LSP4J - Eclipse Language Server Protocol for Java
MCP Java SDK - Model Context Protocol SDK
JDTLS - Eclipse JDT Language Server

Example Prompts

Once the MCP server is configured, you can ask your AI assistant questions that will trigger the LSP tools. Here are some examples:

Finding Symbols

"Find all classes named Repository in this project"

"Search for methods containing 'save' in their name"

"Where is the UserService class defined?"

"List all interfaces in this codebase"

Finding References

"Find all usages of the processOrder method at line 45 in OrderService.java"

"Where is the CustomerRepository interface used throughout the codebase?"

"Show me all places that call the constructor at line 12 of PaymentGateway.java"

Go to Definition

"What is the definition of the method being called at line 78, column 15 in CheckoutController.java?"

"Take me to the implementation of the interface method at line 23 in MyService.java"

Document Symbols

"List all methods and fields in the Customer.java file"

"What symbols are defined in src/main/java/com/example/service/OrderService.java?"

"Give me an overview of the structure of ConfigurationManager.java"

Finding Interface Methods

"Which interfaces define a method called 'findById'?"

"Find all classes that have a method named 'process'"

"Show me all interfaces containing the 'validate' method"

Complex Queries

"I need to understand how the authenticate method works. First find its definition, then show me all places it's called."

"Refactor help: Find all usages of the deprecated legacyProcess method so I can update them"

"I want to implement a new Repository interface. Show me all existing Repository interfaces and their methods."

Logging

Logs are written to the file specified by the LOG_FILE environment variable (default: /tmp/lsp4j-mcp.log).

Note: stdout is reserved for MCP protocol communication, so all logging goes to file.

Architecture

Claude Code ──MCP──▶ McpServerMain ──LSP4J──▶ JDTLS ──▶ Java Codebase
                         │
                         ▼
                    JavaTools
                    (find_symbols, find_references, etc.)

The server:

Starts JDTLS as a subprocess
Connects via LSP4J (JSON-RPC over stdio)
Exposes LSP features as MCP tools
Communicates with Claude Code via MCP protocol

Examples using Claude Code

License

MIT

LSP4J-MCP