Resolve binlog MCP from the dnceng dotnet-public feed

[YuliiaKovalova]

Summary

The binlog MCP server was declared as dnx --yes Microsoft.AITools.BinlogMcp with no feed pinned, so Microsoft.AITools.BinlogMcp resolved through ambient NuGet configuration. The repo-root NuGet.config only applies when the agent's working directory is inside this repo — and for a binlog-analysis workflow the working directory is usually the repo being investigated, not arcade-skills. So the documented intent ("this source hosts BinlogMcp") did not actually hold in the common case.

This pins the server to the dnceng dotnet-public feed via --source, making resolution deterministic regardless of working directory:

"binlog": {
  "command": "dotnet",
  "args": [
    "dnx",
    "--yes",
    "--source",
    "https://pkgs.dev.azure.com/dnceng/public/_packaging/dotnet-public/nuget/v3/index.json",
    "Microsoft.AITools.BinlogMcp"
  ]
}

--source (rather than --add-source) replaces all sources. That is safe here because .NET tool packages bundle their dependencies — only the single package needs to be restored.

The existing argument order is preserved (options first, package ID last), matching the neighbouring hlx and maestro servers, so the change is a pure insertion. dnx is dotnet tool exec and uses System.CommandLine, so known options are matched regardless of position; both orderings were verified to start the server successfully.

Files changed

• plugins/dotnet-dnceng/plugin.json — pin the binlog server to dotnet-public.
• NuGet.config — the nuget.org source stays (it is still needed by the hlx / maestro servers, which resolve lewing.helix.mcp and lewing.maestro.mcp from nuget.org). Only the comment is updated, since it previously attributed the source solely to Microsoft.AITools.BinlogMcp.

Validation

• Package availability confirmed on dotnet-public: versions 1.0.0, 2.0.0, 2.0.1 (all stable, so --prerelease is not needed).

• lewing.helix.mcp confirmed still present on nuget.org, so keeping that source is correct.

• End-to-end server start against the pinned feed, piping an MCP initialize request into the server:

  Server (aitools-binlog-mcp 2.0.1) method 'initialize' request handler called.
  Server (aitools-binlog-mcp 2.0.1), Client (probe 1.0) method 'initialize' request handler completed in 21.5654ms.
  

• NuGet.config re-validated as well-formed XML (note: the comment deliberately avoids writing the literal --source, since -- is illegal inside an XML comment), and plugins/dotnet-dnceng/plugin.json as valid JSON.

• No eng/known-domains.txt change needed: the existing dev.azure.com entry matches all subdomains, which covers pkgs.dev.azure.com.

Related

Companion PR: dotnet/skills#969 makes the same change for the dotnet-msbuild plugin, which publishes a binlog server under the same name.

[github-actions]

Warnings (11)

• plugins/dotnet-compliance/skills/binskim-analysis — ~4491 tokens (chars/4) — approaching 'comprehensive' range where gains diminish.
• plugins/dotnet-compliance/skills/binskim-scan — ~3779 tokens (chars/4) — approaching 'comprehensive' range where gains diminish.
• plugins/dotnet-dnceng/skills/binlog-failure-analysis — ~4105 tokens (chars/4) — approaching 'comprehensive' range where gains diminish.
• plugins/dotnet-dnceng/skills/ci-analysis — ~2736 tokens (chars/4) — approaching 'comprehensive' range where gains diminish.
• plugins/dotnet-dnceng/skills/ci-analysis — no code blocks — agents perform better with concrete snippets and commands.
• plugins/dotnet-dnceng/skills/ci-crash-dump — ~3892 tokens (chars/4) — approaching 'comprehensive' range where gains diminish.
• plugins/dotnet-dnceng/skills/ci-crash-dump — no numbered workflow steps — agents follow sequenced procedures more reliably.
• plugins/dotnet-dnceng/skills/flow-analysis — ~5452 tokens (chars/4) — 'comprehensive' skills hurt performance. Consider splitting into 2-3 focused skills.
• plugins/dotnet-dnceng/skills/helix-investigation — ~4534 tokens (chars/4) — approaching 'comprehensive' range where gains diminish.
• plugins/dotnet-dnceng/skills/pipeline-investigation — ~4464 tokens (chars/4) — approaching 'comprehensive' range where gains diminish.
• plugins/dotnet-dnceng/skills/test-arcade — ~2628 tokens (chars/4) — approaching 'comprehensive' range where gains diminish.

View workflow run

[Copilot]

Pull request overview

Pins the binlog MCP server package restore to a specific NuGet feed so Microsoft.AITools.BinlogMcp resolves deterministically regardless of the agent’s working directory (e.g., when analyzing another repo).

Changes:

• Update plugins/dotnet-dnceng/plugin.json to pass --source https://pkgs.dev.azure.com/dnceng/public/_packaging/dotnet-public/nuget/v3/index.json when launching the binlog server via dotnet dnx.
• Update the NuGet.config comment to clarify that nuget.org is retained for the hlx / maestro servers and is no longer relied on by binlog.

Reviewed changes

Copilot reviewed 2 out of 2 changed files in this pull request and generated no comments.

File	Description
plugins/dotnet-dnceng/plugin.json	Pins Microsoft.AITools.BinlogMcp resolution to the dnceng dotnet-public feed via --source.
NuGet.config	Updates comment to reflect current source usage (nuget.org for hlx/maestro, not binlog).

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