Introducing the ActiveReports.NET MCP: an AI-powered Companion for App Development
| Quick Start Guide | |
|---|---|
| Tutorial Concept | AI agents can now do much more than answer questions. Given access to a codebase, they can understand a feature request, make implementation changes, and run checks as they work. The challenge is making sure they have the right product context. That's why we're introducing the ActiveReports .NET MCP. It gives AI assistants access to the ActiveReports .NET documentation, demos, samples, and workflow guidance they need to help with real development work. |
| What You Will Need | ActiveReports.NET License |
| Controls Referenced | |
AI agents can now do much more than answer questions. Given access to a codebase, they can understand a feature request, make implementation changes, and run checks as they work. The challenge is making sure they have the right product context.
That's why we're introducing the ActiveReports .NET MCP. It gives AI assistants access to the ActiveReports .NET documentation, demos, samples, workflow guidance, and report authoring tools that they need to help with real development work.
Want to Try it Out? Download ActiveReports.NET Today!
Built For the Way ActiveReports Work Actually Happens
ActiveReports tasks can start almost anywhere: adding a Viewer, sorting out licensing, creating a code-based report, configuring WebDesigner, building an export flow, or updating a local RDLX report.
The MCP helps the agent choose the right path by understanding the report type, the point in the lifecycle, and the integration surface. That matters because a WPF Viewer, a JSViewer application, a Section Report, and a Page/RDLX report all have different models and setup steps.
Tell Your Agent What You Want to Build
An MCP is more than just a way to search documentation and APIs. It helps an AI agent take on implementation work with better product knowledge behind it.
You can start with the outcome you want, such as: “Add an ActiveReports viewer page that can open the reports in our Reports folder.” A capable agent can inspect the app, choose the right package and setup, update the configuration, add the viewer code, and run the project checks. The MCP helps make sure those choices line up with ActiveReports guidance instead of generic suggestions.
You still review the code, configuration, and final behavior. But you don't need to begin with a list of APIs or a detailed implementation plan just to get the work moving.
A Powerful Local Workflow for RDLX Reports
The Report Builder CLI is a major part of this story. It gives developers and agents a local, deterministic way to create, inspect, change, validate, and render RDLX reports.
That makes it a strong fit for report work that needs to be repeatable, scriptable, or easy to review. The MCP gives the agent the broader ActiveReports context, and the CLI gives it a clear way to author and verify local reports.
With the combined power of their native training, the MCP, and the report builder CLI, agents can do everything from data binding and writing SQL queries to building advanced report layouts with clean styling and interactivity.
Here’s an example workflow where I was intentionally vague to illustrate the kind of high-quality results you can get despite putting in low effort (but being specific is always better when you know what you want):
Product-Aware Help, With You in Control
ActiveReports .NET supports a lot of report types, platforms, and development surfaces. The MCP helps AI agents stay aligned with those differences, so they can ask better questions, make better implementation choices, and point you to the right resources when needed.
Want to Try it Out? Download ActiveReports.NET Today!
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