8 files changed, 115 insertions, 26 deletions
diff --git a/packages/core/src/config/config.ts b/packages/core/src/config/config.ts
index 485a56c4..96b6f2cb 100644
--- a/packages/core/src/config/config.ts
+++ b/packages/core/src/config/config.ts
@@ -45,6 +45,7 @@ import {
 import { ClearcutLogger } from '../telemetry/clearcut-logger/clearcut-logger.js';
 import { shouldAttemptBrowserLaunch } from '../utils/browser.js';
 import { MCPOAuthConfig } from '../mcp/oauth-provider.js';
+import { IdeClient } from '../ide/ide-client.js';
 
 // Re-export OAuth config type
 export type { MCPOAuthConfig };
@@ -180,6 +181,7 @@ export interface ConfigParameters {
   noBrowser?: boolean;
   summarizeToolOutput?: Record<string, SummarizeToolOutputSettings>;
   ideMode?: boolean;
+  ideClient?: IdeClient;
 }
 
 export class Config {
@@ -221,6 +223,7 @@ export class Config {
   private readonly extensionContextFilePaths: string[];
   private readonly noBrowser: boolean;
   private readonly ideMode: boolean;
+  private readonly ideClient: IdeClient | undefined;
   private modelSwitchedDuringSession: boolean = false;
   private readonly maxSessionTurns: number;
   private readonly listExtensions: boolean;
@@ -286,6 +289,7 @@ export class Config {
     this.noBrowser = params.noBrowser ?? false;
     this.summarizeToolOutput = params.summarizeToolOutput;
     this.ideMode = params.ideMode ?? false;
+    this.ideClient = params.ideClient;
 
     if (params.contextFileName) {
       setGeminiMdFilename(params.contextFileName);
@@ -574,6 +578,10 @@ export class Config {
     return this.ideMode;
   }
 
+  getIdeClient(): IdeClient | undefined {
+    return this.ideClient;
+  }
+
   async getGitService(): Promise<GitService> {
     if (!this.gitService) {
       this.gitService = new GitService(this.targetDir);
diff --git a/packages/core/src/core/client.test.ts b/packages/core/src/core/client.test.ts
index 44b19f56..25ea9bc1 100644
--- a/packages/core/src/core/client.test.ts
+++ b/packages/core/src/core/client.test.ts
@@ -23,7 +23,7 @@ import { DEFAULT_GEMINI_FLASH_MODEL } from '../config/models.js';
 import { FileDiscoveryService } from '../services/fileDiscoveryService.js';
 import { setSimulate429 } from '../utils/testUtils.js';
 import { tokenLimit } from './tokenLimits.js';
-import { ideContext } from '../services/ideContext.js';
+import { ideContext } from '../ide/ideContext.js';
 
 // --- Mocks ---
 const mockChatCreateFn = vi.fn();
@@ -72,7 +72,7 @@ vi.mock('../telemetry/index.js', () => ({
   logApiResponse: vi.fn(),
   logApiError: vi.fn(),
 }));
-vi.mock('../services/ideContext.js');
+vi.mock('../ide/ideContext.js');
 
 describe('findIndexAfterFraction', () => {
   const history: Content[] = [
diff --git a/packages/core/src/core/client.ts b/packages/core/src/core/client.ts
index 6f482307..77683a45 100644
--- a/packages/core/src/core/client.ts
+++ b/packages/core/src/core/client.ts
@@ -42,7 +42,7 @@ import {
 import { ProxyAgent, setGlobalDispatcher } from 'undici';
 import { DEFAULT_GEMINI_FLASH_MODEL } from '../config/models.js';
 import { LoopDetectionService } from '../services/loopDetectionService.js';
-import { ideContext } from '../services/ideContext.js';
+import { ideContext } from '../ide/ideContext.js';
 import { logFlashDecidedToContinue } from '../telemetry/loggers.js';
 import { FlashDecidedToContinueEvent } from '../telemetry/types.js';
 
diff --git a/packages/core/src/ide/ide-client.ts b/packages/core/src/ide/ide-client.ts
new file mode 100644
index 00000000..eeed60b2
--- /dev/null
+++ b/packages/core/src/ide/ide-client.ts
@@ -0,0 +1,100 @@
+/**
+ * @license
+ * Copyright 2025 Google LLC
+ * SPDX-License-Identifier: Apache-2.0
+ */
+
+import { ideContext, OpenFilesNotificationSchema } from '../ide/ideContext.js';
+import { Client } from '@modelcontextprotocol/sdk/client/index.js';
+import { StreamableHTTPClientTransport } from '@modelcontextprotocol/sdk/client/streamableHttp.js';
+
+const logger = {
+  // eslint-disable-next-line @typescript-eslint/no-explicit-any
+  debug: (...args: any[]) =>
+    console.debug('[DEBUG] [ImportProcessor]', ...args),
+};
+
+export type IDEConnectionState = {
+  status: IDEConnectionStatus;
+  details?: string;
+};
+
+export enum IDEConnectionStatus {
+  Connected = 'connected',
+  Disconnected = 'disconnected',
+  Connecting = 'connecting',
+}
+
+/**
+ * Manages the connection to and interaction with the IDE server.
+ */
+export class IdeClient {
+  client: Client | undefined = undefined;
+  connectionStatus: IDEConnectionStatus = IDEConnectionStatus.Disconnected;
+
+  constructor() {
+    this.connectToMcpServer().catch((err) => {
+      logger.debug('Failed to initialize IdeClient:', err);
+    });
+  }
+  getConnectionStatus(): {
+    status: IDEConnectionStatus;
+    details?: string;
+  } {
+    let details: string | undefined;
+    if (this.connectionStatus === IDEConnectionStatus.Disconnected) {
+      if (!process.env['GEMINI_CLI_IDE_SERVER_PORT']) {
+        details = 'GEMINI_CLI_IDE_SERVER_PORT environment variable is not set.';
+      }
+    }
+    return {
+      status: this.connectionStatus,
+      details,
+    };
+  }
+
+  async connectToMcpServer(): Promise<void> {
+    this.connectionStatus = IDEConnectionStatus.Connecting;
+    const idePort = process.env['GEMINI_CLI_IDE_SERVER_PORT'];
+    if (!idePort) {
+      logger.debug(
+        'Unable to connect to IDE mode MCP server. GEMINI_CLI_IDE_SERVER_PORT environment variable is not set.',
+      );
+      this.connectionStatus = IDEConnectionStatus.Disconnected;
+      return;
+    }
+
+    try {
+      this.client = new Client({
+        name: 'streamable-http-client',
+        // TODO(#3487): use the CLI version here.
+        version: '1.0.0',
+      });
+      const transport = new StreamableHTTPClientTransport(
+        new URL(`http://localhost:${idePort}/mcp`),
+      );
+      await this.client.connect(transport);
+      this.client.setNotificationHandler(
+        OpenFilesNotificationSchema,
+        (notification) => {
+          ideContext.setOpenFilesContext(notification.params);
+        },
+      );
+      this.client.onerror = (error) => {
+        logger.debug('IDE MCP client error:', error);
+        this.connectionStatus = IDEConnectionStatus.Disconnected;
+        ideContext.clearOpenFilesContext();
+      };
+      this.client.onclose = () => {
+        logger.debug('IDE MCP client connection closed.');
+        this.connectionStatus = IDEConnectionStatus.Disconnected;
+        ideContext.clearOpenFilesContext();
+      };
+
+      this.connectionStatus = IDEConnectionStatus.Connected;
+    } catch (error) {
+      this.connectionStatus = IDEConnectionStatus.Disconnected;
+      logger.debug('Failed to connect to MCP server:', error);
+    }
+  }
+}
diff --git a/packages/core/src/services/ideContext.test.ts b/packages/core/src/ide/ideContext.test.ts
index 1cb09c53..1cb09c53 100644
--- a/packages/core/src/services/ideContext.test.ts
+++ b/packages/core/src/ide/ideContext.test.ts
diff --git a/packages/core/src/services/ideContext.ts b/packages/core/src/ide/ideContext.ts
index f8a50f12..bc7383a1 100644
--- a/packages/core/src/services/ideContext.ts
+++ b/packages/core/src/ide/ideContext.ts
@@ -7,10 +7,6 @@
 import { z } from 'zod';
 
 /**
- * The reserved server name for the IDE's MCP server.
- */
-export const IDE_SERVER_NAME = '_ide_server';
-/**
  * Zod schema for validating a cursor position.
  */
 export const CursorSchema = z.object({
diff --git a/packages/core/src/index.ts b/packages/core/src/index.ts
index f560afb4..9d87ce32 100644
--- a/packages/core/src/index.ts
+++ b/packages/core/src/index.ts
@@ -40,7 +40,10 @@ export * from './utils/systemEncoding.js';
 // Export services
 export * from './services/fileDiscoveryService.js';
 export * from './services/gitService.js';
-export * from './services/ideContext.js';
+
+// Export IDE specific logic
+export * from './ide/ide-client.js';
+export * from './ide/ideContext.js';
 
 // Export base tool definitions
 export * from './tools/tools.js';
diff --git a/packages/core/src/tools/mcp-client.ts b/packages/core/src/tools/mcp-client.ts
index 3c482100..c59b1592 100644
--- a/packages/core/src/tools/mcp-client.ts
+++ b/packages/core/src/tools/mcp-client.ts
@@ -24,11 +24,6 @@ import { ToolRegistry } from './tool-registry.js';
 import { MCPOAuthProvider } from '../mcp/oauth-provider.js';
 import { OAuthUtils } from '../mcp/oauth-utils.js';
 import { MCPOAuthTokenStorage } from '../mcp/oauth-token-storage.js';
-import {
-  OpenFilesNotificationSchema,
-  IDE_SERVER_NAME,
-  ideContext,
-} from '../services/ideContext.js';
 import { getErrorMessage } from '../utils/errors.js';
 
 export const MCP_DEFAULT_TIMEOUT_MSEC = 10 * 60 * 1000; // default to 10 minutes
@@ -379,24 +374,11 @@ export async function connectAndDiscover(
     );
     try {
       updateMCPServerStatus(mcpServerName, MCPServerStatus.CONNECTED);
-
       mcpClient.onerror = (error) => {
         console.error(`MCP ERROR (${mcpServerName}):`, error.toString());
         updateMCPServerStatus(mcpServerName, MCPServerStatus.DISCONNECTED);
-        if (mcpServerName === IDE_SERVER_NAME) {
-          ideContext.clearOpenFilesContext();
-        }
       };
 
-      if (mcpServerName === IDE_SERVER_NAME) {
-        mcpClient.setNotificationHandler(
-          OpenFilesNotificationSchema,
-          (notification) => {
-            ideContext.setOpenFilesContext(notification.params);
-          },
-        );
-      }
-
       const tools = await discoverTools(
         mcpServerName,
         mcpServerConfig,