Roadmap

The architecture is settled: NSmithy uses the Smithy CLI for model assembly and a Smithy Java plugin for generation, integrated into the .NET build through NSmithy.MSBuild. This roadmap covers hardening and expanding that baseline rather than revisiting it, guided by a few principles:

• Keep Smithy CLI as the model front end for assembly, validation, projections, and Maven dependency resolution.
• Keep the generated output and runtime idiomatic for .NET consumers.
• Prefer explicit preview boundaries over broad compatibility claims.
• Use protocol expansion to validate and strengthen the runtime seams that are already in place.

For what has already shipped, see the changelog. The priorities below are what remains.

Near-Term Priorities

1. Expand AWS protocol coverage and AWS readiness

• Keep the fully conformant AWS Query and EC2 Query client surfaces green while expanding real-service coverage.
• Continue hardening aws.protocols#restJson1, aws.protocols#restXml, and smithy.protocols#rpcv2Cbor as preview surfaces.
• Build on regional endpoint resolution, profile/SSO/IMDS credentials, presigning, and published AWS golden vectors with modeled endpoint rule sets, additional credential sources, and SigV4a.
• Grow the LocalStack integration coverage beyond the initial example into a broader suite that validates generated AWS clients against realistic protocol, signing, and endpoint behavior.
• Keep the scope driven by conformance and observed runtime behavior rather than by protocol checklists.

2. Expand to async protocols

NSmithy’s current protocol work is mostly request/response oriented. A separate near-term goal is to validate that the runtime and generator model can also support async protocol families cleanly.

This work includes:

• Exploring first-class support for Kafka-oriented messaging workflows.
• Exploring AMQP-based protocols and the runtime abstractions they require.
• Exploring Redis-oriented protocol patterns where Smithy models map cleanly to command and messaging semantics.
• Using these protocols to pressure-test the existing transport, codec, and client/server seams beyond HTTP-centric assumptions.

3. Support Smithy AI traits and MCP generation

Support Smithy’s AI-oriented traits so that .NET and protocol artifacts can be generated for tool-driven and agent-driven workflows, rather than treating the traits as out-of-band metadata.

This work includes:

• Supporting relevant Smithy AI traits during model interpretation and codegen.
• Generating Model Context Protocol (MCP) surfaces from Smithy models where the modeled contract maps cleanly to MCP tools, resources, and prompts.
• Defining the runtime and generation boundaries needed so AI-trait-aware models remain inspectable, testable, and versionable.

Later Work

These are plausible future areas, but they are not the current focus:

• F#-specific generation