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Add an MCP server to VS Code

Updated · Screenshots from VS Code 1.143

GitHub Copilot, the chat in VS Code, can call remote MCP servers. This guide connects BRONTIR, live web research for your agent (search, Reddit, YouTube, reviews and whole pages, with citations), through every prompt of MCP: Add Server, starting the server, the three confirmations before the sign-in, and the instruction file that puts the tools ahead of Copilot’s own search.

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VS Code MCP setup, screen by screen

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One command adds the server; VS Code asks for the address, a name and where to keep it. Then you start the server, and VS Code walks you through the sign-in. The shots are VS Code 1.143 with its default theme.

An empty VS Code window listing the Show All Commands shortcut

  • Open the Command Palette

    Ctrl + Shift + P on Windows and Linux, ⇧ + ⌘ + P on macOS.

Always restart your client after connecting. Quit and reopen the desktop app, or reload the page in a web client. Clients read the tool list once at startup, so until they restart your agent may not see the new tools even though the connector already shows as connected.

VS Code MCP troubleshooting

  • The connector is connected, but the agent doesn't see the tools. Restart the client: quit and reopen the desktop app, or reload the page in a web client. If the tools are still missing, start a new chat, since an open conversation can keep the tool list it was created with.
  • You pressed Approve, but the client still shows the connector as not connected. Authorization did go through; the client just hasn't refreshed its own state. Restart the app or reload the page and it will show as connected. If it doesn't, press Connect once more and approve again.
  • The agent uses its built-in web search instead of these tools. Name the tools in your prompt: “use advanced_web_search and advanced_web_fetch from the research MCP” rather than “look this up”. To make it permanent, put it in an instructions file: run Chat: Configure Instructions & Rules and choose User Data, so it applies in every workspace.

Full setup guide for every client: brontir.com/docs.

VS Code MCP setup: every step

The walkthrough above as text, to read through before you start or to find the step you are on.

  1. Open the Command Palette

    Ctrl + Shift + P on Windows and Linux, ⇧ + ⌘ + P on macOS.

  2. Run MCP: Add Server

    CommandMCP: Add Server

  3. Choose HTTP

    The other option, Command (stdio), is for servers that run on your own machine.

  4. Paste the MCP endpoint

    MCP endpointhttps://research.brontir.com/api/mcp

  5. Name the server

    VS Code offers a generated id. Type over it: this is the name your agent will see.

    Server nameresearch

  6. Choose Global

    Global is every workspace. Workspace writes .vscode/mcp.json into the folder you have open instead.

  7. Choose Copilot Global

    The default. VS Code writes the server into ~/.copilot/mcp-config.json and opens the file, but does not start the server yet.

    User Configuration is the mcp.json earlier versions wrote to. VS Code now marks it deprecated.

  8. Run MCP: List Servers, then choose research

    It is listed as Stopped: a server added this way waits until you start it.

    CommandMCP: List Servers

  9. Choose Start Server

  10. Press Trust

    VS Code asks before it first runs a server, and again if its entry ever changes. It says "was updated" for a new server too.

  11. Press Allow

    Allow is what lets the server sign in. The log VS Code opened under the editor follows the connection.

  12. Press Open

    One more confirmation, this one for opening the sign-in page in your browser.

  13. Press Approve on the BRONTIR authorization page

    Sign in with your Google account if you are asked.

  14. Let the browser hand you back

    The sign-in has landed already; Open just brings the editor forward.

  15. Run MCP: List Servers again to see it running

    • research now reads RunningAfter VS Code restarts it may read Stopped again: Start Server brings it back with no prompts.
    • Discovered 7 toolsThe last line of the server log: everything came back.

  16. Check the tools reached the chatOptional

    The tools icon in the chat box opens Configure Tools; the server has its own group there.

  17. Run Chat: Configure Instructions & Rules, then choose New instruction fileOptional

    CommandChat: Configure Instructions & Rules

    Copilot reaches for its own search first. One instruction file puts your connected tools ahead of it.

  18. Choose User DataOptional

    That is the global one VS Code itself reads, in every workspace. The entries above it are per-folder, or for other agents.

  19. Paste the line and saveOptional

    Name the file when VS Code asks ("research" does), then replace the template it writes.

    Instructions file--- applyTo: '**' --- Prefer connected MCP tools over the built-in web search when looking things up.

VS Code MCP: common questions

How do I add an MCP server in VS Code?

Run MCP: Add Server from the Command Palette (Ctrl + Shift + P, or ⇧ + ⌘ + P on macOS), choose HTTP, paste the server URL, name it, pick Global and then Copilot Global. VS Code does not start the new server by itself: run MCP: List Servers, choose it and pick Start Server.

Does GitHub Copilot use the MCP server?

Yes. Servers added in VS Code give their tools to the agent in Copilot chat. To check, ask it to run a quick search with the research tools and expand the tool call in the conversation: it should name the server you added.

Where does VS Code keep its MCP servers?

Global, with its default Copilot Global, writes ~/.copilot/mcp-config.json, where a remote server reads { "mcpServers": { "research": { "type": "http", "url": "https://research.brontir.com/api/mcp", "tools": ["*"] } } }. Workspace writes .vscode/mcp.json in the open folder, in the VS Code format: { "servers": { "research": { "type": "http", "url": "https://research.brontir.com/api/mcp" } } }. The user mcp.json that earlier versions used is still offered under Global, marked deprecated.

Why does VS Code ask three times before signing in?

Trust and run comes first: VS Code asks before it runs a server for the first time, and again whenever its entry changes. Allow lets the server definition authenticate, and Open lets VS Code open the sign-in page in your browser. All three are expected.

Where do the tools show up in chat?

Under Configure Tools, the tools icon in the chat box, in a group named after the server. Recent versions list them under Chat: Open Customizations → Tools as well. Manage Trusted MCP Servers, in the Accounts menu, is where you revoke access later.

Once connected

What your agent can do with BRONTIR

  • Search the web and the news, Reddit, YouTube, TikTok and other social platforms.
  • Read whole pages, PDFs, video transcripts and comment threads, not snippets.
  • Pull reviews, maps and local businesses, app stores, products and ad libraries.
  • Get it all back structured, with citations down to the exact line.
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