VS Code MCP: add a remote MCP server for GitHub Copilot
To add a remote MCP server to VS Code for GitHub Copilot, open the Command Palette, run MCP: Add Server, choose HTTP, paste the server URL and give it an ID. Then choose where to save it (Global → Copilot Global for yourself, or the workspace for your team) and complete the sign-in prompt when the server starts. Copilot’s agent can then call the server’s tools. This guide covers both config formats, sign-in, how to check the tools loaded, and the errors you’ll see most.
The example server is datatomcp, which lets Copilot query your CSVs and Google Sheets.
1. Add the server
- Open the Command Palette (Ctrl+Shift+P, or Cmd+Shift+P on macOS) and run MCP: Add Server. The same flow opens from Chat: Open Customizations → MCP Servers → Add Server.
- Choose HTTP (HTTP or Server-Sent Events).
- Paste the URL:
https://app.datatomcp.com/mcp. - Enter an ID, for example
datatomcp. - Choose the destination. For a personal server pick Global, then Copilot Global.
VS Code tries Streamable HTTP first and falls back to SSE, so you don’t need to know which one the server uses.
Where the config lives
VS Code reads two formats. They look alike but use different top-level keys, so don’t copy between them without changing it.
Portable format (mcpServers), used by Copilot Global at ~/.copilot/mcp-config.json (or $COPILOT_HOME/mcp-config.json), and by a workspace-root .mcp.json when the experimental chat.mcp.workspaceRootConfig.enabled setting is on:
{
"mcpServers": {
"datatomcp": { "type": "http", "url": "https://app.datatomcp.com/mcp" }
}
}VS Code format (servers), in .vscode/mcp.json or your user profile’s mcp.json. The guided flow labels these older locations deprecated, but they still work for local agent sessions and they support input variables for secrets:
{
"servers": {
"datatomcp": { "type": "http", "url": "https://app.datatomcp.com/mcp" }
}
}2. Sign in
The first time the server starts, VS Code shows a trust prompt, then the server’s sign-in if it uses OAuth. For datatomcp a browser window opens; sign in with your datatomcp account and approve read access to your datasets. Trust, sign-in and approving individual tool calls are three separate steps in VS Code, so expect more than one prompt the first time.
Servers that use an API key
In the VS Code format, prompt for the key once with an input variable and VS Code stores it securely:
{
"inputs": [
{ "type": "promptString", "id": "api-token", "description": "API token", "password": true }
],
"servers": {
"my-api": {
"type": "http",
"url": "https://api.example.com/mcp",
"headers": { "Authorization": "Bearer ${input:api-token}" }
}
}
}Portable files don’t support input variables; reference an environment variable such as ${API_TOKEN} instead. Never paste a literal token into a file you commit.
If a server requires a pre-registered OAuth app, the VS Code format accepts an oauth object with a clientId.
3. Check the tools loaded
- Open Copilot Chat in agent mode and click Configure Tools in the chat input. The server should appear with its tools ticked. In a Copilot session the list is under Chat: Open Customizations → Tools.
- Ask: “Use datatomcp to list my datasets.” A working server shows a tool call, returns output without a connection error, and the answer reflects that output.
- To see what the server said, run MCP: List Servers, select it and choose Show Output.
Troubleshooting
- Server missing after you added it. Check which destination you saved to and that it matches the session type and workspace you are in. Servers that need input variables are not passed to Copilot harness sessions.
- Server won’t start in a cloned repo. Workspace servers follow Workspace Trust. Restricted mode blocks them until you trust the folder. MCP: Reset Trust clears earlier MCP trust decisions.
- HTTP server won’t connect or authenticate. Check the URL and your network, then run Restart Server from MCP: List Servers.
- Blocked by policy. Organizations can restrict MCP servers with an enterprise allowlist, and local settings can’t override it. Ask your admin.
- Tool available but never called. Name the server in the prompt and check it’s ticked in Configure Tools. VS Code’s chat debug view shows why a tool wasn’t invoked.
A data server for Copilot
Copilot works on the code in front of it. Data that lives in a spreadsheet (a pricing table, a feature flag list kept by product, a CSV export to test against) is easier to query than to paste. With datatomcp, Copilot gets five read-only tools: list_datasets, describe_dataset, query_rows, aggregate and distinct_values. It can ask “how many customers are on each plan” and get the counts from a database instead of reading thousands of rows.
Create a free account, add a CSV or Google Sheet under Add data, and run MCP: Add Server with the URL above. For CSV specifics see the CSV MCP server guide.
FAQ
Where is the VS Code MCP config file? ~/.copilot/mcp-config.json for Copilot Global, .mcp.json at the workspace root (experimental setting), or the older .vscode/mcp.json and user-profile mcp.json.
What’s the difference between servers and mcpServers? servers is the VS Code format; mcpServers is the portable format shared with other Copilot tools.
Does VS Code support remote MCP servers? Yes, over Streamable HTTP with SSE fallback.
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