MCP servers for VS Code (GitHub Copilot)

Microsoft · IDE

How to add an MCP server

VS Code runs MCP servers for GitHub Copilot agent mode.
Add servers to .vscode/mcp.json for one project, or to your user mcp.json for all projects. Both files use the servers key.
Each server requires a type: stdio, http or sse.
For http, VS Code tries streamable HTTP first, then falls back to SSE.
Declare secrets in inputs with password: true. Reference them as ${input:id}.
Run code --add-mcp '{"name":"x","type":"stdio","command":"npx","args":["-y","pkg"]}' from a terminal to add a server directly.
Vendor docs: VS Code MCP configuration.

Skills are folders containing a SKILL.md file. VS Code (GitHub Copilot) reads them from .github/skills, .claude/skills, .agents/skills, ~/.copilot/skills, and ~/.agents/skills.
Copy the skill folder into one of those locations. The install snippet on a skill page copies it into ~/.copilot/skills.
Vendor docs: VS Code (GitHub Copilot) skills.