Add and manage MCP servers in VS Code

Model Context Protocol (MCP) is an open standard for connecting AI models to external tools and services. In Visual Studio Code, MCP servers provide tools for tasks like file operations, databases, or external APIs. MCP servers can also provide resources, prompts, and interactive apps.

VS Code lets you install MCP servers from an MCP server gallery. By default, this gallery shows servers from the GitHub MCP server registry. Alternatively, you can manually add MCP servers by updating the mcp.json configuration file in your workspace or user profile.

When you add an MCP server, VS Code automatically makes the MCP server tools, prompts, and resources available in chat.

This article covers how to add, configure, and manage MCP servers. To learn about using tools in chat, see Use tools with agents.

Quickstart: use an MCP server in chat

Follow these steps to install an MCP server and use its tools in chat. This example uses the Playwright MCP server to interact with web pages through a browser.

1. Open the Extensions view (⇧⌘X (Windows, Linux Ctrl+Shift+X)) and enter @mcp playwright in the search field.

2. Select Install to install the Playwright MCP server in your user profile.

3. When prompted, confirm that you trust the server to start it. VS Code discovers the server's tools and makes them available in chat.

4. Open the Chat view (⌃⌘I (Windows, Linux Ctrl+Alt+I)) and enter a prompt that uses the Playwright tools. For example:

   Go to code.visualstudio.com, decline the cookie banner, and give me a screenshot of the homepage.
   

   VS Code invokes the Playwright tools to open the page in a browser, and take a screenshot. You might be asked to confirm each tool invocation.

Add an MCP server

To install an MCP server from the MCP server gallery:

1. Open the Extensions view (⇧⌘X (Windows, Linux Ctrl+Shift+X)) and enter @mcp in the search field. This shows the list of available MCP servers in the gallery.

2. You can install an MCP server in your user profile or in your workspace:

   • To install in your user profile, select Install.

   • To install in your workspace, right-click the MCP server and select Install in Workspace. This updates the .vscode/mcp.json file in your workspace.

3. To view the MCP server details, select the MCP server in the list to open the details page.

Configure the mcp.json file

You can manually configure MCP servers by editing the mcp.json file. There are two locations for this file:

• Workspace: create or open .vscode/mcp.json in your project. Include this file in source control to share MCP server configurations with your team.
• User profile: run the MCP: Open User Configuration command to open the mcp.json file in your user profile. Servers configured here are available across all your workspaces. When you use multiple profiles, each profile can have its own MCP server configuration.

You can also run MCP: Add Server in the Command Palette (⇧⌘P (Windows, Linux Ctrl+Shift+P)) to add a server through a guided flow, choosing either Workspace or Global as the target.

The following example shows an mcp.json file that configures a remote MCP server and a local MCP server:

{
  "servers": {
    "github": {
      "type": "http",
      "url": "https://api.githubcopilot.com/mcp"
    },
    "playwright": {
      "command": "npx",
      "args": ["-y", "@microsoft/mcp-server-playwright"]
    }
  }
}

VS Code provides IntelliSense for the configuration file. For the full configuration schema and field reference, see the MCP configuration reference.

Other options to add an MCP server

{
  "image": "mcr.microsoft.com/devcontainers/typescript-node:latest",
  "customizations": {
    "vscode": {
      "mcp": {
        "servers": {
          "playwright": {
            "command": "npx",
            "args": ["-y", "@microsoft/mcp-server-playwright"]
          }
        }
      }
    }
  }
}

code --add-mcp "{\"name\":\"my-server\",\"command\": \"uvx\",\"args\": [\"mcp-server-fetch\"]}"

Other MCP capabilities

Beyond tools, MCP servers can provide other capabilities:

Manage MCP servers

VS Code provides several options to manage your MCP servers, such as starting or stopping a server, viewing logs, uninstalling, or clearing cached tools.

Method	Description
Extensions view	Right-click a server in the MCP SERVERS - INSTALLED section or select the gear icon.
mcp.json editor	Open the configuration file and use the inline actions (code lenses). Use MCP: Open User Configuration or MCP: Open Workspace Folder Configuration to open the file.
Command Palette	Run MCP: List Servers, select a server, and choose an action.

Centrally manage access to MCP servers in VS Code

Organizations can centrally manage access to MCP servers via GitHub policies. Learn more about enterprise management of MCP servers.

Automatically start MCP servers

When you add an MCP server or change its configuration, VS Code needs to (re)start the server to discover the tools it provides.

You can configure VS Code to automatically restart the MCP server when configuration changes are detected by using the

MCP server trust

When you add an MCP server to your workspace or change its configuration, you need to confirm that you trust the server and its capabilities before starting it. VS Code shows a dialog to confirm that you trust the server when you start a server for the first time. In the dialog, select the link to the MCP server to review its configuration.

If you don't trust the MCP server, it will not be started, and chat requests will continue without using the tools provided by the server.

You can reset trust for your MCP servers by running the MCP: Reset Trust command from the Command Palette.

Synchronize MCP configuration across devices

With Settings Sync enabled, you can synchronize settings and configurations across devices, including MCP server configurations. This enables you to maintain a consistent development environment and access the same MCP servers on all your devices.

To synchronize MCP server configuration with Settings Sync:

1. Run the Settings Sync: Configure command from the Command Palette

2. Enable the MCP Servers option in the list of synchronized configurations

Troubleshoot and debug MCP servers

MCP output log

When VS Code encounters an issue with an MCP server, it shows an error indicator in the Chat view.

Select the error notification in the Chat view, and then select the Show Output option to view the server logs. Alternatively, run MCP: List Servers from the Command Palette, select the server, and then choose Show Output.

Frequently asked questions

Related resources

• MCP configuration reference
• Use tools with agents
• Model Context Protocol Documentation
• MCP Apps support in VS Code