VS Code Copilot MCP server setup with .vscode/mcp.json

Connect GitHub Copilot Chat in VS Code to the Autoplans MCP server, with the API key prompted for rather than committed.

The configuration

File: .vscode/mcp.json in the workspace · Transport: Streamable HTTP

{
  "servers": {
    "autoplans": {
      "type": "http",
      "url": "https://autoplans.dev/api/v1/mcp",
      "headers": { "Authorization": "Bearer ${input:autoplansKey}" }
    }
  },
  "inputs": [
    { "id": "autoplansKey", "type": "promptString", "description": "Autoplans API key", "password": true }
  ]
}

The endpoint is https://autoplans.dev/api/v1/mcp. Create the key in the dashboard under Settings → API keys; see Accounts and API keys.

Step by step

1
Create an API key in the dashboard under Settings → API keys.
2
Create .vscode/mcp.json in the workspace and paste the block, or run MCP: Add Server from the Command Palette and answer the prompts instead.
3
Run MCP: List Servers, select autoplans and start it, and confirm the trust dialogue VS Code shows the first time a server starts.
4
Paste the key when VS Code prompts for it — the inputs block means it is stored outside the file.
5
Open Chat and press Configure Tools in the chat input; the Autoplans tools should be listed there and can be toggled individually.
6
Run MCP: Open User Configuration and add the same servers block there to have it in every workspace.

Specific to VS Code and GitHub Copilot

•VS Code uses servers as the top-level key, not mcpServers; the documented top-level keys are servers, inputs and sandbox. A block copied from Cursor or Claude Code has the wrong outer key and will not register the server.
•The inputs array is what makes .vscode/mcp.json safe to commit: ${input:autoplansKey} is resolved by a prompt marked password, so the key never goes into the file or into version control.
•The experimental chat.mcp.autostart setting restarts a server when its configuration changes. Without it, restart the server yourself from MCP: List Servers after editing the file.
•The Autoplans VS Code extension is a separate install and does not replace this file. The extension draws the backlog and the task map in the editor; this configuration is what puts the same tools in front of GitHub Copilot. See /vscode.

What the agent can do once connected

Around forty tools: list and create projects, read the whole task graph in one list_tasks call, ask code_agent_get_task_with_dependencies whether a task is blocked, move it to in progress, comment on it, and mark it done. Every tool and its arguments is in the MCP tools reference; the server itself is described on the MCP server page.

curl -s https://autoplans.dev/api/v1/mcp \
  -H 'content-type: application/json' \
  -H "authorization: Bearer $AUTOPLANS_API_KEY" \
  -d '{"jsonrpc":"2.0","id":1,"method":"tools/list"}'

Questions

How do I set up the VS Code Copilot MCP server?

Put the block above in .vscode/mcp.json, start the server from MCP: List Servers, and paste the key at the prompt. Configure Tools in the chat input then lists the Autoplans tools, and Copilot can read the backlog, move a task to in progress and comment on it. MCP: Add Server does the same thing through a guided flow if you would rather not write JSON.

Where does .vscode/mcp.json go, and can it be committed?

It goes in the .vscode folder of the workspace, next to settings.json, and it is meant to be committed — that is how a team shares one server list. Commit it with the inputs block as written: the Authorization header refers to ${input:autoplansKey}, so each developer is prompted for their own key and nothing secret is checked in. For a server you want in every workspace, use MCP: Open User Configuration instead, which opens the profile-level mcp.json.

Why do the Autoplans tools not appear in chat?

Check the top-level key is servers and not mcpServers, then check the server is actually running in MCP: List Servers rather than merely configured — a server you have not yet trusted stays stopped. If it is running and Configure Tools shows nothing under autoplans, the key is the next suspect: the endpoint answers 401 to a bad key and 403 to a free-plan key, because the hosted MCP server is a paid capability.

Do I need the Autoplans VS Code extension as well?

No, they are independent. This file gives GitHub Copilot the tools; the extension gives you the backlog, the task map and the code agent inside the editor without going through chat. Both read the same account, so a task moved in one shows up in the other. The extension is described at /vscode and in /docs/vscode.

Checked against the VS Code and GitHub Copilot documentation on 2026-08-28.