Skip to content

Instantly share code, notes, and snippets.

Show Gist options
  • Select an option

  • Save burkeholland/90ec39cc8e8a42eac8a46e601879f0e6 to your computer and use it in GitHub Desktop.

Select an option

Save burkeholland/90ec39cc8e8a42eac8a46e601879f0e6 to your computer and use it in GitHub Desktop.
vscode-install-instructions.md
We want to update this README to add VS Code mcp server installation instructions. We want to add the one-click install buttons to the top of the README. The buttons should only be at the top of the README and nowhere else in the file. There is no need to indicate that these buttons are external links.
Here is an example of how the buttons are formed...
```
[![Install with NPM in VS Code](https://img.shields.io/badge/VS_Code-NPM-0098FF?style=flat-square&logo=visualstudiocode&logoColor=white)](https://vscode.dev/redirect?url=vscode:mcp/install?%7B%22name%22%3A%22everart%22%2C%22command%22%3A%22npx%22%2C%22args%22%3A%5B%22-y%22%2C%22%40modelcontextprotocol%2Fserver-everart%22%5D%2C%22env%22%3A%7B%22EVERART_API_KEY%22%3A%22%24%7Binput%3Aeverart_api_key%7D%22%7D%2C%22inputs%22%3A%5B%7B%22id%22%3A%22everart_api_key%22%2C%22description%22%3A%22EverArt%20API%20Key%22%2C%22password%22%3Atrue%7D%5D%7D) [![Install with NPM in VS Code Insiders](https://img.shields.io/badge/VS_Code_Insiders-NPM-24bfa5?style=flat-square&logo=visualstudiocode&logoColor=white)](https://insiders.vscode.dev/redirect?url=vscode-insiders:mcp/install?%7B%22name%22%3A%22everart%22%2C%22command%22%3A%22npx%22%2C%22args%22%3A%5B%22-y%22%2C%22%40modelcontextprotocol%2Fserver-everart%22%5D%2C%22env%22%3A%7B%22EVERART_API_KEY%22%3A%22%24%7Binput%3Aeverart_api_key%7D%22%7D%2C%22inputs%22%3A%5B%7B%22id%22%3A%22everart_api_key%22%2C%22description%22%3A%22EverArt%20API%20Key%22%2C%22password%22%3Atrue%7D%5D%7D)
[![Install with Docker in VS Code](https://img.shields.io/badge/VS_Code-Docker-0098FF?style=flat-square&logo=visualstudiocode&logoColor=white)](https://vscode.dev/redirect?url=vscode:mcp/install?%7B%22name%22%3A%22everart%22%2C%22command%22%3A%22docker%22%2C%22args%22%3A%5B%22run%22%2C%22-i%22%2C%22--rm%22%2C%22-e%22%2C%22EVERART_API_KEY%22%2C%22mcp%2Feverart%22%5D%2C%22env%22%3A%7B%22EVERART_API_KEY%22%3A%22%24%7Binput%3Aeverart_api_key%7D%22%7D%2C%22inputs%22%3A%5B%7B%22id%22%3A%22everart_api_key%22%2C%22description%22%3A%22EverArt%20API%20Key%22%2C%22password%22%3Atrue%7D%5D%7D) [![Install with Docker in VS Code Insiders](https://img.shields.io/badge/VS_Code_Insiders-Docker-24bfa5?style=flat-square&logo=visualstudiocode&logoColor=white)](https://insiders.vscode.dev/redirect?url=vscode-insiders:mcp/install?%7B%22name%22%3A%22everart%22%2C%22command%22%3A%22docker%22%2C%22args%22%3A%5B%22run%22%2C%22-i%22%2C%22--rm%22%2C%22-e%22%2C%22EVERART_API_KEY%22%2C%22mcp%2Feverart%22%5D%2C%22env%22%3A%7B%22EVERART_API_KEY%22%3A%22%24%7Binput%3Aeverart_api_key%7D%22%7D%2C%22inputs%22%3A%5B%7B%22id%22%3A%22everart_api_key%22%2C%22description%22%3A%22EverArt%20API%20Key%22%2C%22password%22%3Atrue%7D%5D%7D)
```
We want to add manual instructions in the appropriate section in the body. Look for sections that contain Cursor, Claude Desktop or other tools. If you aren't sure where to put the manual instructions, ask the user for clarification.
We want to remind the user that they can click the install buttons at the top of the file as the first step in the installation instrucxtions. Do not repeat the buttons here, just tell the user to go to the top of the file.
Make sure that the manual instructions are not the last thing in the file. Look for the most appropriate place to add them and try to copy any existing styles used by other tools/IDE configuration instructions.
For manual installation, we want to tell the user how to open their user settings (json) and then give them the JSON they need to add to that file.
We also want to provide the CLI command for manual installation. For the CLI command, we want commands for both Stable and Insiders.
Here is an example of a well-formed CLI command...
```
code --add-mcp '{"name":"tavily","command":"python","args":["-m","mcp_server_tavily"],"env":{"TAVILY_API_KEY":"${input:tavily_api_key}"},"inputs":[{"id":"tavily_api_key","description":"Tavily API Key","password":true}]}'
```
```
code-insiders --add-mcp '{"name":"tavily","command":"python","args":["-m","mcp_server_tavily"],"env":{"TAVILY_API_KEY":"${input:tavily_api_key}"},"inputs":[{"id":"tavily_api_key","description":"Tavily API Key","password":true}]}'
```
Avoid deleting or altering any existing code in the file. You can add code for installation instructions, but you should leave existing code and content as you found it.
Here is an example of a well formed JSON block for an MCP server in VS Code...
```json
{
"everart": {
"inputs": [
{
"id": "everart_api_key",
"description": "EverArt API Key",
"password": true
}
],
"command": "npx",
"args": ["-y", "@modelcontextprotocol/server-everart"],
"env": {
"EVERART_API_KEY": "${input:everart_api_key}"
}
}
}
```
@EvilWestOG
Copy link

@Mcshuqul
Copy link

Mcshuqul commented Oct 9, 2025

Remote GitHub MCP Server 🚀

Install in VS Code Install in VS Code Insiders

Easily connect to the GitHub MCP Server using the hosted version – no local setup or runtime required.

URL: https://api.githubcopilot.com/mcp/

About

The remote GitHub MCP server is built using this repository as a library, and binding it into GitHub server infrastructure with an internal repository. You can open issues and propose changes in this repository, and we regularly update the remote server to include the latest version of this code.

The remote server has additional tools that are not available in the local MCP server, such as the create_pull_request_with_copilot tool for invoking Copilot coding agent.

Remote MCP Toolsets

Below is a table of available toolsets for the remote GitHub MCP Server. Each toolset is provided as a distinct URL so you can mix and match to create the perfect combination of tools for your use-case. Add /readonly to the end of any URL to restrict the tools in the toolset to only those that enable read access. We also provide the option to use headers instead.

Name Description API URL 1-Click Install (VS Code) Read-only Link 1-Click Read-only Install (VS Code)
all All available GitHub MCP tools https://api.githubcopilot.com/mcp/ Install read-only Install read-only
Actions GitHub Actions workflows and CI/CD operations https://api.githubcopilot.com/mcp/x/actions Install read-only Install read-only
Code Security Code security related tools, such as GitHub Code Scanning https://api.githubcopilot.com/mcp/x/code_security Install read-only Install read-only
Dependabot Dependabot tools https://api.githubcopilot.com/mcp/x/dependabot Install read-only Install read-only
Discussions GitHub Discussions related tools https://api.githubcopilot.com/mcp/x/discussions Install read-only Install read-only
Experiments Experimental features that are not considered stable yet https://api.githubcopilot.com/mcp/x/experiments Install read-only Install read-only
Gists GitHub Gist related tools https://api.githubcopilot.com/mcp/x/gists Install read-only Install read-only
Issues GitHub Issues related tools https://api.githubcopilot.com/mcp/x/issues Install read-only Install read-only
Labels GitHub Labels related tools https://api.githubcopilot.com/mcp/x/labels Install read-only Install read-only
Notifications GitHub Notifications related tools https://api.githubcopilot.com/mcp/x/notifications Install read-only Install read-only
Organizations GitHub Organization related tools https://api.githubcopilot.com/mcp/x/orgs Install read-only Install read-only
Projects GitHub Projects related tools https://api.githubcopilot.com/mcp/x/projects Install read-only Install read-only
Pull Requests GitHub Pull Request related tools https://api.githubcopilot.com/mcp/x/pull_requests Install read-only Install read-only
Repositories GitHub Repository related tools https://api.githubcopilot.com/mcp/x/repos Install read-only Install read-only
Secret Protection Secret protection related tools, such as GitHub Secret Scanning https://api.githubcopilot.com/mcp/x/secret_protection Install read-only Install read-only
Security Advisories Security advisories related tools https://api.githubcopilot.com/mcp/x/security_advisories Install read-only Install read-only
Stargazers GitHub Stargazers related tools https://api.githubcopilot.com/mcp/x/stargazers Install read-only Install read-only
Users GitHub User related tools https://api.githubcopilot.com/mcp/x/users Install read-only Install read-only

Additional Remote Server Toolsets

These toolsets are only available in the remote GitHub MCP Server and are not included in the local MCP server.

Name Description API URL 1-Click Install (VS Code) Read-only Link 1-Click Read-only Install (VS Code)
Copilot coding agent Perform task with GitHub Copilot coding agent https://api.githubcopilot.com/mcp/x/copilot Install read-only Install read-only

Optional Headers

The Remote GitHub MCP server has optional headers equivalent to the Local server env vars:

  • X-MCP-Toolsets: Comma-separated list of toolsets to enable. E.g. "repos,issues".
    • Equivalent to GITHUB_TOOLSETS env var for Local server.
    • If the list is empty, default toolsets will be used. If a bad toolset is provided, the server will fail to start and emit a 400 bad request status. Whitespace is ignored.
  • X-MCP-Readonly: Enables only "read" tools.
    • Equivalent to GITHUB_READ_ONLY env var for Local server.
    • If this header is empty, "false", "f", "no", "n", "0", or "off" (ignoring whitespace and case), it will be interpreted as false. All other values are interpreted as true.

Example:

{
    "type": "http",
    "url": "https://api.githubcopilot.com/mcp/",
    "headers": {
        "X-MCP-Toolsets": "repos,issues",
        "X-MCP-Readonly": "true"
    }
}

URL Path Parameters

The Remote GitHub MCP server also supports the URL path parameters:

  • /x/{toolset}
  • /x/{toolset}/readonly
  • /readonly

Note: {toolset} can only been a single toolset, not a comma-separated list. To combine multiple toolsets, use the X-MCP-Toolsets header instead.

Example:

{
    "type": "http",
    "url": "https://api.githubcopilot.com/mcp/x/issues/readonly"
}

Sign up for free to join this conversation on GitHub. Already have an account? Sign in to comment