Skip to main content

How to add a remote MCP server to VS Code

To add a remote MCP server to VS Code, run MCP: Add Server from the Command Palette, choose HTTP and paste the URL, then start the server from MCP: List Servers and sign in.

VS Code gives MCP tools to its agent chat. A server can be global, where every workspace sees it, or live in one workspace's .vscode/mcp.json.

Here from Google? Hi, we make the server in the screenshots
  • qbash runs Tasks, which are Python programs with AI steps, on its own servers, alongside your connected accounts and shared memory folders. Copilot's agent can call all of it as tools.
  • You don't need qbash to follow this guide. Any remote MCP server goes in the same mcp.json.

What the qbash server does

Add qbash to VS Code

VS Code opens and asks you to confirm before it adds the server.

With the Add Server command​

  1. Open the Command Palette and run MCP: Add Server.
  2. Choose HTTP (HTTP or Server-Sent Events) and enter https://mcp.qbash.com/mcp.
  3. Enter qbash as the server ID.
  4. For every workspace, choose Global, then Copilot Global.

In mcp.json​

For one workspace, add qbash to .vscode/mcp.json:

{
  "servers": {
    "qbash": {
      "type": "http",
      "url": "https://mcp.qbash.com/mcp"
    }
  }
}

MCP: Open User Configuration opens the user-profile mcp.json, which takes the same block. VS Code's guided flow labels both of these files deprecated, and they still work.

Start it and sign in​

Run MCP: List Servers, select qbash and choose Start Server. VS Code may ask you to trust the server, then asks you to sign in and opens the qbash sign-in in your browser. Pick the qbash organization VS Code should use.

With an access token​

For a token in place of the sign-in, add a header that reads it from an input, so VS Code prompts for the token and stores it. Inputs work in .vscode/mcp.json and the user-profile mcp.json. The Copilot Global file doesn't support them.

{
  "inputs": [
    {"type": "promptString", "id": "qbash-token", "description": "qbash access token", "password": true}
  ],
  "servers": {
    "qbash": {
      "type": "http",
      "url": "https://mcp.qbash.com/mcp",
      "headers": {"Authorization": "Bearer ${input:qbash-token}"}
    }
  }
}

The VS Code MCP server guide, server management guide and configuration reference cover the other options.

If your organization manages GitHub Copilot​

On Copilot Free, Pro and Pro+, you can add any server. On Copilot Business and Enterprise, two policies decide it:

  • MCP servers in Copilot must be enabled. Enterprise owners set it under AI controls, then MCP, and organization owners under Copilot, Policies, Features. Since 22 October 2026 its default follows the enterprise's default for new features, and an explicit Disabled stays in place.
  • Restrict MCP access to registry servers must be Allow all, or qbash must be in the organization's MCP registry.

VS Code's own chat.mcp.access setting, which an organization can lock by policy, must not be set to none.

Sources: GitHub's MCP server access docs and changelog on global feature defaults, and VS Code's enterprise AI settings, checked 2026-11-04.

Last updated on