How do I use MCP Server for VS Code?

1. Click on "Deploy Server". 2. Wait a few minutes for the server to deploy. Once ready, it will show a "Started" state. 3. In the chat, type @ followed by the MCP server name and your instructions, e.g., "@MCP Server for VS Code Find all references to the function 'calculate'" That's it! The server will respond to your query, and you can continue using it as needed. Here is a step-by-step guide with screenshots.

MCP Server for VS Code

by malvex

Overview Schema Source Related Servers Discussions Admin

TypeScript

Local

MCP Server for VS Code

A VS Code extension that provides a Model Context Protocol (MCP) server, enabling AI assistants to interact with your VS Code environment for language intelligence, debugging, and code execution.

Features

Language Intelligence: Access VS Code's language server features including:
- Go to definition
- Find references
- Diagnostics (errors and warnings)
- Symbol search
- Call hierarchy
Debugging Support: Control VS Code's debugger programmatically:
- Start/stop debug sessions
- Set and manage breakpoints
- Step through code (into/over/out)
- Inspect variables and call stacks
- Evaluate expressions in debug context

Related MCP server: DebugMCP

Installation

Alpha Testing

Step 1: Install VS Code Extension

Download the .vsix file from Releases and install:

In VS Code: Extensions → ... menu → Install from VSIX
Or via command line: code --install-extension mcp-server-vscode-*.vsix

Step 2: Configure Claude Desktop

The MCP server runs directly from GitHub using npx. Add this to your Claude config:

macOS: ~/Library/Application Support/Claude/claude_desktop_config.json
Windows: %APPDATA%\Claude\claude_desktop_config.json

{
  "mcpServers": {
    "vscode": {
      "command": "npx",
      "args": ["github:malvex/mcp-server-vscode"]
    }
  }
}

Step 3: Restart Claude Desktop

That's it! The VS Code tools are now available in Claude.

Configure Claude Code (CLI)

For Claude Code users, run this one-liner:

claude mcp add-json vscode '{"type":"stdio","command":"npx","args":["github:malvex/mcp-server-vscode"]}' -s user

Usage

Once installed, the extension shows the MCP server status in the VS Code status bar (bottom right).

To start the MCP server: Click on "VS Code MCP: Stopped" in the status bar. It will change to "VS Code MCP: 8991" when running.

The status bar indicates:

VS Code MCP: 8991 - Server is running on port 8991
VS Code MCP: Stopped - Server is not running

Click the status bar item to toggle the server on/off.

How It Works

┌─────────────┐     stdio      ┌──────────────────┐     HTTP      ┌─────────────┐
│   Claude    │ ◄────────────► │  MCP Standalone  │ ◄───────────► │   VS Code   │
│   Desktop   │                │      Server      │    :8991      │  Extension  │
└─────────────┘                └──────────────────┘               └─────────────┘

VS Code Extension provides an HTTP API on port 8991
MCP Standalone Server acts as a bridge, converting stdio ↔ HTTP
Claude Desktop communicates with the standalone server via stdio

Troubleshooting

If Claude can't connect to VS Code:

Check VS Code is running with the extension active
Check the status bar shows "VS Code MCP: 8991"
Test the MCP server: Run npx github:malvex/mcp-server-vscode in terminal
Check firewall isn't blocking localhost:8991
Try manually starting the MCP server in VS Code (Cmd/Ctrl+Shift+P → "Start MCP Server")

Available Tools

The extension provides 25 tools organized into three main categories:

Language Intelligence Tools (7 tools)

Tool	Description	Main Parameters	Example
hover	Get hover information (type info, documentation) for a symbol by name	`symbol` (required), `uri` (optional), `format` (optional)	`hover({ symbol: "calculateSum" })`
definition	Find where a symbol is defined. Instantly jumps to declarations	`symbol` (required), `format` (optional)	`definition({ symbol: "Calculator" })`
references	Find all references to a symbol. Superior to grep - finds semantic references	`symbol` (required), `includeDeclaration` (optional), `format` (optional)	`references({ symbol: "process" })`
callHierarchy	Analyze what calls a function or what a function calls	`symbol` (required), `direction` (required: 'incoming'\|'outgoing'\|'both'), `uri` (optional), `format` (optional)	`callHierarchy({ symbol: "initialize", direction: "incoming" })`
symbolSearch	Search for symbols (classes, functions, variables) across the workspace	`query` (required), `kind` (optional), `format` (optional)	`symbolSearch({ query: "Controller", kind: "class" })`
workspaceSymbols	Get a complete map of all symbols in the workspace	`includeDetails` (optional), `filePattern` (optional), `maxFiles` (optional), `format` (optional)	`workspaceSymbols({ filePattern: "*/.ts" })`
diagnostics	Get all errors and warnings for a file or workspace	`uri` (optional), `format` (optional)	`diagnostics({})`

Refactoring Tools (1 tool)

Tool	Description	Main Parameters	Example
refactor_rename	Rename a symbol across all files. Automatically updates all references and imports	`symbol` (required), `newName` (required), `uri` (optional), `format` (optional)	`refactor_rename({ symbol: "OldName", newName: "NewName" })`

Debug Tools (17 tools)

Breakpoint Management

Tool	Description	Main Parameters	Example
debug_setBreakpoint	Set breakpoints by symbol name or file/line with optional conditions	`symbol` OR (`file` AND `line`), `condition` (optional), `hitCondition` (optional), `logMessage` (optional), `format` (optional)	`debug_setBreakpoint({ symbol: "processData", condition: "items.length > 100" })`
debug_toggleBreakpoint	Toggle a breakpoint on/off at a specific location	`symbol` OR (`file` AND `line`), `format` (optional)	`debug_toggleBreakpoint({ file: "app.js", line: 25 })`
debug_listBreakpoints	List all breakpoints in the workspace	`format` (optional)	`debug_listBreakpoints({})`
debug_clearBreakpoints	Clear all breakpoints from the workspace	`format` (optional)	`debug_clearBreakpoints({})`

Session Management

Tool	Description	Main Parameters	Example
debug_status	Get current debug session status and active threads	`format` (optional)	`debug_status({})`
debug_listConfigurations	List available debug configurations from launch.json	`format` (optional)	`debug_listConfigurations({})`
debug_startSession	Start a debug session using a configuration	`configuration` (optional), `format` (optional)	`debug_startSession({ configuration: "Launch Program" })`
debug_stopSession	Stop the active debug session	`format` (optional)	`debug_stopSession({})`

Runtime Control

Tool	Description	Main Parameters	Example
debug_pauseExecution	Pause the running program	`threadId` (optional), `format` (optional)	`debug_pauseExecution({})`
debug_continueExecution	Continue execution from current breakpoint	`threadId` (optional), `allThreads` (optional), `format` (optional)	`debug_continueExecution({})`
debug_stepOver	Step over the current line of code	`threadId` (optional), `format` (optional)	`debug_stepOver({})`
debug_stepInto	Step into the function call at current line	`threadId` (optional), `format` (optional)	`debug_stepInto({})`
debug_stepOut	Step out of the current function	`threadId` (optional), `format` (optional)	`debug_stepOut({})`

Inspection and Evaluation

Tool	Description	Main Parameters	Example
debug_getCallStack	Get the current call stack with source locations	`threadId` (optional), `startFrame` (optional), `levels` (optional), `format` (optional)	`debug_getCallStack({ levels: 10 })`
debug_inspectVariables	Inspect variables in the current scope during debugging	`threadId` (optional), `frameId` (optional), `scope` (optional: 'all'\|'locals'\|'globals'\|'closure'), `filter` (optional), `format` (optional)	`debug_inspectVariables({ scope: "locals" })`
debug_evaluateExpression	Evaluate an expression in the debug context	`expression` (required), `frameId` (optional), `context` (optional), `format` (optional)	`debug_evaluateExpression({ expression: "user.permissions" })`
debug_getOutput	Get debug console output	`category` (optional), `filter` (optional), `limit` (optional), `format` (optional)	`debug_getOutput({})`

Tool Features

All tools support:

Compact format - Optimized for AI token efficiency
Detailed format - Full data for complex analysis
Symbol-based navigation - Work with names instead of file/line numbers
Workspace-wide operations - Not limited to single files
Language server integration - Accurate semantic understanding

Usage Examples for AI Assistants

When connected via MCP, AI assistants can use these tools to help users with development tasks:

Finding and Understanding Code

User: "What does the handleRequest function do?"
AI uses: hover({ symbol: "handleRequest" })
→ Gets type signature and documentation without reading entire files

User: "Where is the DatabaseConnection class defined?"
AI uses: definition({ symbol: "DatabaseConnection" })
→ Instantly finds the file and line where it's declared

User: "Show me all places where processPayment is called"
AI uses: callHierarchy({ symbol: "processPayment", direction: "incoming" })
→ Gets complete list of callers with their locations

Refactoring

User: "Rename the oldMethodName method to newMethodName everywhere"
AI uses: refactor_rename({ symbol: "oldMethodName", newName: "newMethodName" })
→ Safely renames across all files, updating imports and references

Debugging

User: "Help me debug why the server crashes"
AI uses: debug_listConfigurations({})
→ Shows available debug configurations

AI uses: debug_startSession({ configuration: "Debug Server" })
→ Starts the debug session

User: "Set a breakpoint where errors are handled"
AI uses: debug_setBreakpoint({ symbol: "handleError" })
→ Sets breakpoint on the function

User: "What's the value of the user object here?"
AI uses: debug_inspectVariables({ scope: "locals", filter: "user" })
→ Shows current value of user variable in debug context

User: "Why is this condition true?"
AI uses: debug_evaluateExpression({ expression: "users.length > 0 && isActive" })
→ Evaluates the expression in current debug scope

Development

Building from Source

# Clone the repository
git clone https://github.com/malvex/mcp-server-vscode.git
cd mcp-server-vscode

# Install dependencies
npm install

# Build everything
npm run compile
npm run package

# Package the VS Code extension
npx vsce package

Testing Local Changes

To test your local development version:

VS Code Extension: Press F5 in VS Code to launch Extension Development Host
MCP Server: Update Claude config to use local path:

{
  "mcpServers": {
    "vscode": {
      "command": "node",
      "args": ["/path/to/mcp-server-vscode/out/mcp/standalone-server.js"]
    }
  }
}

License

This project is licensed under the MIT License - see the LICENSE file for details.

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Maintenance

ActivityInactive

ResponsivenessUnresponsive

Resources

GitHub Repository

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MCP Server for VS Code

Features

Installation

Alpha Testing

Configure Claude Code (CLI)

Usage

How It Works

Troubleshooting

Available Tools

Language Intelligence Tools (7 tools)

Refactoring Tools (1 tool)

Debug Tools (17 tools)

Breakpoint Management

Session Management

Runtime Control

Inspection and Evaluation

Tool Features

Usage Examples for AI Assistants

Finding and Understanding Code

Refactoring

Debugging

Development

Building from Source

Testing Local Changes

License

Maintenance

Resources

Related MCP Connectors

Related MCP Servers

VSC as MCP

DebugMCPofficial

vscode-helper

Debugger MCPofficial