vscode-mcp-server

Code MCP Server

A Model Context Protocol (MCP) server for VS Code integration, enabling AI agents like Goose or Claude to interact with VS Code.

Features

• File diffing
• Opening files
• more to come

Installation

You can install the Code MCP Server using npx:

npx vscode-mcp-server install

This command will:

• Check your operating system compatibility (Windows/macOS)
• Install the server
• Generate a Goose install URL that you can copy and paste it into a browser to easily istall the Goose Extension.

Local Installation Using npm pack

If you want to test the package locally before publishing to npm, you can use npm pack:

• Clone the repository and navigate to the server directory:

  git clone https://github.com/block/code-mcp.git
  cd code-mcp/server
  

• Create a tarball of the package:

  npm pack
  

  This will create a file like vscode-mcp-server-X.X.X.tgz in the current directory.

• Install the package globally from the local tarball:

  npm install -g ./vscode-mcp-server-X.X.X.tgz
  

Usage

Once installed, you can configure your AI assistant to use this server. The server provides various tools for interacting with VS Code, including:

• Opening files
• Creating Diffs of file changes that require Accept/Reject

Configuration

After installation, you'll need to configure your AI assistant to use this server.

Goose Desktop Configuration

• ID: vscode-mcp-server
• Name: VSCode MCP Server
• Description: Allows interaction with VSCode through the Model Context Protocol
• Command: npx vscode-mcp-server

Claude Desktop Configuration

Add the following to your Claude Desktop configuration file:

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

{
  "mcpServers": {
    "vscode-mcp-server": {
      "command": "npx",
      "args": ["vscode-mcp-server"],
      "env": {}
    }
  }
}

Other AI Assistants

For other AI assistants that support the Model Context Protocol, refer to their documentation for how to configure external MCP servers. You'll typically need to provide:

• The command npx vscode-mcp-server
• Any required environment variables

Development

Automated Publishing with GitHub Actions (WIP)

• release.yml: Automatically creates a new release when you push to the main branch with conventional commit messages
• npm-publish.yml: Automatically publishes to npm when a new release is created

To use these workflows:

• Push your changes to GitHub with conventional commit messages (e.g., "feat: add install command")
• The release workflow will create a new release with an incremented version
• The npm-publish workflow will then publish the new version to npm

You'll need to add an npm token to your GitHub repository secrets:

• Generate an npm token: npm token create
• Add the token to your GitHub repository secrets as npm_token

Updating the Package

Update the version

npm version patch/minor/major

Publish

npm publish