Connect VS Code / Copilot Chat

VS Code can load Neotoma through Agent mode’s MCP configuration. The workspace-specific VS Code file and portable MCP file use different JSON keys.

Source: docs/guides/connections/vscode.md · Read Markdown · 08598d0

VS Code's Add Server flow and its servers configuration lead to the host's Agent-mode tools.

Release reference: v0.26.0 (b6ae615, October 27th, 2026). The path was checked against source 4779784 and vendor documentation on October 24th, 2026; that source is included in this release. Installed-host compatibility and Windows behavior were not smoke tested.

Path: manual MCP configuration.

Before connecting

A local stdio path installs Neotoma on the host machine and writes host configuration; a supported remote path instead configures an existing endpoint. Read what changes on your system before choosing or copying setup steps.

Follow the human connection index to install and initialize Neotoma. Node.js and the installed Neotoma package must be on the machine that runs a local stdio host. Use neotoma status --json to inspect Neotoma-side state. Remote connections require a reachable authenticated HTTPS /mcp endpoint; local stdio does not make a service remote. Keep credentials out of shared project files.

Configure

Use MCP: Add Server in VS Code and choose a local stdio command or your authenticated HTTPS /mcp URL. For local stdio, run node -p "process.execPath" and npm root -g; replace the example paths below with the absolute Node.js executable and <npm root -g>/neotoma/dist/index.js. Confirm the entrypoint exists. This is the installed-package launch shape produced by Neotoma's MCP config writer. A source checkout uses its absolute scripts/run_neotoma_mcp_stdio_prod.sh path instead. neotoma mcp stdio is not a CLI command. Choose the configuration destination intentionally. For the VS Code workspace format, .vscode/mcp.json uses servers:

json

{ "servers": { "neotoma": { "type": "stdio", "command": "/absolute/path/to/node", "args": ["/absolute/npm/root/neotoma/dist/index.js"], "env": { "NEOTOMA_ACTIONS_DISABLE_AUTOSTART": "1", "NEOTOMA_ENV": "production" } } } }

VS Code's newer portable Copilot format uses mcpServers in workspace .mcp.json or Copilot's global config; do not mix the two schemas. Select an agent harness that exposes MCP tools, then inspect its tool list. neotoma setup --tool vscode can write Cursor config instead of VS Code config, so configure manually and check the destination file.

Verify and recover

Inspect the active VS Code configuration and Agent mode tool picker, then call retrieve_entities for a known entity. If tools are absent, check the servers versus mcpServers file format and the chosen workspace. An empty retrieval is not evidence that a data profile is empty; test a known positive.