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Use Monk Inside VS Code

If you use GitHub Copilot in VS Code, Monk can expose its deployment and operations capabilities directly to Copilot through MCP. This is the simplest setup because Monk and GitHub Copilot both run in the same IDE window and share the same workspace.

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Step 1: Enable Monk MCP on the Monk Side

Open the project in VS Code with Monk installed. Then open the Command Palette (Cmd+Shift+P on Mac, Ctrl+Shift+P on Windows/Linux) and run: 
Monk: Manage MCP Server
Choose: 
Enable MCP server
When Monk asks which client configs to manage, keep VS Code / GitHub Copilot selected, or choose Smart defaults. Monk will create or update: 
.vscode/mcp.json
This is the workspace MCP configuration file that VS Code uses for Copilot. VSCode MCP Enablement Enabling Monk MCP starts the local Monk MCP server for this workspace and writes the VS Code workspace MCP config. VS Code still needs to load and trust that server on the Copilot side. Read more: Install Monk, MCP Getting Started

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Step 2: Let VS Code Load and Trust Monk

Open Copilot Chat in VS Code and switch to Agent mode. VS Code should detect the Monk MCP server from .vscode/mcp.json. The first time the server starts, VS Code may ask you to confirm that you trust it. Approve the Monk server so VS Code can start it and discover its tools. If you want to verify that VS Code sees Monk, use either of these commands: 
MCP: Open Workspace Folder MCP Configuration
MCP: List Servers
You should see Monk listed as a workspace MCP server. Read more: Add and manage MCP servers in VS Code, MCP configuration reference

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Step 3: Enable Monk Tools in Copilot Chat

In Copilot Chat, use the Configure Tools button in the chat input to confirm that Monk tools are enabled for the current session. VSCode chat Enablement Once Monk is enabled, you can ask Copilot to use Monk for tasks such as:
  • deploying the current project
  • provisioning required cloud resources
  • checking runtime health and logs
  • updating infrastructure configuration

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What Monk Writes

For VS Code, Monk manages only its own entry in: 
.vscode/mcp.json
If that file already contains other MCP servers, Monk preserves them. If you later disable Monk MCP and Monk was the only entry, Monk removes the empty file automatically.

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Troubleshooting

  • If Monk does not appear in Copilot, run MCP: List Servers and confirm the workspace server is present.
  • If VS Code does not start Monk after you changed the config, reopen the workspace or restart the server from MCP: List Servers.
  • If you declined trust earlier, run MCP: Reset Trust and then start Monk again.