Hands-On MCP: Extend Agent Mode with VS Code

43mIntermediate2025-09-05

Authors

Guil Hernandez

Software Developer and Educator.

Course details

Explore how to extend GitHub Copilot's Agent Mode in VS Code with the Model Context Protocol (MCP). In this course, you’ll connect to curated MCP servers, learn key MCP concepts, and see hands-on demos of tools like GitHub, Playwright, MarkItDown, and Hugging Face in action. By the end, you'll understand how MCP integrations expand Copilot's workflows and how to use them to bring real value to your projects.

Learning objectives
Understand the fundamentals of Model Context Protocol.
Identify key MCP components involved in VS Code Agent Mode.
Configure Copilot to connect to GitHub’s hosted MCP and curated MCP servers.
Demonstrate practical uses of MCP integrations in VS Code.
Explore options for creating and hosting your own MCP servers.
Recognize best practices and security considerations when using MCP.

Skills covered

Artificial Intelligence FoundationsArtificial Intelligence (AI)One-Off

Concepts

First Steps with MCP and Agent Mode

01 - Extending Copilot with MCP
02 - How Agent Mode works in VS Code

1. Discover and Install MCP Servers in VS Code

03 - Add and connect to MCP servers

2. Using Curated MCP Tools

04 - Using GitHub MCP and understanding tool flow
05 - Fetching data with Playwright MCP
06 - Converting content to Markdown with MarkItDown
07 - Using the Hugging Face MCP server

3. Managing and Optimizing MCP Servers

08 - Managing MCP servers in VS Code
09 - Combining and optimizing MCP tools