How to add an MCP server to VS Code for agent mode

# What you need before you start

You need VS Code 1.99 or later and access to GitHub Copilot, because MCP tools run in agent mode in VS Code’s Chat view. If your company gives you Copilot Business or Enterprise, an admin has to turn on the “MCP servers in Copilot” policy, which is off by default (GitHub Docs, checked Oct 3, 2026). You also need a Zyflow account. A Free account works, you can create one during sign-in in Step 2, and it needs no card.

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# Step 1: Install Zyflow in VS Code with one click

Click Install in VS Code on the computer where VS Code is installed. Your browser asks to open VS Code, and VS Code then shows the server it’s about to add: zyflow, type http, at your Zyflow link. Choose Install. The link holds just that name, type and URL. There’s no password or key in it.

What the one-click install sends

The button is a vscode:mcp/install link, the format VS Code documents, built from this JSON:

{"name":"zyflow","type":"http","url":"https://app.zyflowcrm.com/mcp"}

Using VS Code Insiders? Use the same link with vscode-insiders: in place of vscode:.

Visual Studio, the Windows IDE, is a different product, and this guide doesn’t cover it. See the setup for any MCP app.

Or add the MCP server to mcp.json by hand

VS Code reads MCP servers from .vscode/mcp.json in your project. To have the server in every project, add it to your user configuration instead (run MCP: Open User Configuration). Add Zyflow under “servers” with “type”: “http” and your Zyflow link. The link is the same for everyone and holds no secret, so you can commit the file. Each teammate signs in with their own account.

{
  "servers": {
    "zyflow": {
      "type": "http",
      "url": "https://app.zyflowcrm.com/mcp"
    }
  }
}

A remote VS Code MCP server usually needs only these three things: a name, “type”: “http” for Streamable HTTP, and the URL. To use the menus instead, run MCP: Add Server, choose HTTP, paste your Zyflow link and name it zyflow.

If you use the portable .mcp.json file at your project root, the key is “mcpServers” instead of “servers”.

# Step 2: Start the server, sign in and approve

Start the server from MCP: List Servers, and VS Code opens your browser at Zyflow’s sign-in page. Log in or create a free account, pick the one workspace VS Code may use, and choose Approve. You type your password in the browser, so VS Code never sees it.

1. Run MCP: List Servers, choose zyflow, then Start. Or use the Start link above the entry in mcp.json.

2. If VS Code asks whether you trust the server, check that the URL is your Zyflow link, then trust it.

3. In the browser, log in or create a free account (no card).

4. On “VS Code wants to use your Zyflow”, choose one workspace, then choose Approve.

# Step 3: Use Zyflow’s MCP tools in VS Code agent mode

In the Chat view, choose Agent from the agent picker, open Configure Tools and check that Zyflow’s 32 tools are on. Then ask in plain words. VS Code asks before it runs each tool, until you allow that tool for the session, the workspace or always.

Try it right after a client call, while VS Code is still open:

• Add Maya Chen from Northwind as a customer. Her email is maya@northwind.example.
• Log a call with Maya at Northwind. She wants the revised quote by Friday.
• What do we know about Northwind?
• What’s on my plate today?

Zyflow saves Maya to the record you already have, or creates one, and labels the change “Added by VS Code via MCP”. For the call, your AI reads back the follow-up date Zyflow saved, such as Fri, 9 Oct, so you can check it.

Connect Claude or Cursor to the same workspace and they see the same records, so you don’t re-explain a client when you switch apps. Read the Cursor setup guide.

Which Zyflow tools to allow without asking

Allow the 13 tools Zyflow marks read-only. Approve the 14 write tools one use at a time until you trust them, and approve the 5 tools marked destructive every time. VS Code lets you approve a single use, or allow a tool for the session, the workspace or all future uses.

We don’t recommend Allow all or Autopilot for a server that writes to your customer records. The destructive five have limits of their own: delete_record and delete_files only move things to the trash, where they can be restored for 30 days, and bulk_update previews its changes by default and stops at 200 records.

# Connect read-only with an API key

To connect VS Code read-only, create a read-only API key on Zyflow’s Connect page and send it as a header instead of signing in. Signing in through the approval screen gives read and write access. Use an input variable so the key isn’t saved in the file. VS Code can then search and read, but Zyflow refuses any write.

{
  "inputs": [
    {
      "type": "promptString",
      "id": "zyflow-key",
      "description": "Zyflow read-only API key",
      "password": true
    }
  ],
  "servers": {
    "zyflow": {
      "type": "http",
      "url": "https://app.zyflowcrm.com/mcp",
      "headers": {
        "Authorization": "Bearer ${input:zyflow-key}"
      }
    }
  }
}

On the Connect page, under API keys, choose New API key, then Read only. VS Code asks for the key the first time the server starts and stores it securely (VS Code docs, checked Oct 3, 2026). A write gets HTTP 403 insufficient_scope before the tool runs. A read-only key can still export your data, so keep it private.

# Troubleshooting

If Zyflow isn’t working in VS Code, run MCP: List Servers and choose zyflow. Start runs the server, and Show Output opens its log. The usual causes are an install link that doesn’t reach VS Code, a server that hasn’t started, or a company policy that blocks MCP.

Spot an error? Tell us

# Questions about VS Code and Zyflow

Read the security page