Skip to content
selvedge

VS Code MCP setup

Selvedge works with any compatible agent. This page covers one optional client integration; see general MCP and CLI setup for other agents.

VS Code supports MCP servers natively, so wiring in Selvedge takes one config file. Once it’s connected, Copilot’s agent mode can call log_change as it works and prior_attempts before it edits.

Before you start

Section titled “Before you start”

Install uv, then install the Selvedge CLI and MCP server:

Terminal window
uv tool install --upgrade selvedge

The MCP config below launches the server with uvx instead of a bare selvedge-server, so the package can be fetched on demand — the editor still needs to find uv installed. Prefer the global binary? Swap uvx --from selvedge selvedge-server for selvedge-server.

Add the MCP server

Section titled “Add the MCP server”

Add this to .vscode/mcp.json (this workspace) — or your user mcp.json via the Command Palette’s MCP: Open User Configuration:

{
  "servers": {
    "selvedge": {
      "type": "stdio",
      "command": "uvx",
      "args": ["--from", "selvedge", "selvedge-server"]
    }
  }
}

Tell your agent when to call it

Section titled “Tell your agent when to call it”

Selvedge captures decisions when your agent calls it. Install the instruction block into your project’s .github/copilot-instructions.md:

Terminal window
selvedge prompt --install .github/copilot-instructions.md

It’s also a copy-paste block on the site: the Selvedge agent prompt block.

Verify

Section titled “Verify”

Open the Chat view, switch to Agent mode, and open the tools picker — selvedge should be listed with its 8 tools. Or run MCP: List Servers from the Command Palette and confirm selvedge shows as Running.

If it doesn’t connect

Section titled “If it doesn’t connect”

MCP tools only surface in the Chat view’s Agent mode. The config runs the server with uvx (which ships with uv), so make sure uv is on the PATH VS Code launches with (curl -LsSf https://astral.sh/uv/install.sh | sh). Prefer a global install? pip install selvedge and set command to selvedge-server.

Next

Section titled “Next”