GitHub Copilot Setup

This is the setup guide for GitHub Copilot in VS Code. For a quick reference across all platforms, see the MCP Client Setup page.

Prerequisites

• •VS Code 1.99 or later — MCP support was added in recent VS Code releases.
• •GitHub Copilot extension — Latest version from the VS Code marketplace.
• •Node.js 20+ — Required to run MCP servers. Check with node --version.
• •npm — Bundled with Node.js.

Configure VS Code settings.json

Open VS Code settings (Cmd+, on Mac / Ctrl+, on Windows), switch to the JSON view, and add:

Important: GitHub Copilot uses the key mcp.servers — this is different from Cursor and Claude Code which use mcpServers. Using the wrong key is a common source of silent misconfiguration.

Activate Agent Mode

GitHub Copilot requires agent mode to use MCP tools. In the Copilot Chat panel, type @workspace before your prompt to activate agent mode. This enables MCP tool calls.

Example: @workspace List all available Data Workers tools and show me pipeline health.

Verify Connection

After adding the configuration, open the Copilot Chat panel and type:

@workspace List all available Data Workers tools and show me the health of my data pipelines.

You should see tools organized by agent domain. If tools do not appear, ensure VS Code is version 1.99+ and the GitHub Copilot extension is updated.

InMemory Stubs on First Run

Without infrastructure credentials, the server starts with InMemory stub data. This is expected. You will see sample datasets like analytics.orders and staging.customers. Set environment variables to connect to real infrastructure.

First 5 Workflows to Try

Try these prompts in the Copilot Chat panel (remember to prefix with @workspace):

• •Incident diagnosis: "@workspace Why did my nightly ETL pipeline fail? Check logs and provide root cause analysis."
• •Data quality check: "@workspace Run a quality assessment on analytics.orders and flag anomalies."
• •Catalog search: "@workspace Search the catalog for tables related to customer revenue."
• •Schema analysis: "@workspace Analyze the schema of staging.events and suggest improvements."
• •Pipeline health: "@workspace Show pipeline health across all orchestrators."

Environment Variables

Set these in your shell profile or .env file before launching VS Code:

• •SNOWFLAKE_ACCOUNT, SNOWFLAKE_USER, SNOWFLAKE_PASSWORD — Snowflake
• •GOOGLE_CLOUD_PROJECT, GOOGLE_APPLICATION_CREDENTIALS — BigQuery / Dataplex
• •DATABRICKS_HOST, DATABRICKS_TOKEN — Databricks
• •DBT_API_TOKEN, DBT_ACCOUNT_ID — dbt Cloud
• •AIRFLOW_HOST, AIRFLOW_USER, AIRFLOW_PASSWORD — Apache Airflow

Key Differences from Other Clients

• •Config key: mcp.servers (not mcpServers)
• •Agent mode required: Prefix prompts with @workspace to enable MCP tool calls
• •Newer integration: GitHub Copilot's MCP support is newer than Claude Code and Cursor — expect improvements as GitHub iterates

Troubleshooting

Tools not appearing — Ensure VS Code is version 1.99 or later and the GitHub Copilot extension is updated. Restart VS Code after adding the configuration.

Wrong config key — Double-check you are using mcp.servers (with a dot), not mcpServers (camelCase). This is the most common setup issue.

@workspace not triggering tool calls — Make sure you are in agent mode. Type @workspace at the start of your message in the Copilot Chat panel.

Server not starting — Run npx dw-claw manually in a terminal to see error output. Common causes: Node.js version too old, network issues.

Still stuck? Join our Discord at discord.com/invite/b8DR5J53 or open an issue on GitHub.