Episode

Making your own MCP server in VS Code

with Eleanor Boyd

PyCon 2025

In this theater session, Software Engineer Eleanor Boyd walks through building a custom MCP (Model Context Protocol) server in Visual Studio Code using GitHub Copilot and Python. She walks through a real use case, fetching PyPI package data, and shows how to connect your tool to Copilot's Agent Mode for powerful AI-assisted coding.

Chapters

  • 00:00 - Intro: Build an MCP Server in VS Code
  • 00:09 - Overview of GitHub Copilot Features
  • 02:17 - Agent Mode in VS Code Explained
  • 03:05 - Branch Coverage in Python with Coverage.py
  • 05:00 - Using Copilot to Fetch Package Version Info
  • 05:34 - What Is MCP (Model Context Protocol)?
  • 07:14 - MCP Tools and Real-World Use Case
  • 08:12 - Building a PyPI Info Tool with MCP
  • 09:02 - Setting Up Python Environment in VS Code
  • 11:03 - Generating PyPI Script with Copilot
  • 13:59 - Converting Script into MCP Tool
  • 15:40 - Running and Testing the MCP Server
  • 17:23 - Registering MCP Server in VS Code
  • 18:22 - Using the Tool in Agent Mode
  • 20:50 - Live Demo: Querying PyPI Packages
  • 21:38 - Recap: Benefits of MCP in VS Code
  • 22:14 - QandA: Optimizing Tool Descriptions
  • 23:49 - QandA: Sharing MCP Tools with Others
  • 25:56 - Closing Remarks and Thank You

Connect

GitHub
Microsoft Copilot
Visual Studio
Visual Studio Code

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