Visual Studio

Visual Studio Officially Supports MCP

Honghao Wang

— 3 min read
Visual Studio Officially Supports MCP

Microsoft Announces Model Context Protocol (MCP) GA in Visual Studio

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In August 2025, Microsoft announced the general availability of the Model Context Protocol (MCP) in Visual Studio.

MCP enables a standardized connection between AI agents in Visual Studio and external tools or services, simplifying multi-system integration for developers.

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What Is MCP?

Originally introduced by Anthropic in 2024, MCP is an open standard protocol aimed at:

  • Unifying AI-driven workflows with external systems
  • Supporting connections to:
  • Databases
  • Code search engines
  • Deployment pipelines

When Copilot runs in agent or chat mode, developers can configure an `.mcp.json` file to:

  • Choose the AI model
  • Enable tools such as the GitHub Copilot Agent
  • Link to external endpoints

This allows the AI agent to query connected services directly.

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Example MCP Configuration

Below is an example `.mcp.json` file to connect to the GitHub Copilot MCP server:

{
  "servers": {
    "github": {
      "url": "https://api.githubcopilot.com/mcp/"
    }
  }
}

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Adding MCP Servers in Visual Studio

There are two ways to add MCP servers:

  • Directly in Visual Studio
  • Click the Install button that appears as a badge in a repository’s Markdown file.
  • Manually via `.mcp.json`
  • Place the file in relevant folders within the solution tree.

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Enterprise Management & Security

Administrators can manage MCP usage using Policies and Access Controls in GitHub Copilot settings.

Authorization & Authentication:

  • Follows the MCP OAuth specification
  • Supports sign-in via Azure AD or other identity providers
  • Allows:
  • Endpoint selection
  • Tool access management
  • Secure sign-in flows

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Benefits of MCP GA in Visual Studio

  • Standard protocol removes need for custom integrations
  • Enhanced compatibility with extensions like GitHub Copilot
  • Connect AI assistants to complex toolchains and enterprise systems

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Current Limitations

As of GA, MCP can expose resources and prompts, but:

  • Only tools can be exposed to the Copilot agent

Security Note: Microsoft's blog warns of potential risks when connecting to third-party MCP servers.

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Resources & Repositories

Microsoft maintains a GitHub repository featuring:

  • A reference MCP server implementation
  • Servers for:
  • Git repository operations
  • Database queries
  • Links to dozens of third-party MCP servers

Additional MCP servers are also available in Frank Fiegel’s GitHub repository.

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Wider Context: AI Workflows & Monetization

Modern AI development benefits from integrated platforms like AiToEarn官网, which provide:

  • Cross-platform publishing
  • Analytics & model rankings
  • Channels supported include:
  • Douyin, Kwai, WeChat, Bilibili, Xiaohongshu
  • Facebook, Instagram, LinkedIn, Threads
  • YouTube, Pinterest, X (Twitter)

Pairing MCP with publishing/analytics frameworks amplifies productivity and reach.

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Read the original English source:

https://www.infoq.com/news/2025/10/visual-studio-mcp-ga/

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Original Chinese article

Open in WeChat

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>

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If you’d like, I can also create a developer-focused quick-start guide for MCP in Visual Studio so readers can begin using it immediately.

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