MCP Quick Reference

By IT-Journey Team

Quick reference for setting up, configuring, and using Model Context Protocol (MCP) servers with GitHub Copilot — setup commands, configuration schema, and common server list.

Estimated reading time: 2 minutes

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Table of Contents

MCP Quick Reference

What Is MCP?

The Model Context Protocol is an open standard that lets AI models connect to external tools. MCP servers expose structured tools (functions) that an AI can call.

Setup: GitHub MCP Server

Install

npx @modelcontextprotocol/server-github

VS Code Configuration (.vscode/mcp.json)

{
  "servers": {
    "github": {
      "command": "npx",
      "args": ["@modelcontextprotocol/server-github"],
      "env": {
        "GITHUB_PERSONAL_ACCESS_TOKEN": "${input:github-token}"
      }
    }
  }
}

User Settings (settings.json or Copilot MCP settings)

Never commit a literal PAT (ghp_...) into settings.json. Use a VS Code input prompt (‘${input:github-token}‘), an environment variable (‘${env:GITHUB_TOKEN}‘), or a secret manager. The example below shows the safe environment-variable pattern.

{
  "github.copilot.chat.mcp.servers": {
    "github": {
      "command": "npx",
      "args": ["@modelcontextprotocol/server-github"],
      "env": {
        "GITHUB_PERSONAL_ACCESS_TOKEN": "${env:GITHUB_TOKEN}"
      }
    }
  }
}

Common MCP Servers

Server	Package	Purpose
GitHub	@modelcontextprotocol/server-github	Issues, PRs, repo contents
Filesystem	@modelcontextprotocol/server-filesystem	Local file read/write
Fetch	@modelcontextprotocol/server-fetch	Web page retrieval
Memory	@modelcontextprotocol/server-memory	Persistent key-value store

Token Scopes for GitHub MCP

Capability	Required Scope
Read repos	repo:read
Create issues	issues:write
Create PRs	pull-requests:write
Read Actions	actions:read
Read users	user:read

Principle: Grant only the scopes needed for the task. Prefer fine-grained PATs over classic PATs.

Testing an MCP Server

Open VS Code Command Palette → MCP: List Servers → confirm server shows as connected.

In Copilot Chat, test with: @github list my open issues in {owner}/{repo}

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Part of: [[GH-600 Agentic AI Quick-Reference Notes]] · Related quest: [[The MCP Conclave: Mastering Model Context Protocol Servers]] · Hub: [[The Agentic Codex: GH-600 Study Hub]]