VS Code

The MCP server works with VS Code through GitHub Copilot's MCP support in agent mode.

Prerequisites

• VS Code with the GitHub Copilot extension (version 0.22 or later)
• The ionoscloud-mcp binary built and available. For more information, see Quick Start
• An IONOS CLOUD API token. For least-privilege access, see Authentication to scope the token to only the tools you need.

Add the MCP server

Create or edit .vscode/mcp.json in your workspace. The "type": "stdio" field tells VS Code to run the server as a local process communicating over standard input/output; just enter it as shown:

{
  "servers": {
    "ionoscloud": {
      "type": "stdio",
      "command": "/usr/local/bin/ionoscloud-mcp",
      "env": {
        "IONOS_TOKEN": "your-api-token"
      }
    }
  }
}

To also enable Object Storage tools, add your Object Storage credentials:

{
  "servers": {
    "ionoscloud": {
      "type": "stdio",
      "command": "/usr/local/bin/ionoscloud-mcp",
      "env": {
        "IONOS_TOKEN": "your-api-token",
        "IONOS_S3_ACCESS_KEY": "your-access-key",
        "IONOS_S3_SECRET_KEY": "your-secret-key"
      }
    }
  }
}

For a user-wide configuration that applies to all workspaces, open VS Code settings (Ctrl+Shift+P > Open User Settings JSON) and add the same servers block under the key "mcp".

Verify the connection

1

Open Copilot Chat in agent mode

Open Copilot Chat and switch to Agent mode using the mode selector in the Copilot Chat panel.

2

Test the connection

Type: List my IONOS CLOUD data centers.

Result: Copilot responds with a list of your data centers: names, locations, and IDs.

If Copilot responds that it cannot access that information, check Troubleshooting.

Note: All tools are registered at startup by default, so Compute Engine and Object Storage tools appear immediately. To reduce the startup tool count (for example, on clients with a tool-count cap), set IONOS_MCP_LOAD_MODE=lazy in the env block and call the ionos_load_compute_tools or ionos_load_objectstorage_tools sentinels on demand. For more information, see Selective Tool Loading.

For full VS Code MCP documentation, see Add and manage MCP servers in VS Code.