Copilot Integration

Applies to: Dispatch v1.0.0, last verified 2026-04-05

This page explains how to connect GitHub Copilot (in VS Code) to Dispatch and what capabilities are available through that integration.

Before you start

GitHub Copilot Extensions were deprecated in November 2025. MCP is the current integration path for Copilot in VS Code (1.99+). Ensure you are on a VS Code version that supports MCP servers.

Dispatch cannot auto-inject MCP configuration for VS Code. VS Code reads its MCP server list from user or workspace settings, not from a file in the project root. You must add the snippet below manually.

VS Code settings.json

Open your VS Code user settings (Cmd+Shift+P → Preferences: Open User Settings (JSON)) and add:

{
  "mcp": {
    "servers": {
      "dispatch": {
        "type": "http",
        "url": "http://localhost:<port>/mcp"
      }
    }
  }
}

To scope this to a single workspace instead, add the same block to .vscode/settings.json inside the project.

Replace <port> with the port Dispatch is actually running on (check the URL printed in the terminal when the server starts).

Available tools

Copilot uses the same MCP tools as all other providers. See MCP Overview: The six Dispatch tools for the full list.

Limitations

No CLI spawning. Dispatch does not support spawning agents through Copilot’s CLI. Copilot integration is observation and MCP tool-calling only. You can query Dispatch state and update epic phases from within a Copilot chat, but Dispatch cannot launch new Copilot sessions programmatically.

No HTTP hooks. Copilot does not expose an HTTP hook system equivalent to Claude Code’s. Session data for Copilot is updated via a periodic polling cycle. Expect a short delay between a Copilot session event and its appearance in the Dispatch activity feed.

HTTP transport only. Dispatch’s MCP server is HTTP-based (JSON-RPC 2.0 over HTTP). It does not support stdio transport. Confirm your VS Code version supports HTTP MCP servers before connecting.