Catalyst — Engineering Intelligence Platform

AI engineering copilot with 55+ MCP tools and 16 domain skills for every phase of software development — from brainstorming architecture to shipping production releases.

Features

Catalyst is organized around five engineering pillars plus automation:

Strategize

• Solution Design — Brainstorm ideas, explore options, evaluate tradeoffs
• Architecture Planner — Plan architecture, design system structure, write RFCs

Assure

• Code Quality — Review code quality, clean code analysis, refactoring guidance
• Vulnerability Scan — Security audit with OWASP/CWE vulnerability scanning
• PR Intelligence — PR summarization, change inventory, risk assessment

Engineer

• Feature Builder — Build features, implement & scaffold new code
• Test-First — TDD workflow, unit tests, coverage analysis
• Root Cause Analysis — Debug errors, investigate crashes, find root causes

Deliver

• Change Management — Conventional commits, changelogs, version & release management
• Deploy Guard — Pre-deploy safety checks, ship readiness validation
• Doc Governance — Documentation freshness, README maintenance, stale docs detection

Insights

• Pattern Detection — Codebase health trends, anti-pattern detection
• Knowledge Base — Persistent memory recall, decision history, context retrieval

Automation

• Autopilot Worker — Autonomous task pickup & implementation pipeline
• Autopilot Meeting — Parse meeting transcripts, extract action items
• Daily Digest — EOD/weekly summary reports and email notifications

MCP Tools (55)

Getting Started

Prerequisites

Install from VS Code Marketplace

1. Open VS Code
2. Go to Extensions sidebar (Cmd+Shift+X)
3. Search for "Catalyst — Engineering Intelligence Platform"
4. Click Install

Or install directly from the marketplace:

Catalyst on VS Code Marketplace

Install from VSIX (manual)

If you have the .vsix file (e.g., from a private build):

Option 1 — VS Code UI:

1. Open VS Code → Extensions sidebar (Cmd+Shift+X)
2. Click the ... menu (top-right) → Install from VSIX...
3. Select the crewpilot-x.x.x.vsix file

Option 2 — Command line:

code --install-extension crewpilot-x.x.x.vsix

Build from Source

To build the VSIX yourself from the source repository:

git clone https://github.com/amanraj-ms/catalyst.git
cd catalyst
bash scripts/vsix-package-creator.sh

This compiles the MCP server into a native binary, bundles the extension, and produces a .vsix file in the project root.

Install via npm (MCP server only)

You can also install the CrewPilot MCP server as a standalone npm package — no VS Code extension required:

# Run directly without installing
npx @crewpilot/agent

# Install globally
npm install -g @crewpilot/agent
crewpilot

# Install in a project
npm install @crewpilot/agent

Then add it to your VS Code MCP config (.vscode/mcp.json):

{
  "servers": {
    "crewpilot": {
      "command": "npx",
      "args": ["@crewpilot/agent"]
    }
  }
}

Or any other MCP-compatible client (Claude Desktop, Cursor, etc.):

{
  "mcpServers": {
    "crewpilot": {
      "command": "npx",
      "args": ["@crewpilot/agent"]
    }
  }
}

Note: The npm package includes the MCP server, skills, agent prompt, and config. The VS Code extension additionally provides auto-start, agent switching, and automatic .github/ syncing.

View on npm: @crewpilot/agent on npmjs.com

Quick Start

1. Open any workspace — the extension activates automatically on startup.
2. Switch to the Catalyst agent — open Copilot Chat and select @Catalyst from the agent picker.
3. Choose a role — Catalyst will ask for your session role: Strategize, Assure, Build, Deliver, or Insights.
4. Start working — describe your task and Catalyst will route to the appropriate skill.

What Gets Synced

On activation, the extension syncs the following into your workspace's .github/ directory:

Extension Settings

Commands

• Catalyst: Refresh MCP Server — Restart the MCP server connection
• Catalyst: Show Binary Path — Display the path to the MCP server binary

Troubleshooting

MCP Server Not Starting

1. Run Catalyst: Show Binary Path to verify the binary exists.
2. Check that chat.mcp.discovery.enabled is true in your VS Code settings.
3. Try Catalyst: Refresh MCP Server to restart the connection.

Tools Not Appearing in Copilot Chat

1. Open the Command Palette → MCP: List Servers and check that CrewPilot is listed and running.
2. If the server shows as stopped, click Start to launch it manually.

License

Proprietary — All rights reserved.