vscode-ide-mcp

A bridge between VS Code's native tools and any AI agent with MCP support (Kilo, Cursor, Cline, etc.): it exposes LSP navigation (definitions, references, outline) and native debugging (breakpoints, stepping, stack frames, variables, evaluate) as a standard MCP server (MCP protocol over stdio). It works with any MCP client, not just Kilo.

Architecture:

A VS Code extension (TypeScript) starts a TCP listener (host 127.0.0.1, port 47810) in the extension host process on startup, where the vscode module is available.
An MCP server (out/mcp-server.js) runs as a child process launched by your agent (stdio) and connects to the bridge to perform vscode.* calls. Being a standard MCP server, the same file works with any MCP client, not just Kilo.

Why this project

Universal compatibility — the server uses the stdio transport: it works with any MCP-capable agent (Kilo, Cursor, Cline, opencode, Claude Desktop, etc.), with no HTTP/SSE configuration and no tokens.
Simplicity — only two components (extension + stdio server) and zero configuration: no auth, no TLS, no CORS/Origin issues.
Minimal footprint — ~126 KB package; no HTTP server to maintain.
Secure by default — communication is loopback-only (127.0.0.1); no exposed network surface.
Focused — 17 tools for LSP navigation (definitions, references, outline, hover, diagnostics), VS Code commands, workspace files and native debugging: the essential core for letting an agent work inside the IDE.

When to consider an alternative

If you need a broader toolkit (terminal, full-text search, advanced LSP such as rename, call hierarchy, completions) or an HTTP/SSE endpoint with auth/TLS, consider nabheet/vscode-mcp-server (49 tools, HTTP transport with port retry and automatic publishing). For the "navigation + commands + files + debugging" core with minimal complexity, this project is the right choice.

Installation and build

npm install
npm run build        # generates out/extension.js and out/mcp-server.js

To develop the extension locally:

npm run watch         # esbuild in watch mode

To load and test it, open this folder in VS Code and press F5 (a new Extension Development Host window is launched).

To produce a distributable .vsix package:

npm run build
npx --yes @vscode/vsce package --no-dependencies

This writes vscode-ide-mcp-bridge-<version>.vsix in the project root; all runtime dependencies are already bundled by esbuild into out/, so --no-dependencies keeps the package lean. Install locally with:

code --install-extension vscode-ide-mcp-bridge-<version>.vsix

The same artifact is also attached to each GitHub Release created by the release pipeline (triggered when a vX.Y.Z tag is pushed).

Registering the MCP server in your agent

The server is standard: the same out/mcp-server.js is registered in your agent's MCP configuration (Kilo, Cursor, Cline, etc.). Below is the Kilo example; other agents use their own configuration format (e.g. Cursor: mcp.json, Cline: MCP panel). Two options for Kilo:

Project level — in kilo.json at the root of the current project:

{
  "mcp": {
    "vscode-ide": {
      "type": "local",
      "command": ["node", "<extension_dir>/out/mcp-server.js"]
    }
  }
}

Global level — in ~/.config/kilo/kilo.json (Windows: %USERPROFILE%\.config\kilo\kilo.json), so it works in all projects:

{
  "mcp": {
    "vscode-ide": {
      "type": "local",
      "command": ["node", "<extension_dir>/out/mcp-server.js"]
    }
  }
}

After installing the extension, extension_dir is ~/.vscode/extensions/RiccardoStatuto.vscode-ide-mcp-bridge-<version>/out/mcp-server.js (see also code --list-extensions + installed path).

The tools become available as vscode-ide_<tool> (e.g. vscode-ide_go_to_definition).

Available tools

Tool	Description
`get_active_editor`	Active file: path, language, cursor, selection
`show_document`	Opens a document and moves the cursor to a given line/column
`go_to_definition`	Definition of the symbol (LSP)
`find_references`	References of the symbol (LSP)
`get_outline`	Symbol outline of a file
`start_debug`	Starts a debug session (by name or config)
`stop_debug`	Stops the active debug session
`add_breakpoints`	Sets breakpoints on given lines
`debug_step`	Stepping: over/into/out/continue
`get_stack_frames`	Stack frames (requires the proposed API `DebugAdapterTracker`)
`get_variables`	Variables of a debug scope
`debug_evaluate`	Evaluates an expression in the debug console
`execute_command`	Runs a VS Code command by ID, with optional arguments
`get_hover`	Hover info (type, docs) for the symbol under the cursor (LSP)
`get_diagnostics`	Errors/warnings of the active file (up to 200 lines)
`read_file`	Reads the content of a workspace file
`write_file`	Creates or overwrites a workspace file

Global solution

To cover all projects (including non-Dart ones), the approach is language-agnostic: navigation uses VS Code's LSP and debugging uses the project's launch.json configurations (node, python, go, dart, etc.). This project is independent from any language.

Troubleshooting

"IDE bridge not reachable" → the extension is not loaded or the bridge is not started. Load the extension (F5) and verify the IDE MCP: Start bridge command works.
Port 47810 in use → the bridge automatically tries ports 47811–47814; the MCP server tries the same list in the same order. To change the base port, edit PORT in src/ide/bridge.ts and PORTS in src/mcp/server.ts, then run npm run build.
Stack/variables return "DebugAdapterTracker not available" → your VS Code version does not expose the proposed API; update VS Code to the latest version.

VS Code IDE MCP Bridge

Riccardo Statuto