MCP Auto-Starter

A simple VSCode extension that automatically starts your MCP (Model Context Protocol) servers when VSCode opens. Just add "autoStart": true to your server configuration and you're done!

✨ Key Features

• 🚀 Auto-start MCP servers - Automatically starts servers with "autoStart": true when VSCode opens
• 📝 Simple setup - Just add one line to your existing MCP configuration
• 🌐 Works everywhere - Local VSCode, remote SSH, Codespaces, containers - all supported
• 📊 Clean integration - Servers run in dedicated output channels, not terminals
• 🔄 Live updates - Automatically detects and applies configuration changes
• ⚙️ Smart validation - Validates configurations before starting servers
• 🎯 Focused scope - Supports stdio MCP servers (the most common type)

📦 Installation

🎯 Quick Install (Recommended)

📥 Download Latest Release

1. Download the .vsix file from the latest release
2. Open VS Code
3. Press Ctrl+Shift+P (or Cmd+Shift+P on Mac)
4. Type "Extensions: Install from VSIX..."
5. Select the downloaded .vsix file
6. Restart VS Code if prompted

🛍️ From VS Code Marketplace

Coming soon! The extension will be available on the VS Code Marketplace.

🔧 Development Setup

For developers who want to build from source:

1. Clone this repository

   git clone https://github.com/alankyshum/vscode-mcp-autostarter.git
   cd vscode-mcp-autostarter
   

2. Install dependencies

   npm install
   

3. Build the extension

   npm run compile
   

4. Test in development

   • Press F5 to open a new Extension Development Host window
   • Or package manually: npm run package

🚀 Quick Start

1. Install the extension
2. Configure your MCP servers in the MCP configuration file (use "MCP: Open User Configuration" command)
3. Add "autoStart": true to any server you want to start automatically
4. Restart VSCode or reload the window - servers with autoStart will start automatically
5. Use the Command Palette command "MCP-AutoStarter: Enable auto-start for currently running MCP servers" to enable auto-start for existing servers

Example Configuration

Add this to your MCP configuration file (mcp.json):

{
  "servers": {
    "sequentialthinking": {
      "type": "stdio",
      "command": "npx",
      "args": [
        "-y",
        "@modelcontextprotocol/server-sequential-thinking@latest"
      ],
      "gallery": true,
      "autoStart": true
    }
  }
}

📖 Usage

📖 How It Works

1. Configuration Reading: The extension uses VSCode's API to intelligently locate your MCP configuration file, working in both local and remote environments
2. Auto-Start Detection: It looks for servers with "autoStart": true in their configuration
3. Process Management: Servers are started using VSCode's output panel, so they don't occupy terminal sessions
4. Integration: Started servers integrate with existing MCP commands like "MCP: List Servers" and "MCP: Stop Server"

🎛️ Commands

• MCP-AutoStarter: Enable auto-start for currently running MCP servers - Helps you enable auto-start for servers that are already running

Extension Settings

• mcpAutoStarter.enabled: Enable/disable automatic starting of MCP servers (default: true)
• mcpAutoStarter.retryAttempts: Number of retry attempts when starting a server fails (default: 3)
• mcpAutoStarter.retryDelay: Delay in milliseconds between retry attempts (default: 2000)
• mcpAutoStarter.configPath: Custom path to the MCP configuration file. Leave empty to auto-detect. Useful for remote VSCode environments.

🌐 Remote VSCode Support

The extension uses VSCode's APIs to intelligently locate your MCP configuration, working seamlessly in all environments:

• VSCode API-based: Uses globalStorageUri and other VSCode APIs to derive the correct path
• Smart path derivation: Analyzes VSCode's directory structure to find the User config directory
• Auto-detection: Tries multiple possible paths to find your local MCP configuration
• Custom path: Set mcpAutoStarter.configPath in settings to specify exact location
• Cross-platform: Supports macOS, Windows, and Linux configuration paths
• VSCode variants: Works with both regular VSCode and VSCode Insiders

For remote environments, you may need to set the custom config path:

1. Open VSCode Settings (Cmd/Ctrl + ,)
2. Search for "MCP Auto-Starter"
3. Set "Config Path" to your local MCP configuration file path

Development

Building

npm install
npm run compile

Testing

npm test

Debugging

1. Open the project in VSCode
2. Press F5 to start debugging
3. A new Extension Development Host window will open with the extension loaded

Requirements

• VSCode 1.74.0 or higher
• Node.js 16.x or higher

Known Issues

• Server health monitoring is basic and may not detect all failure modes
• Terminal-based servers don't have automatic restart on failure

Release Notes

0.1.0

Initial release with basic auto-start functionality and tree view management.

🚀 Releases

All releases are automatically built and published via GitHub Actions. You can find the latest releases here:

📋 View All Releases

Each release includes:

• 📦 VSIX package for direct installation
• 📝 Release notes with changes and improvements
• ✅ Automated testing ensures quality

🤝 Contributing

We welcome contributions! Here's how to get started:

1. Fork the repository
2. Create a feature branch: git checkout -b feature/amazing-feature
3. Make your changes and add tests if applicable
4. Run tests: npm test
5. Submit a pull request

Development Guidelines

• Follow TypeScript best practices
• Add tests for new features
• Update documentation as needed
• Ensure CI passes before submitting PR

📄 License

MIT License - see LICENSE file for details.

Made with ❤️ for the MCP community

If you find this extension helpful, please ⭐ star the repository and share it with others!