Countries MCP — VS Code Extension

Access country data from 250+ countries directly in VS Code through AI chat.

This VS Code extension embeds the Countries MCP Server and registers it as a native MCP server in VS Code. It appears in VS Code's MCP servers list with automatic start / stop / restart / show config / show output controls — no manual setup needed.

✨ Features

🌍 13 MCP tools for searching, filtering, comparing, and exploring country data
⚡ Zero configuration — works out of the box
🔄 Auto-managed — VS Code handles server lifecycle (start/stop/restart)
⚙️ Configurable — all settings available in VS Code Settings UI
🔌 Native integration — appears in VS Code's MCP servers panel under Extensions
🚀 Self-contained — the server is bundled inside the extension

📦 Installation

From VS Code Marketplace

Open VS Code
Go to Extensions (Cmd+Shift+X / Ctrl+Shift+X)
Search "Countries MCP"**
Click Install

From VSIX

code --install-extension countries-mcp-vscode-0.1.0.vsix

🚀 Usage

After installation, the REST Countries MCP server appears automatically in VS Code's MCP servers list. You can:

Open Copilot Chat or any MCP-compatible AI panel
Ask questions about countries — the AI will use the MCP tools automatically

Example Prompts

"What countries use the Euro?"
"Compare Japan and Germany by population and area"
"What are the bordering countries of France?"
"List all countries in South America sorted by population"
"What's the calling code for India?"

⚙️ Settings

All settings are available in VS Code Settings under REST Countries MCP Server:

Setting	Default	Description
`restcountriesMcp.baseUrl`	`https://restcountries.com/v3.1`	API base URL
`restcountriesMcp.cacheTtlMs`	`3600000`	Cache TTL in milliseconds (1 hour)
`restcountriesMcp.cacheEnabled`	`true`	Enable/disable response caching
`restcountriesMcp.timeoutMs`	`10000`	HTTP request timeout in ms
`restcountriesMcp.maxResults`	`50`	Max countries per query
`restcountriesMcp.defaultFields`	`name,capital,population,region,flags`	Default fields to return
`restcountriesMcp.retryCount`	`2`	Retry attempts on API failure

Settings changes trigger a notification to restart the MCP server.

🔧 Available Tools

The extension provides 13 MCP tools to your AI assistant:

#	Tool	Description
1	`countries_get_by_name`	Search by name (partial match)
2	`countries_get_by_code`	Get by country code
3	`countries_get_by_full_name`	Get by exact full name
4	`countries_search_by_currency`	Search by currency
5	`countries_search_by_language`	Search by language
6	`countries_search_by_capital`	Search by capital city
7	`countries_get_by_region`	Filter by region
8	`countries_get_by_subregion`	Filter by subregion
9	`countries_get_by_demonym`	Filter by demonym
10	`countries_get_all`	Get all countries
11	`countries_get_by_codes`	Get multiple by codes
12	`countries_compare`	Compare countries side-by-side
13	`countries_get_borders`	Find bordering countries

🏗️ How It Works

VS Code  →  Extension activates on startup
         →  Registers McpStdioServerDefinition via vscode.lm API
         →  VS Code manages the MCP server lifecycle
         →  AI chat tools connect to the server automatically

Server (dist/server.js)  ←— stdio —→  VS Code MCP framework
                         ←— HTTP  —→  restcountries.com API

The extension uses process.execPath (VS Code's own Node.js runtime) to launch the bundled server, ensuring compatibility without requiring a separate Node.js installation.

🔒 Requirements

VS Code ≥ 1.99.0
No external dependencies — everything is bundled in the extension

Countries MCP Server

fazorboy