Overview

Prism for AL is our developer productivity tool for Business Central 14+ featuring solution-wide analysis and code browsing. You can read about Prism for AL on https://stati-cal.com.

This extension connects Prism for AL and Visual Studio Code:

• View in Prism for AL: jump from the cursor in Visual Studio Code to the same object in Prism for AL.
• Navigate from Prism for AL to Visual Studio Code: open objects and code lines from Prism for AL in Visual Studio Code.
• MCP server: Copilot agent mode can query your solution through Prism, with no configuration.

Navigation works with both licensed and unlicensed Prism for AL. Most MCP tools need a license (see MCP server).

View in Prism for AL

In Visual Studio Code, from any cursor position of an object in an .al or .dal file, right-click and select View in Prism for AL. This will:

1. Start Prism for AL (if not already running)
2. Open the folder or workspace in Prism for AL (if not already open)
3. Navigate to the object and position closest to the cursor in Visual Studio Code

Alternatively, you can open the solution in Prism for AL via Open workspace in Prism for AL in the command palette.

Navigate from Prism for AL to Visual Studio Code

From Prism for AL, you can navigate to objects and code lines in Visual Studio Code:

• An object defined in a workspace file opens that .al file at the selected line. This works even without the Prism for AL Connector installed.
• An object defined in a dependency (an .app file) opens as a .dal file at the selected line. This needs the Prism for AL Connector and Microsoft's AL Language extension.

MCP server

The extension registers Prism's MCP server with Visual Studio Code, so Copilot agent mode can query your solution (objects, references, call flows) without any configuration. There is no mcp.json to write.

It appears as Prism for AL in MCP: List Servers and in the Extensions view under MCP SERVERS - INSTALLED, where you can start, stop, restart and view its output. Visual Studio Code asks for trust before starting it the first time, and owns the process from then on.

The server is offered when the open folder has an app.json at its root, or, for a .code-workspace, when one of the folders it lists does. It appears and disappears without reloading the window.

Alongside the server, the extension contributes a prism-for-al agent skill under the same condition. Its description is in Copilot's context in every chat and routes questions about usages, callers and table access to Prism instead of text search.

Without a license, the server can find objects and symbols in your solution. Following references, call flows and dependencies, and reading source code, need a license that includes those features.

Configuration

The extension needs no configuration when Prism for AL is installed. An installed Prism for AL registers execution aliases, so both the desktop app and StaticalPrismCmd.exe are found by name.

Support

Please use the built-in feedback facility of Prism for AL (Help | Feedback) or email us at feedback@stati-cal.com. For bug reports, please include the relevant part of Visual Studio Code's OUTPUT tab for Prism for AL (select in dropdown).