Aegis — VS Code Extension

Part of Aegis — Secure Access Layer for AI Agents. See also: CLI Reference.

Full sidebar UI for managing MCP servers, policies, secrets, and audit logs — no CLI needed. Install from the VS Code Marketplace or search "Aegis" in Extensions (Ctrl+Shift+X).

Why Aegis?

Features

🔌 MCP Server Management

Register and manage all your MCP servers from a single sidebar panel. Add servers from the built-in catalog of 50+ servers, install from npm, configure custom commands, or connect to remote HTTP endpoints.

• One-click catalog install — browse servers from GitHub, Playwright, PostgreSQL, Slack, Stripe, and 45+ more
• Enable / Disable servers without removing them
• Health checks — verify server connectivity and discover available tools
• Live tool discovery — see exactly what tools each server exposes
• Custom catalog — save your own server configurations for reuse across projects

🛡️ Policy Engine

Control what your AI agents can and cannot do with a powerful rule-based policy engine.

• 3 actions: allow, deny, or prompt (ask before executing)
• Wildcard patterns: use get*, create*, delete* to match tool families
• 5-level priority: exact tool → pattern → server-level → tool annotations → default
• Built-in profiles for quick setup:
  • Restrictive — deny all, allow read-only operations (get*, list*, search*, read*)
  • Permissive — allow everything
  • Read-only — allow all, block mutations (create*, delete*, update*, remove*)

🔐 Secret Management

Securely store API keys and tokens with AES-256-GCM encryption. No more plaintext credentials in config files.

• Secrets stored in ~/.aegis/secrets.json, encrypted with a 256-bit master key
• Scoped per server — each server gets only its own secrets as environment variables
• Auto-prompted when installing catalog servers that require API keys
• Manage from the Secrets panel: add, update, delete

📋 Audit Log

Every tool call through the Aegis gateway is logged automatically.

• Detailed events: timestamp, server, tool name, result (success/error/denied), duration
• Time-grouped view: Just now, Last hour, Today, Yesterday, Earlier
• Query & filter: search by server, tool name, or date range
• Export: save audit logs as JSON or CSV
• Auto-rotation: logs rotate automatically when they exceed the configured size limit

🚀 Gateway Proxy

The Aegis gateway is a single MCP endpoint that proxies to all your downstream servers.

• Tool namespacing — tools exposed as serverId__toolName to avoid conflicts
• Dual transport — supports both stdio and HTTP (Streamable HTTP) downstream servers
• Policy enforcement — every tool call is checked against your rules before execution
• Hot-reload — edit policies on disk and they take effect immediately, no restart needed
• Start/stop from VS Code with one click

🔄 VS Code Sync

Connect VS Code Copilot to Aegis with a single command.

• Generates .vscode/mcp.json pointing to the Aegis gateway
• Auto-synced when starting the gateway
• Works with any MCP-compatible VS Code agent

Getting Started

1. Initialize

Open the Command Palette and run Aegis: Initialize — or click the shield icon in the Activity Bar and follow the walkthrough.

2. Add Servers

Click + in the MCP Servers panel to add a server. Choose from:

• Catalog — 50+ pre-configured servers (GitHub, Playwright, PostgreSQL, Slack, and more)
• npm package — install any MCP server from npm
• Custom command — run any stdio-based MCP server
• Remote HTTP — connect to a remote MCP endpoint

3. Set Policies

Apply a built-in profile or create custom rules. Open the Policies panel and:

• Click the shield icon to apply Restrictive, Permissive, or Read-only
• Click + to add individual rules with server, tool pattern, and action

4. Start the Gateway

Click ▶ in the MCP Servers panel to start the gateway. Aegis will:

• Connect to all enabled servers
• Namespace their tools
• Start the HTTP proxy on localhost:6371
• Auto-generate .vscode/mcp.json so VS Code Copilot connects through Aegis

Built-in Server Catalog

Don't see your server? Add it manually or save it to your custom catalog for reuse.

Architecture

┌─────────────────────┐
│  VS Code / Copilot   │
│  (or any MCP host)   │
└────────┬─────────────┘
         │ HTTP
         ▼
┌──────────────────────┐
│    Aegis Gateway      │
│  ┌────────────────┐  │
│  │ Policy Engine   │  │
│  │ Audit Logger    │  │
│  │ Secret Manager  │  │
│  └────────────────┘  │
└──┬──────────┬────────┘
   │ stdio    │ HTTP
   ▼          ▼
┌────────┐ ┌───────────┐
│ GitHub │ │ PostgreSQL │  ... 50+ servers
└────────┘ └───────────┘

Commands

Data Storage

All data is stored locally in ~/.aegis/:

Requirements

• VS Code 1.85+
• Node.js 20+

Known Issues

• SVG icons may not render in some Markdown previewers — they display correctly in VS Code and on the marketplace.
• On Windows, ensure npm is in your PATH for server installation to work.

FAQ

Q: Where is my data stored? A: All data lives locally in ~/.aegis/. Nothing is sent to external servers.

Q: Can I use Aegis with agents other than VS Code Copilot? A: Yes. Any MCP-compatible client can connect to the Aegis gateway at http://localhost:6371/mcp.

Q: How do I reset everything? A: Delete the ~/.aegis directory and run Aegis: Initialize again.

Q: Are my secrets safe? A: Secrets are encrypted with AES-256-GCM using a 256-bit random master key stored locally with restricted file permissions.

Feedback & Support

For issues, feature requests, or licensing inquiries: officialumangbarthwal@gmail.com

License

Licensed under the Apache License, Version 2.0.

Copyright 2026 Umang Barthwal.