github-copilot-cli-mcp-server

⚠️ ALPHA VERSION — This project is experimental and in early development. Testing across different environments is limited. Use at your own risk and expect breaking changes.

A Node.js/TypeScript project that wraps GitHub Copilot CLI as a Model Context Protocol (MCP) server.

Use Copilot CLI as a tool from any MCP-compatible client (VSCode, OpenClaw, Claude Desktop, etc.).

Features

• Complete Copilot conversations in a single MCP call: Send a prompt → receive results in one tool call
• Session resumption: Continue previous conversations using session IDs
• Permission mode selection: Interactive (user confirmation) / Autonomous (auto-approve)
• Model selection: Use any model supported by Copilot
• Working directory specification: Set cwd for tasks that require file access

Prerequisites

• Node.js 20.0.0 or higher
• GitHub Copilot CLI installed and authenticated

  npm install -g @github/copilot-cli

• GitHub Copilot subscription (Individual, Business, or Enterprise)

Installation

From source

git clone https://github.com/slcwahn/github-copilot-cli-mcp-server.git
cd github-copilot-cli-mcp-server
npm install
npm run build

Quick start

npm run dev

MCP Tools

run_copilot_conversation

Runs a Copilot CLI conversation with a prompt.

Parameters:

Name	Type	Required	Description
prompt	string	✅	Prompt to send to Copilot
model	string		AI model (e.g., claude-sonnet-4, gpt-4.1)
cwd	string		Working directory
allow_tools	string[]		List of tools to allow
add_dirs	string[]		Additional directories to grant access
timeout_ms	number		Timeout (default: 300000ms = 5 minutes)
permission_mode	string		Permission mode: "autonomous" (default) or "interactive"

Example:

{
  "name": "run_copilot_conversation",
  "arguments": {
    "prompt": "Fix the bug in src/main.ts",
    "cwd": "/path/to/project",
    "model": "claude-sonnet-4"
  }
}

resume_copilot_session

Resumes a previous session to continue the conversation.

Parameters:

Name	Type	Required	Description
session_id	string	✅	Session ID (UUID)
prompt	string	✅	Follow-up prompt
model	string		AI model
cwd	string		Working directory
timeout_ms	number		Timeout

Example:

{
  "name": "resume_copilot_session",
  "arguments": {
    "session_id": "abc12345-1234-5678-9abc-def012345678",
    "prompt": "Now add tests for those changes"
  }
}

list_copilot_sessions

Lists resumable Copilot CLI sessions.

respond_to_copilot

Responds to Copilot's permission prompts in Interactive mode.

Parameters:

Name	Type	Required	Description
session_id	string	✅	Pending session ID
response	string	✅	Response ("yes", "no", or free text)

Configuration

VSCode

Add the following to your .vscode/mcp.json file:

{
  "servers": {
    "github-copilot-cli": {
      "type": "stdio",
      "command": "node",
      "args": ["/path/to/github-copilot-cli-mcp-server/dist/index.js"],
      "env": {
        "COPILOT_PERMISSION_MODE": "interactive"
      }
    }
  }
}

Or use the Command Palette: MCP: Add Server → stdio → enter the configuration above.

Tip: Use ${workspaceFolder} to specify relative paths based on your workspace.

For global configuration, use the Command Palette: MCP: Open User Configuration to add it to your user profile.

OpenClaw (mcporter)

OpenClaw supports MCP servers through the mcporter skill.

Register via mcporter CLI

# Register the server
mcporter config add github-copilot-cli \
  --command node \
  --arg /path/to/github-copilot-cli-mcp-server/dist/index.js \
  --env COPILOT_PERMISSION_MODE=autonomous

# Verify registration
mcporter list

# Check tool schema
mcporter list github-copilot-cli --schema

# Call a tool directly
mcporter call github-copilot-cli.run_copilot_conversation prompt="Fix the bug in main.ts"

Edit mcporter config file directly

~/.mcporter/mcporter.json or project-level config/mcporter.json:

{
  "servers": {
    "github-copilot-cli": {
      "transport": "stdio",
      "command": "node",
      "args": ["/path/to/github-copilot-cli-mcp-server/dist/index.js"],
      "env": {
        "COPILOT_PERMISSION_MODE": "autonomous"
      }
    }
  }
}

Claude Desktop

Add to claude_desktop_config.json:

{
  "mcpServers": {
    "github-copilot-cli": {
      "command": "node",
      "args": ["/path/to/github-copilot-cli-mcp-server/dist/index.js"]
    }
  }
}

Environment Variables

Variable	Default	Description
COPILOT_CLI_PATH	(auto-detect)	Path to Copilot CLI binary
COPILOT_PERMISSION_MODE	autonomous	Permission mode: autonomous or interactive

Permission Handling

Copilot CLI may request user approval for file modifications, shell command execution, and other actions. This MCP server supports two permission modes:

Autonomous Mode (default)

COPILOT_PERMISSION_MODE=autonomous

• Runs Copilot CLI with --allow-all-tools --no-ask-user flags
• Auto-approves all permissions and completes without user prompts
• Best for: Trusted tasks, automation pipelines, CI/CD

Interactive Mode

COPILOT_PERMISSION_MODE=interactive

• Runs Copilot CLI with PTY for interactive I/O
• Returns needsInput: true in the MCP response when a permission prompt is detected
• The MCP client (user or agent) responds via the respond_to_copilot tool

Interactive Mode Flow:

MCP Client                    MCP Server                   Copilot CLI
    │                              │                            │
    │ run_copilot_conversation     │                            │
    ├─────────────────────────────►│  spawn (PTY)               │
    │                              ├───────────────────────────►│
    │                              │                            │
    │                              │  "Modify this file?"       │
    │                              │◄───────────────────────────┤
    │  { needsInput: true,         │                            │
    │    question: "Modify..." }   │                            │
    │◄─────────────────────────────┤                            │
    │                              │                            │
    │  respond_to_copilot("yes")   │                            │
    ├─────────────────────────────►│  write "yes\n"             │
    │                              ├───────────────────────────►│
    │                              │                            │
    │                              │  (complete)                │
    │                              │◄───────────────────────────┤
    │  { output: "..." }           │                            │
    │◄─────────────────────────────┤                            │

Note: Interactive mode requires node-pty (optional dependency). If not installed, it automatically falls back to autonomous mode.

Architecture

MCP Client (VSCode / OpenClaw / Claude Desktop)
    │
    │ stdio (JSON-RPC)
    ▼
┌──────────────────────────────────────────────┐
│   github-copilot-cli-mcp-server              │
│                                              │
│  ┌────────────────────────────────────────┐  │
│  │  MCP Server (stdio)                    │  │
│  │  - run_copilot_conversation            │  │
│  │  - resume_copilot_session              │  │
│  │  - list_copilot_sessions               │  │
│  │  - respond_to_copilot                  │  │
│  └──────────────┬─────────────────────────┘  │
│                 │                             │
│  ┌──────────────▼─────────────────────────┐  │
│  │  Permission Handler                    │  │
│  │  (autonomous / interactive)            │  │
│  └──────────────┬─────────────────────────┘  │
│                 │                             │
│  ┌──────────────▼─────────────────────────┐  │
│  │  Copilot Runner                        │  │
│  │  (spawn / PTY)                         │  │
│  └──────────────┬─────────────────────────┘  │
│                 │                             │
│  ┌──────────────▼─────────────────────────┐  │
│  │  Session Manager                       │  │
│  │  (session metadata + pending input)    │  │
│  └────────────────────────────────────────┘  │
└──────────────────────────────────────────────┘
    │
    │ spawn / PTY
    ▼
  copilot -p "prompt" -s [--allow-all-tools | interactive]

Development

# Development mode
npm run dev

# Build
npm run build

# Type check
npm run typecheck

# Test
npm test

How It Works

1. The MCP client calls the run_copilot_conversation tool
2. Depending on the permission mode:
   • Autonomous: Runs copilot -p "<prompt>" -s --allow-all-tools --no-ask-user
   • Interactive: Runs with PTY, forwarding permission prompts to the MCP client
3. Copilot CLI performs the task (code generation, modification, analysis, etc.)
4. Returns the output as an MCP response upon completion
5. If a session ID is available, the session can be resumed via resume_copilot_session

Copilot CLI Options Used

Flag	Purpose
-p <prompt>	Run prompt in non-interactive mode
-s	Silent mode (response only, no stats)
--allow-all-tools	Auto-approve all tools (autonomous mode)
--no-ask-user	Autonomous operation without prompts (autonomous mode)
--no-custom-instructions	Ignore AGENTS.md and similar files
--no-color	Disable ANSI colors
--no-alt-screen	Disable terminal alternate screen
--resume <id>	Resume a session
--model <model>	Select a model
--add-dir <dir>	Grant access to additional directories

License

MIT

References

• GitHub Copilot CLI
• Model Context Protocol
• MCP TypeScript SDK
• VSCode MCP Server Setup
• Similar project (Python)