Microsoft has updated Visual Studio Code (VS Code) to version 1.102 with another bundle of Copilot features including general availability of MCP (Model Context Protocol) support.
In the summary of key features in this release, 8 out of 9 are Copilot related, leaving just one (scroll the editor on middle click) as a non-AI feature.
MCP support is now generally available, and there is a new MCP Servers section in the VS Code Extensions view. This links to an MCP list on the VS Code website, with an install button for each. Microsoft describes this as a curated list, though at the time of writing only 37 MCP servers are included. MCP support includes the elicitation feature, which enables MCP servers to request input from developers via their clients.
Custom instructions, defined in markdown files, enable developers to specify rules and conventions which should be automatically respected by AI suggestions. They are treated as part of every prompt sent to Copilot. Instructions for tasks that do not generate code, such as pull request prompts, can be defined in VS Code settings. New in this release is the ability to generate instructions using Copilot Chat, which it will do by analyzing the codebase and reflecting its existing structure and patterns.
