congiuluc/mcp-discovery

MCP Server Discovery & Installation

When to Use

• Searching for MCP servers that add capabilities to your AI coding workflow
• Evaluating MCP servers for quality, maintenance, and security
• Installing and configuring MCP servers locally in VS Code
• Adding MCP tools to custom Copilot agents
• Troubleshooting MCP server connections

Official Documentation

• Model Context Protocol Spec
• MCP Servers Directory
• VS Code MCP Configuration
• MCP Inspector

Procedure

1. Identify the capability needed — see MCP categories
2. Search registries for matching servers — see MCP categories for sources
3. Evaluate server quality (maintenance, stars, security, license)
4. Install and configure — see installation guide
5. Test the connection with MCP Inspector or VS Code
6. Review sample configuration
7. Add to .vscode/mcp.json or user settings for the workspace

Evaluation Checklist

Before installing any MCP server, verify:

• [ ] Maintained: Updated within last 6 months
• [ ] Stars/Usage: Reasonable community adoption
• [ ] License: Compatible with your project (MIT, Apache 2.0, etc.)
• [ ] Security: No known vulnerabilities, reviewed source code
• [ ] Documentation: Clear setup instructions and tool descriptions
• [ ] Transport: Supports stdio or SSE (match your environment)
• [ ] Dependencies: Minimal — avoid servers pulling heavy runtimes

Quick Install (VS Code)

// .vscode/mcp.json
{
  "servers": {
    "server-name": {
      "command": "npx",
      "args": ["-y", "@package/mcp-server"],
      "env": {
        "API_KEY": "${input:apiKey}"
      }
    }
  }
}