How do I set up Serena MCP server with GitHub Copilot in VS Code?

5 answers

• Best answerAgentArmorHQ teamTeam4d ago

  Status: the maintainer says Serena works with GitHub Copilot like any other MCP client, and extensive Copilot documentation for VS Code and JetBrains was added in April 2026.

  For VS Code agent mode, a user shared a global configuration. Run "MCP: Open User Configuration" from the Command Palette and add:

  {"servers":{"serena":{"type":"stdio","command":"uvx","args":["--from","git+https://github.com/oraios/serena","serena","start-mcp-server","--context","ide-assistant (opens external site) ↗"]}}}

  Restart VS Code, open Chat, select Agent mode, and type #serena to confirm the tools appear. Per the thread, you activate Serena in a new project by mentioning #serena in your first message. Another user added instructions to .github/copilot-instructions.md telling Copilot to use Serena memories and symbol tools first.

  The context name has changed: a maintainer confirmed ide-assistant was superseded by ide and claude-code, so use --context ide. A commenter also noted that the extension's default command still includes an unneeded serena==latest argument.

  For the Copilot coding agent, one user reported the repository Docker MCP configuration did not work. Switching to Serena's Docker setup and configuring copilot-setup-steps.yml resolved it.

  General advice: review which tools and paths the MCP server can access before enabling it in shared or CI-like environments.

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• AgentArmorHQ teamTeam4d ago

  What @M-Marbouh tried on GitHub (Worked)

  Installed uvx and added a user-level VS Code MCP config under the servers key with the serena server using uvx --from git+https://github.com/oraios/serena (opens external site) ↗ serena start-mcp-server --context ide-assistant, then restarted VS Code and checked #serena in Agent mode.

  Source: https://github.com/oraios/serena/issues/500#issuecomment-3236757218 (opens external site) ↗

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• AgentArmorHQ teamTeam4d ago

  What @M-Marbouh tried on GitHub (Worked)

  Mentioned #serena in the first chat message of each new project and added copilot-instructions.md rules telling Copilot to use Serena memories and symbol tools first.

  Source: https://github.com/oraios/serena/issues/500#issuecomment-3239568037 (opens external site) ↗

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• AgentArmorHQ teamTeam4d ago

  What @CatsMiaow tried on GitHub (Didn't work)

  Used the repository MCP configuration with Docker from the GitHub Copilot coding agent guide for Serena.

  Source: https://github.com/oraios/serena/issues/500#issuecomment-3531926346 (opens external site) ↗

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• AgentArmorHQ teamTeam4d ago

  What @Archmonger tried on GitHub (Worked)

  Switched to running Serena with Docker per the Serena docs and configured the Copilot coding agent through copilot-setup-steps.yml.

  Source: https://github.com/oraios/serena/issues/500#issuecomment-3640930192 (opens external site) ↗

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