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View your installed MCP servers in VSCode

Managing Model Context Protocol (MCP) servers in VS Code has become significantly easier with the dedicated management interface in the Extensions view. While you can configure MCP servers in multiple places throughout VS Code, the Extension tab provides a centralized, visual approach to monitoring and controlling all your available MCP servers.

The challenge of multiple configuration points

VS Code offers several ways to configure MCP servers, which provides flexibility but can also create complexity:

  • Workspace settings via .vscode/mcp.json files for project-specific configurations
  • User settings for global MCP server configurations across all workspaces
  • Automatic discovery of servers defined in other tools like Claude Desktop
  • Direct installation from the curated MCP server list
  • Command-line configuration using the --add-mcp option
  • And more…

While this flexibility is powerful for developers working across different projects and environments, it can make it challenging to get a complete picture of which MCP servers are actually available and running.

The Extensions tab

VS Code addresses this complexity with the MCP SERVERS - INSTALLED section in the Extensions view (Ctrl+Shift+X or ⇧⌘X on Mac). This dedicated interface serves as a command center for all your MCP servers, regardless of where they were configured.


The Extensions tab provides a unified view that shows:

  • All currently installed MCP servers from any configuration source
  • Server status (running, stopped, or error states)
  • Quick access to server-specific actions and information
  • Visual indicators for server health and connectivity

You can manage the MCP server directly from the Extensions tab by right-clicking on any MCP server:

The opened context menu gives you directly access to the following options:

  • Start/Stop/Restart - Control server lifecycle without editing configuration files
  • Show Output - View server logs for debugging and monitoring
  • Disconnect Account - Manage authentication for servers requiring credentials
  • Show Configuration - View the current server configuration
  • Browse Resources - Explore resources provided by the server
  • Configure Model Access - Control sampling permissions for different models
  • Show Sampling Requests - Monitor model access requests
  • Uninstall - Remove servers cleanly from your environment

I really like this addition as it greatly helps working with an growing number of available MCP servers.

Nice!

More information

Use MCP servers in VS Code

MCP Power-User Mode: Revealing Every MCP Feature in VS Code

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