Guide for GitHub Copilot (VS Code)

Integrate GitHub Copilot in VS Code with AI Architect for more accurate, codebase-aware AI assistance.

Use Bito's AI Architect with GitHub Copilot in VS Code to enhance your AI-powered coding experience.

Once connected via MCP (Model Context Protocol), GitHub Copilot can leverage AI Architect’s deep contextual understanding of your project, enabling more accurate code suggestions, explanations, and code insights.

Prerequisites

1. Follow the AI Architect installation instructions. Upon successful setup, you will receive a Bito MCP URL and Bito MCP Access Token that you need to enter in your coding agent.

2. Download BitoAIArchitectGuidelines.md file. You will need to copy/paste the content from this file later when configuring AI Architect.

   • Note: This file contains best practices, usage instructions, and prompting guidelines for the Bito AI Architect MCP server. The setup will work without this file, but including it helps AI tools interact more effectively with the Bito AI Architect MCP server.

3. Requires Visual Studio Code version 1.99 or later

   1. Check VS Code version: code --version

   2. Update VS Code if needed: Help → Check for Updates

4. Enable Agent Mode

   1. Open VS Code Settings (Ctrl/Cmd + ,)

   2. Search: chat.agent.enabled

   3. Check the box to enable Agent Mode

5. Ensure Node.js 20.18.1+ is Installed:

   VS Code's MCP implementation automatically tries to use OAuth for HTTP servers. For static Bearer token authentication (which Bito AI Architect uses), you need to use the mcp-remote proxy tool.

   The mcp-remote proxy requires Node.js 20.18.1 or higher.

   Why Node.js 20+? The mcp-remote proxy depends on undici v7, which requires Node.js 20+ (needs the File global API added in Node 20.0.0). Node.js 18 and earlier will fail with ReferenceError: File is not defined.

   Windows: Download from https://nodejs.org/ (download 20.x LTS)

   macOS:

   brew install node@20
   # Or use nvm: nvm install 20 && nvm use 20

   Linux (Ubuntu/Debian):

   curl -fsSL https://deb.nodesource.com/setup_20.x | sudo -E bash -
   sudo apt-get install -y nodejs

   Verify:

   node --version  # Should show v20.x.x or higher
   npx --version

6. GitHub Copilot extension installed and enabled

7. GitHub account with Copilot access

Set up AI Architect

VS Code has the same setup process across all platforms (Windows, macOS, Linux, WSL).

Workspace configuration (recommended)

1

Create .vscode directory

In your project root:

mkdir .vscode

2

Create mcp.json

Create .vscode/mcp.json:

{
  "servers": {
    "BitoAIArchitect": {
      "command": "npx",
      "args": [
        "-y",
        "mcp-remote",
        "<Your-Bito-MCP-URL>",
        "--header",
        "Authorization: Bearer <Your-Bito-MCP-Access-Token>"
      ]
    }
  }
}

Note:

• Replace <Your-Bito-MCP-URL> with the Bito MCP URL you received after completing the AI Architect setup.

• Replace <Your-Bito-MCP-Access-Token> with the Bito MCP Access Token you received after completing the AI Architect setup.

Important:

• VS Code requires mcp-remote proxy for static Bearer token authentication

• The "servers" object is at the root level in workspace configs

• Direct HTTP transport with static Bearer tokens triggers OAuth flows in VS Code

Why mcp-remote? VS Code's MCP implementation automatically initiates OAuth discovery when connecting to HTTP MCP servers. Since BitoAIArchitect uses static Bearer token authentication (not OAuth), we use the mcp-remote proxy to handle the authentication properly.

3

Add guidelines (optional but highly recommended)

The BitoAIArchitectGuidelines.md file contains best practices, usage instructions, and prompting guidelines for the Bito AI Architect MCP server.

The setup will work without this file, but including it helps AI tools interact more effectively with the Bito AI Architect MCP server.

Create .github directory:

mkdir -p .github

Copy the contents of your BitoAIArchitectGuidelines.md file into .github/copilot-instructions.md file:

cp BitoAIArchitectGuidelines.md .github/copilot-instructions.md

4

Start the MCP server

1. Open .vscode/mcp.json in VS Code

2. Look for a Start button above the configuration

3. Click Start to initialize the server

5

Verify in Copilot Chat

1. Open Copilot Chat (Ctrl/Cmd + I)

2. Switch to Agent mode (toggle in chat interface)

3. Click the Tools icon (wrench)

4. Verify BitoAIArchitect appears in the tools list

User configuration (global)

To make BitoAIArchitect available in ALL projects:

Windows

• Open: %APPDATA%\Code\User\settings.json

macOS

• Open: ~/Library/Application Support/Code/User/settings.json

Linux

• Open: ~/.config/Code/User/settings.json

Configuration

Add this to your settings.json:

{
  "mcp": {
    "servers": {
      "BitoAIArchitect": {
        "command": "npx",
        "args": [
          "-y",
          "mcp-remote",
          "<Your-Bito-MCP-URL>",
          "--header",
          "Authorization: Bearer <Your-Bito-MCP-Access-Token>"
        ]
      }
    }
  }
}

Note:

• Replace <Your-Bito-MCP-URL> with the Bito MCP URL you received after completing the AI Architect setup.

• Replace <Your-Bito-MCP-Access-Token> with the Bito MCP Access Token you received after completing the AI Architect setup.

Important:

• In User settings, use "mcp" → "servers" nested structure

• In Workspace config, use "servers" at root level

• VS Code uses mcp-remote proxy for Bearer token authentication

Troubleshooting VS Code (GitHub Copilot)

Agent Mode not available:

1. Update VS Code to 1.99+

2. Settings → Search: chat.agent.enabled

3. Enable the checkbox

Server not starting:

1. View → Output

2. Select GitHub Copilot Chat from dropdown

3. Look for error messages

4. Click Start button in .vscode/mcp.json

Tools not showing:

1. Open Copilot Chat

2. Switch to Agent mode

3. Click Tools (wrench icon)

4. Verify BitoAIArchitect appears

Reset if needed:

• Ctrl/Cmd + Shift + P

• Run: MCP: Reset Cached Tools

• Restart VS Code

OAuth prompts appearing:

If VS Code is prompting for OAuth instead of using your Bearer token:

1. Ensure you're using the mcp-remote proxy configuration (not direct HTTP)

2. Verify the --header argument is correctly formatted

3. Check that Node.js and npx are installed: npx --version

4. Try removing any cached OAuth credentials:

   • Command Palette → Authentication: Remove Dynamic Authentication Providers