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. Contact Bito support team at [email protected] to have your repositories indexed. You will get an MCP server URL and Auth token from Bito.

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

3. Requires Visual Studio Code version 1.99 or later (check with code --version)

4. GitHub Copilot extension installed and enabled

5. GitHub account with Copilot access

Set up AI Architect

Follow the setup instructions for your operating system:

• Windows

• macOS

• Linux

Windows

1

Ensure VS Code is up to date

1. Open VS Code

2. Go to Help > Check for Updates

3. Install any available updates

4. Verify version: Open terminal and run code --version

2

Enable Agent mode

1. Press Ctrl + , to open Settings

2. In the search bar, type: chat.agent.enabled

3. Check the box to enable Chat: Agent Enabled

3

Choose configuration method

You have two options:

Option A: Workspace configuration (recommended for team projects)

• Location: [ProjectRoot]\.vscode\mcp.json

• Shared with team via version control

• Project-specific

Option B: User configuration (personal, all workspaces)

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

• Only available to you across all projects

• Global configuration

4

Workspace configuration (Option A)

1. In your project root, create folder: .vscode

2. Inside .vscode, create file: mcp.json

3. Open with VS Code or Notepad

4. Paste:

{
  "servers": {
    "Bito": {
      "type": "http",
      "url": "Enter_MCP_Server_URL_Here", // e.g. "https://mcp.bito.ai/123456/mcp"
      "headers": {
        "Authorization": "Enter_Auth_Token_Here" // e.g. "Bearer xxxxxxxx-xxxx-xxxx-xxxx-xxxxxxxxxxxx"
      },
      "timeout": 60000,
      "disabled": false
    }
  }
}

Note:

• Replace the text Enter_MCP_Server_URL_Here with the actual MCP server URL.

• Replace the text Enter_Auth_Token_Here with the actual auth token.

1. Save the file (Ctrl + S)

5

User configuration (Option B) (Alternative)

1. Press Ctrl + Shift + P to open Command Palette

2. Type: Preferences: Open User Settings (JSON)

3. Press Enter

4. Add this configuration to your settings.json:

{
  "mcp": {
    "servers": {
      "Bito": {
        "type": "http",
        "url": "Enter_MCP_Server_URL_Here", // e.g. "https://mcp.bito.ai/123456/mcp"
        "headers": {
          "Authorization": "Enter_Auth_Token_Here" // e.g. "Bearer xxxxxxxx-xxxx-xxxx-xxxx-xxxxxxxxxxxx"
        },
        "timeout": 60000,
        "disabled": false
      }
    }
  }
}

Note: If settings.json already has content, make sure to add the "mcp" section properly within the existing JSON structure.

Note:

• Replace the text Enter_MCP_Server_URL_Here with the actual MCP server URL.

• Replace the text Enter_Auth_Token_Here with the actual auth token.

1. Save (Ctrl + S)

6

Start the MCP server

1. If using workspace config, open .vscode/mcp.json in VS Code

2. A Start button will appear above the configuration in the editor

3. Click Start to activate the server

4. Wait for confirmation that the server has started

7

Verify setup

1. Open GitHub Copilot Chat (Ctrl + Alt + I)

2. Click the dropdown at the bottom and select Agent mode

3. Click the Tools icon (wrench symbol) in the chat interface

4. Verify "BitoAIArchitect" appears in the list of available tools

5. You should see the available tools from the BitoAIArchitect MCP server

8

Optional - Add project guidelines

1. In your project root, create folder: .github

2. Inside .github, create file: copilot-instructions.md

3. Copy and paste ALL contents of BitoAIArchitectGuidelines.md into this file

4. Save the file

File paths:

• Workspace config: [ProjectRoot]\.vscode\mcp.json

• User config: C:\Users\[YourUsername]\AppData\Roaming\Code\User\settings.json

• Guidelines (optional): [ProjectRoot]\.github\copilot-instructions.md

macOS

1

Ensure VS Code is up to date

1. Open VS Code

2. Go to Code > Check for Updates (or Help > Check for Updates)

3. Install any available updates

4. Verify version in Terminal: code --version

2

Enable Agent mode

1. Press Cmd + , to open Settings

2. In the search bar, type: chat.agent.enabled

3. Check the box to enable Chat: Agent Enabled

3

Choose configuration method

Option A: Workspace configuration (recommended for team projects)

• Location: [ProjectRoot]/.vscode/mcp.json

• Shared with team, project-specific

Option B: User configuration (personal, all workspaces)

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

• Global across all projects

4

Workspace configuration (Option A)

1. In Terminal, navigate to your project root

2. Run:

mkdir -p .vscode

nano .vscode/mcp.json

1. Paste:

{
  "servers": {
    "Bito": {
      "type": "http",
      "url": "Enter_MCP_Server_URL_Here", // e.g. "https://mcp.bito.ai/123456/mcp"
      "headers": {
        "Authorization": "Enter_Auth_Token_Here" // e.g. "Bearer xxxxxxxx-xxxx-xxxx-xxxx-xxxxxxxxxxxx"
      },
      "timeout": 60000,
      "disabled": false
    }
  }
}

Note:

• Replace the text Enter_MCP_Server_URL_Here with the actual MCP server URL.

• Replace the text Enter_Auth_Token_Here with the actual auth token.

1. Save: Ctrl + O, Enter, Ctrl + X

5

User configuration (Option B) (Alternative)

1. Press Cmd + Shift + P to open Command Palette

2. Type: Preferences: Open User Settings (JSON)

3. Press Enter

4. Add this configuration to your settings.json:

{
  "mcp": {
    "servers": {
      "Bito": {
        "type": "http",
        "url": "Enter_MCP_Server_URL_Here", // e.g. "https://mcp.bito.ai/123456/mcp"
        "headers": {
          "Authorization": "Enter_Auth_Token_Here" // e.g. "Bearer xxxxxxxx-xxxx-xxxx-xxxx-xxxxxxxxxxxx"
        },
        "timeout": 60000,
        "disabled": false
      }
    }
  }
}

Note: If settings.json already has content, make sure to add the "mcp" section properly within the existing JSON structure.

Note:

• Replace the text Enter_MCP_Server_URL_Here with the actual MCP server URL.

• Replace the text Enter_Auth_Token_Here with the actual auth token.

1. Save: Cmd + S

6

Start the MCP server

1. Open the mcp.json file in VS Code

2. Click Start button that appears above the configuration

3. Wait for server to activate

7

Verify setup

1. Open Copilot Chat (Cmd + Alt + I or Cmd + Shift + I)

2. Select Agent mode from the dropdown

3. Click Tools icon to view available tools

4. Verify "BitoAIArchitect" is listed

8

Optional - Add project guidelines

mkdir -p .github

nano .github/copilot-instructions.md

Copy and paste ALL contents of BitoAIArchitectGuidelines.md into this file

File paths:

• Workspace: [ProjectRoot]/.vscode/mcp.json

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

• Guidelines: [ProjectRoot]/.github/copilot-instructions.md

Linux

1

Ensure VS Code is up to date

1. Open VS Code

2. Go to Help > Check for Updates

3. Install updates if available

4. Verify: code --version in terminal

2

Enable Agent mode

1. Press Ctrl + , to open Settings

2. Search: chat.agent.enabled

3. Enable Chat: Agent Enabled

3

Choose configuration method

Option A: Workspace - [ProjectRoot]/.vscode/mcp.json (recommended)

Option B: User - ~/.config/Code/User/settings.json (global)

4

Workspace configuration (Option A)

mkdir -p .vscode

nano .vscode/mcp.json

Paste:

{
  "servers": {
    "Bito": {
      "type": "http",
      "url": "Enter_MCP_Server_URL_Here", // e.g. "https://mcp.bito.ai/123456/mcp"
      "headers": {
        "Authorization": "Enter_Auth_Token_Here" // e.g. "Bearer xxxxxxxx-xxxx-xxxx-xxxx-xxxxxxxxxxxx"
      },
      "timeout": 60000,
      "disabled": false
    }
  }
}

Note:

• Replace the text Enter_MCP_Server_URL_Here with the actual MCP server URL.

• Replace the text Enter_Auth_Token_Here with the actual auth token.

Save: Ctrl + O, Enter, Ctrl + X

5

User configuration (Option B) (Alternative)

1. Press Ctrl + Shift + P

2. Type: Preferences: Open User Settings (JSON)

3. Add to settings.json:

{
  "mcp": {
    "servers": {
      "Bito": {
        "type": "http",
        "url": "Enter_MCP_Server_URL_Here", // e.g. "https://mcp.bito.ai/123456/mcp"
        "headers": {
          "Authorization": "Enter_Auth_Token_Here" // e.g. "Bearer xxxxxxxx-xxxx-xxxx-xxxx-xxxxxxxxxxxx"
        },
        "timeout": 60000,
        "disabled": false
      }
    }
  }
}

Note: If settings.json already has content, make sure to add the "mcp" section properly within the existing JSON structure.

Note:

• Replace the text Enter_MCP_Server_URL_Here with the actual MCP server URL.

• Replace the text Enter_Auth_Token_Here with the actual auth token.

1. Save: Ctrl + S

6

Start server & verify

1. Open mcp.json in VS Code, click Start button

2. Open Copilot Chat (Ctrl + Alt + I)

3. Select Agent mode

4. Click Tools icon to verify "BitoAIArchitect" is listed

7

Optional - Add guidelines

1. In Terminal, run:

mkdir -p .github

nano .github/copilot-instructions.md

1. Copy and paste ALL contents of BitoAIArchitectGuidelines.md into this file

2. Save: Ctrl + O, Enter, Ctrl + X

File paths:

• Workspace: [ProjectRoot]/.vscode/mcp.json

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

• Guidelines: [ProjectRoot]/.github/copilot-instructions.md