How to Connect Crawleo MCP to GitHub Copilot in VS Code (Full Setup Guide)
GitHub Copilot's agent mode in VS Code supports MCP servers, so you can extend it with Crawleo for real-time web search and crawling. This full guide covers adding the Crawleo MCP server to VS Code's MCP configuration, authenticating with your API key, and confirming the tools in Copilot Chat so your coding agent can pull live information from the web.
What you'll learn
- Enabling MCP servers for Copilot in VS Code
- Adding the Crawleo server to the MCP config
- Authenticating with your API key
- Using Crawleo tools from Copilot Chat agent mode
Step-by-step guide
- 1
Copy your Crawleo API key
Get your API key from the Crawleo Dashboard so VS Code can authenticate the MCP server for Copilot.
- 2
Open VS Code MCP configuration
In VS Code, add an MCP server via the command palette or by editing the .vscode/mcp.json (or user) configuration that Copilot reads.
- 3
Add the Crawleo server
Insert the Crawleo MCP server entry with its command and your API key, as documented in the Crawleo MCP guide.
- 4
Switch Copilot Chat to agent mode
Open Copilot Chat, select agent mode, and confirm Crawleo's tools appear in the tools list — that means the server is connected.
- 5
Ask Copilot to use the web
Prompt Copilot to search for current docs or crawl a page. It invokes Crawleo and uses the live results to help with your code.
Frequently asked questions
Do I need a Copilot subscription for this?
You need GitHub Copilot enabled in VS Code with agent mode. The Crawleo side works on the free tier, so the web-access piece costs nothing to try.
Do I need a paid Crawleo plan to follow this tutorial?
No. Crawleo has a free tier that includes credits for search and crawling, so you can complete the entire setup and run real requests without entering a card. Create an account at crawleo.dev, grab your API key, and you're ready.
Where do I get my Crawleo API key?
Sign in at crawleo.dev, open your Dashboard, and copy the API key from the API Keys section. Treat it like a password and store it in an environment variable rather than committing it to source control.
Try it with your own API key
Create a free Crawleo account and follow along — no card required.
