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Set-up documentation
Connect your mailbox to VS Code
VS Code is the one client whose top-level key is servers rather than mcpServers. It registers itself, so the config is a type and a URL with no token in it.
servers
url
The key is servers, not mcpServers
Read this first if you have already set up any other MCP client. VS Code
is the only one in this section whose top-level key is
servers. Cursor, Windsurf, Cline, LibreChat and Claude Code
all use mcpServers, and if you paste one of their blocks in
here it will not work.
What makes it worth its own heading is the failure. VS Code reads the file, finds no key it recognises, and starts up with no server attached. There is no error, no warning and nothing in the tool list, so it looks exactly like a server that is down. People spend a long time checking the URL.
The configuration
{
"servers": {
"work-mail": {
"type": "http",
"url": "https://mcp.mailbox-mcp.com/db/mcp/YOUR-MAILBOX-KEY"
}
}
}
type and url are both required for a remote
server. The allowed values for type are stdio,
http and sse; this server is
http. There is no token, and the next section explains why
that is a statement of fact here rather than a hope.
Which file, and how to open it
| Scope | How to get there |
|---|---|
| One workspace | .vscode/mcp.json in the project. Commit it if the team should share the server. |
| Every project | Command palette, then MCP: Open User Configuration. |
| A remote or Codespace | Command palette, then MCP: Open Remote User Configuration. |
VS Code deliberately gives you the command rather than the path for the user file, so we do not print a path either. Nobody's documentation states where it lives on disk, and a guessed one on this page would be exactly the kind of confident invention this section is written against.
Other commands worth knowing: MCP: Add Server writes the entry
for you, MCP: List Servers shows what is attached and its
state, and MCP: Reset Trust clears the prompt that asks
whether you trust a server the first time it runs.
No token: it registers itself
This is one of the few clients where we can say that as a fact rather than
an expectation. VS Code's own release notes for version 1.101 state that it
handles MCP servers relying on dynamic client registration, and it ships a
command, Authentication: Remove Dynamic Authentication Providers,
whose entire purpose is to discard a client id that was issued that way.
So the config above is complete. VS Code introduces itself to the server, is issued what it needs, and sends you to the control panel to sign in and choose a mailbox. Manage Trusted MCP Servers in the account menu is where you revoke that later.
Where the documentation will mislead you
The two main MCP pages in the VS Code documentation say nothing about authentication at all. A reader who stops there never learns that OAuth is supported, concludes a token is required, and goes looking for one. The configuration reference and the v1.101 release notes are the pages that cover it.
Check that it worked
Open Chat, switch to agent mode, and check the tools picker: the mail tools should be listed under the name you gave the server. Then ask for something only your mailbox can answer.
Try this first
Search my mail for anything mentioning this repository in the last month and tell me what was asked for.
Nothing is marked read by asking. If the tools are listed but the call fails, the mailbox credential is the thing to check in the control panel, not this file.
The free tier is 5 MCP calls a day on any mailbox, with no card, which is enough to paste the block above and see it answer in agent mode.
Where to go next
If you also use Cursor, do
not reuse this block: the key is different and so is the treatment of
type. The
key table compares all of
them.
- The minimum VS Code version for MCP support. It is not stated on any of the four vendor pages read.
- The on-disk path of the user configuration file. The docs deliberately give the command rather than the path, so the macOS and Windows locations are not vendor-stated.
Read 30 August 2026 Every value on this page came off VS Code documentation: MCP servers on that day. If it has changed since, tell us and we will read it again.