awesome-copilot-custom-mcp-server by BrettOJ - MCP Server

MBS MCP Server: mbs-copilot-devcontext (aka Awesome Copilot)

This is an MCP server that retrieves GitHub Copilot customizations from the mbs-copilot-devcontext repository.

Install

Prerequisites

.NET 9 SDK
Visual Studio Code with
- C# Dev Kit extension
Azure CLI
Azure Developer CLI
Docker Desktop
GitHub Personal Access Token - Required for accessing the awesome-copilot repository via GitHub API

What's Included

Awesome Copilot MCP server includes:

Building Block	Name	Description	Usage
Tools	`search_instructions`	Searches custom instructions based on keywords in their descriptions.	`#search_instructions`
Tools	`load_instruction`	Loads a custom instruction from the repository.	`#load_instruction`
Prompts	`get_search_prompt`	Get a prompt for searching copilot instructions.	`/mcp.awesome-copilot.get_search_prompt`

Getting Started

Configuration
Getting repository root
Running MCP server
Connect MCP server to an MCP host/client
- VS Code + Agent Mode + Local MCP server

Configuration

This MCP server uses the GitHub API to fetch custom instructions from the awesome-copilot repository. You need to configure a GitHub Personal Access Token to authenticate with the GitHub API.

GitHub Personal Access Token Setup

Go to GitHub Settings > Tokens
Click "Generate new token" (classic)
For public repositories: No special scopes are needed
For private repositories: Select the repo scope
Copy the generated token

Development Environment Setup

For local development, create a .env file in the src/McpSamples.AwesomeCopilot.HybridApp directory:

cd $REPOSITORY_ROOT/awesome-copilot/src/McpSamples.AwesomeCopilot.HybridApp
cp .env.example .env

Edit the .env file and add your GitHub token:

GITHUB__TOKEN=your_github_token_here

Security Note: The .env file is automatically ignored by git. Never commit your token to source control.

Production Environment Setup

For Docker containers and Azure deployments, pass the token as an environment variable (see respective sections below).

Optional Configuration

You can override the default repository settings using environment variables:

GITHUB__REPOSITORYOWNER: Repository owner (default: github)
GITHUB__REPOSITORYNAME: Repository name (default: awesome-copilot)
GITHUB__BRANCH: Branch name (default: main)

For example, to use a different repository in your .env file:

GITHUB__TOKEN=your_github_token_here
GITHUB__REPOSITORYOWNER=myorg
GITHUB__REPOSITORYNAME=my-repo
GITHUB__BRANCH=develop

Getting repository root

Get the repository root.

# bash/zsh
REPOSITORY_ROOT=$(git rev-parse --show-toplevel)

# PowerShell
$REPOSITORY_ROOT = git rev-parse --show-toplevel

Running MCP server

On a local machine

Make sure you have configured the .env file with your GitHub token (see Configuration section above).
Run the MCP server app.
```
cd $REPOSITORY_ROOT/awesome-copilot
dotnet run --project ./src/McpSamples.AwesomeCopilot.HybridApp
```
Note:
- The application will fail at startup if GITHUB__TOKEN is not set in your .env file
- Make sure to take note of the absolute directory path of the McpSamples.AwesomeCopilot.HybridApp project
Parameters:
- --http: The switch that indicates to run this MCP server as a streamable HTTP type. When this switch is added, the MCP server URL is http://localhost:5250.
With this parameter, you can run the MCP server like:
```
dotnet run --project ./src/McpSamples.AwesomeCopilot.HybridApp -- --http
```

In a container

Build the MCP server app as a container image.

cd $REPOSITORY_ROOT
docker build -f Dockerfile.awesome-copilot -t awesome-copilot:latest .

Run the MCP server app in a container.

Important: You must pass the GitHub token as an environment variable.

docker run -i --rm -p 8080:8080 \
  -e GITHUB__TOKEN=your_github_token_here \
  awesome-copilot:latest

Alternatively, use the container image from the container registry.

docker run -i --rm -p 8080:8080 \
  -e GITHUB__TOKEN=your_github_token_here \
  ghcr.io/microsoft/mcp-dotnet-samples/awesome-copilot:latest

Parameters:

--http: The switch that indicates to run this MCP server as a streamable HTTP type. When this switch is added, the MCP server URL is http://localhost:8080.
-e GITHUB__TOKEN: Environment variable for GitHub authentication (required)
-e GITHUB__REPOSITORYOWNER: Override repository owner (optional, default: github)
-e GITHUB__REPOSITORYNAME: Override repository name (optional, default: awesome-copilot)
-e GITHUB__BRANCH: Override branch name (optional, default: main)

With these parameters, you can run the MCP server like:

# use local container image with HTTP mode
docker run -i --rm -p 8080:8080 \
  -e GITHUB__TOKEN=your_github_token_here \
  awesome-copilot:latest --http

# use container image from the container registry with HTTP mode
docker run -i --rm -p 8080:8080 \
  -e GITHUB__TOKEN=your_github_token_here \
  ghcr.io/microsoft/mcp-dotnet-samples/awesome-copilot:latest --http

# use custom repository
docker run -i --rm -p 8080:8080 \
  -e GITHUB__TOKEN=your_github_token_here \
  -e GITHUB__REPOSITORYOWNER=myorg \
  -e GITHUB__REPOSITORYNAME=my-repo \
  ghcr.io/microsoft/mcp-dotnet-samples/awesome-copilot:latest --http

On Azure

Navigate to the directory.
```
cd $REPOSITORY_ROOT/awesome-copilot
```

# Login with Azure Developer CLI
azd auth login

Set the GitHub token as an environment variable for deployment.

azd env set GITHUB__TOKEN your_github_token_here

Optionally, configure custom repository settings:

azd env set GITHUB__REPOSITORYOWNER myorg
azd env set GITHUB__REPOSITORYNAME my-repo
azd env set GITHUB__BRANCH develop

Deploy the MCP server app to Azure.
```
azd up
```
While provisioning and deploying, you'll be asked to provide subscription ID, location, environment name.
After the deployment is complete, get the information by running the following commands:
- Azure Container Apps FQDN:
```
azd env get-value AZURE_RESOURCE_MCP_AWESOME_COPILOT_FQDN
```
Note: The GitHub token and other environment variables are securely stored and injected into the Azure Container Apps instance. You can update them later using the Azure Portal or Azure CLI.

Connect MCP server to an MCP host/client

VS Code + Agent Mode + Local MCP server

Copy mcp.json to the repository root.

For locally running MCP server (STDIO):

mkdir -p $REPOSITORY_ROOT/.vscode
cp $REPOSITORY_ROOT/awesome-copilot/.vscode/mcp.stdio.local.json \
   $REPOSITORY_ROOT/.vscode/mcp.json

New-Item -Type Directory -Path $REPOSITORY_ROOT/.vscode -Force
Copy-Item -Path $REPOSITORY_ROOT/awesome-copilot/.vscode/mcp.stdio.local.json `
          -Destination $REPOSITORY_ROOT/.vscode/mcp.json -Force

For locally running MCP server (HTTP):

mkdir -p $REPOSITORY_ROOT/.vscode
cp $REPOSITORY_ROOT/awesome-copilot/.vscode/mcp.http.local.json \
   $REPOSITORY_ROOT/.vscode/mcp.json

New-Item -Type Directory -Path $REPOSITORY_ROOT/.vscode -Force
Copy-Item -Path $REPOSITORY_ROOT/awesome-copilot/.vscode/mcp.http.local.json `
          -Destination $REPOSITORY_ROOT/.vscode/mcp.json -Force

For locally running MCP server in a container (STDIO):

mkdir -p $REPOSITORY_ROOT/.vscode
cp $REPOSITORY_ROOT/awesome-copilot/.vscode/mcp.stdio.container.json \
   $REPOSITORY_ROOT/.vscode/mcp.json

New-Item -Type Directory -Path $REPOSITORY_ROOT/.vscode -Force
Copy-Item -Path $REPOSITORY_ROOT/awesome-copilot/.vscode/mcp.stdio.container.json `
          -Destination $REPOSITORY_ROOT/.vscode/mcp.json -Force

For locally running MCP server in a container (HTTP):

mkdir -p $REPOSITORY_ROOT/.vscode
cp $REPOSITORY_ROOT/awesome-copilot/.vscode/mcp.http.container.json \
   $REPOSITORY_ROOT/.vscode/mcp.json

New-Item -Type Directory -Path $REPOSITORY_ROOT/.vscode -Force
Copy-Item -Path $REPOSITORY_ROOT/awesome-copilot/.vscode/mcp.http.container.json `
          -Destination $REPOSITORY_ROOT/.vscode/mcp.json -Force

For remotely running MCP server in a container (HTTP):

mkdir -p $REPOSITORY_ROOT/.vscode
cp $REPOSITORY_ROOT/awesome-copilot/.vscode/mcp.http.remote.json \
   $REPOSITORY_ROOT/.vscode/mcp.json

New-Item -Type Directory -Path $REPOSITORY_ROOT/.vscode -Force
Copy-Item -Path $REPOSITORY_ROOT/awesome-copilot/.vscode/mcp.http.remote.json `
          -Destination $REPOSITORY_ROOT/.vscode/mcp.json -Force

Open Command Palette by typing F1 or Ctrl+Shift+P on Windows or Cmd+Shift+P on Mac OS, and search MCP: List Servers.
Choose awesome-copilot then click Start Server.
When prompted, enter one of the following values:
- The absolute directory path of the McpSamples.AwesomeCopilot.HybridApp project
- The FQDN of Azure Container Apps.

Use a prompt by typing /mcp.awesome-copilot.get_search_prompt and enter keywords to search. You'll get a prompt like:

Please search all the chatmodes, instructions and prompts that are related to the search keyword, `{keyword}`.

Here's the process to follow:

1. Use the `awesome-copilot` MCP server.
1. Search all chatmodes, instructions, and prompts for the keyword provided.
1. DO NOT load any chatmodes, instructions, or prompts from the MCP server until the user asks to do so.
1. Scan local chatmodes, instructions, and prompts markdown files in `.github/chatmodes`, `.github/instructions`, and `.github/prompts` directories respectively.
1. Compare existing chatmodes, instructions, and prompts with the search results.
1. Provide a structured response in a table format that includes the already exists, mode (chatmodes, instructions or prompts), filename, title and description of each item found. Here's an example of the table format:

    | Exists | Mode         | Filename               | Title         | Description   |
    |--------|--------------|------------------------|---------------|---------------|
    | ✅    | chatmodes    | chatmode1.json         | ChatMode 1    | Description 1 |
    | ❌    | instructions | instruction1.json      | Instruction 1 | Description 1 |
    | ✅    | prompts      | prompt1.json           | Prompt 1      | Description 1 |

    ✅ indicates that the item already exists in this repository, while ❌ indicates that it does not.

1. If any item doesn't exist in the repository, ask which item the user wants to save.
1. If the user wants to save it, save the item in the appropriate directory (`.github/chatmodes`, `.github/instructions`, or `.github/prompts`) using the mode and filename, with NO modification.

Confirm the result.