Connect Pomeroy to VS Code Insiders

VS Code Insiders, the nightly build of VS Code, works with Pomeroy. Pomeroy sets itself up in it with one click. VS Code Insiders can then read the apps you switched on, and no others.

What Set up does. Pomeroy opens the Insiders install link. VS Code Insiders adds pomeroy to your user MCP configuration and asks you to trust it before starting it the first time.

Set up

Install Pomeroy and switch on your apps

Download Pomeroy, drag it into Applications and open it. Switch on the apps you want VS Code Insiders to reach. Everything starts off, and macOS asks you to approve each app as you switch it on. The full walkthrough.

Install VS Code Insiders, if you have not

Pomeroy lists the assistants it finds on this Mac, so install VS Code Insiders first if it is not there. Returning to Pomeroy’s window re-checks.

Press Set up

In Pomeroy’s Assistants pane, find VS Code Insiders and press Set up. It is safe to press any number of times. It writes the same thing every time, and it never disturbs another server already there.

Pick it up

No restart needed. VS Code Insiders picks the server up on its own.

Ask something

In VS Code Insiders, ask what is on your calendar today. The answer comes from your Mac.

The configuration

You do not need this. Set up writes it for you. It is here so you can see what Pomeroy adds, check it by hand, or set up a second Mac without opening the panel. Goes in VS Code Insiders › Command Palette › MCP: Open User Configuration (mcp.json):

{
  "servers": {
    "pomeroy": {
      "command": "/Applications/Pomeroy.app/Contents/MacOS/pomeroy-mcp",
      "type": "stdio"
    }
  }
}

The command is a single absolute path with no arguments, and it lives inside Pomeroy’s app bundle, so an update never changes it. What the pipe is.

Over the local endpoint

VS Code Insiders can also reach Pomeroy over the HTTP endpoint instead of the pipe. Use it only for a copy running somewhere that cannot start a program on this Mac, such as a container or a remote workspace. Switch the local address on in Pomeroy’s Connections pane first. Goes in VS Code Insiders › MCP: Open User Configuration:

{
  "servers": {
    "pomeroy": {
      "headers": {
        "Authorization": "Bearer <the key Pomeroy generates>"
      },
      "type": "http",
      "url": "http://127.0.0.1:13579/mcp"
    }
  }
}

Pomeroy writes the real token in place of the placeholder when it can reach this assistant’s settings. Otherwise you can read the token under Connections.

How to check it worked

In VS Code Insiders, run MCP: List Servers from the Command Palette and pomeroy is listed as running. In Copilot chat, agent mode shows Pomeroy’s tools. If the tools are missing, the cause is almost always that the assistant has not re-read its server list. Troubleshooting.

Worth knowing about VS Code Insiders

Insiders keeps its own settings, separate from VS Code, so set each up on its own. Pomeroy lists them as two assistants for that reason.

What it can reach

Only the apps you switched on, and only through the tools Pomeroy publishes. VS Code Insiders cannot send mail, send a message, delete anything or edit a contact, because no tool does those things.

What Pomeroy can do

Ten apps, 27 tools, and every refusal.

Permissions

What each toggle grants, and what macOS asks you for.

Other assistants

All 24, and what to do if yours is not listed.