> ## Documentation Index
> Fetch the complete documentation index at: https://pomeroy.app/docs/llms.txt
> Use this file to discover all available pages before exploring further.

# Connect Pomeroy to VS Code Insiders

> Pomeroy opens the Insiders install link. VS Code Insiders asks you to trust the server, then starts it. Then VS Code Insiders can reach Mail, Calendar, Reminders, Notes, Contacts, Messages, Maps, Weather and Shortcuts on your Mac, each app behind its own switch.

**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.

<Info>
  **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.
</Info>

## Set up

<Steps>
  <Step title="Install Pomeroy and switch on your apps">
    [Download Pomeroy](https://pomeroy.app/download), 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](/docs/getting-started/installation).
  </Step>

  <Step title="Install VS Code Insiders, if you have not">
    Pomeroy lists the assistants it finds on this Mac, so install [VS Code
    Insiders](https://code.visualstudio.com/insiders) first if it is not there.
    Returning to Pomeroy's window re-checks.
  </Step>

  <Step title="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.
  </Step>

  <Step title="Pick it up">
    **No restart needed.** VS Code Insiders picks the server up on its own.
  </Step>

  <Step title="Ask something">
    In VS Code Insiders, ask what is on your calendar today. The answer comes
    from your Mac.
  </Step>
</Steps>

## 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)**:

```json theme={null}
{
  "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](/docs/configuration/stdio).

## Over the local endpoint

VS Code Insiders can also reach Pomeroy over the [HTTP
endpoint](/docs/configuration/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**:

```json theme={null}
{
  "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](/docs/getting-started/troubleshooting#an-assistant-cannot-see-the-tools).

## 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.

<CardGroup cols={2}>
  <Card title="What Pomeroy can do" icon="grid-2" href="/docs/features/overview">
    Ten apps, 27 tools, and every refusal.
  </Card>

  <Card title="Permissions" icon="toggle-on" href="/docs/getting-started/permissions">
    What each toggle grants, and what macOS asks you for.
  </Card>

  <Card title="Other assistants" icon="plug" href="/docs/assistants/overview">
    All 24, and what to do if yours is not listed.
  </Card>

  <Card title="Connect Pomeroy to VS Code Insiders" icon="link" href="https://pomeroy.app/connect/vscode-insiders">
    The product page for VS Code Insiders, with what it costs.
  </Card>
</CardGroup>