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How to use GitHub with VS Code

You want GitHub inside VS Code so it can review pull requests and assign follow-up work, triage repository issues, prepare a pull request from a code change, and audit repository access and activity — without you copy-pasting between tabs. Here is the whole setup, once.

Create your GitHub gateway

The gateway is the thing VS Code connects to, and it is where you decide which GitHub tools an agent may use. You create it once and every client reuses it.

  1. Create an Arcade account

    Sign up and open the dashboard. The free tier is enough to follow this through.

  2. Create an MCP Gateway and select your GitHub tools

    In the dashboard, create a gateway and pick the GitHub tools you want to expose. The gateway is what your client connects to, and it is where tool access is decided.

  3. Copy your gateway URL

    Every client below needs it.

    https://api.arcade.dev/mcp/<YOUR-GATEWAY-SLUG>

Create a GitHub gateway Opens the gateway builder in your Arcade dashboard.

Connect the gateway to VS Code

  1. Add the server

    VS Code 1.107.0 or higher. Command Palette → MCP: Add Server… → choose HTTP, paste your gateway URL, and name it something like mcp-arcade.

  2. Start it and authenticate

    Click Start next to the server in mcp.json or under Extensions → MCP Servers - Installed, then approve the Arcade sign-in and consent screens.

  3. Try it out

    Open the chat pane, switch to Agent mode, and ask it to use one of your GitHub tools.

Full VS Code guide in the docs steps verified 2026-08-13

Try these GitHub prompts

VS Code can now act on your GitHub account. Click a prompt to copy it.

Control repository access and require approval before an agent creates files, merges pull requests, or changes labels with Contextual Access policies.

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