You can manage Model Context Protocol (MCP) server usage in your organization or enterprise by configuring a series of MCP policies on GitHub.com. Through these policies, you can allow or block MCP server usage entirely, or restrict access to a list of servers that you define in an MCP registry. These policies apply to supported IDEs and Copilot CLI.
MCP registries
An MCP registry is a directory of MCP servers that acts like a catalog for IDEs and Copilot. Each registry entry points to a server's manifest, which describes the tools, resources, and prompts that server provides.
After you create your MCP registry, you can make it available to your company, allowing you to:
- Curate a catalog of MCP servers your developers can discover and use without context switching
- Restrict access to unapproved servers for increased security and compliance
- Provide clarity to developers when a server is blocked by policy
Agent finder
Agent finder is a discovery service that helps GitHub Copilot find the right capabilities—such as MCP servers, tools, agents, and skills—for a task at runtime, instead of requiring every capability to be configured in advance. Like an MCP registry, it searches a catalog of capabilities and returns ranked matches that GitHub Copilot can use on demand. Agent finder implements the open Agentic Resource Discovery (ARD) specification.
To use agent finder, download the agent finder skill and add it to your ~/.copilot/skills directory. For more information about agent skills, see About agent skills. To browse the catalog, see GitHub Agent Finder.
MCP policy settings
The following settings let you control how MCP servers are discovered and accessed in your organization or enterprise:
- MCP servers in Copilot: Manage the use of MCP servers for all users with Copilot seats in your organization or enterprise.
- MCP Registry URL: Specify the URL of your MCP registry, allowing your developers to discover and use approved MCP servers in supported surfaces.
- Restrict MCP access to registry servers: Choose whether to allow all MCP servers or restrict access to only those listed in your configured registry.
Supported surfaces
MCP management features are supported as follows:
| Surface | Registry display | Allowlist enforcement |
|---|---|---|
| Copilot CLI | ||
| Copilot cloud agent | ||
| Eclipse | ||
| JetBrains | ||
| Visual Studio | ||
| VS Code | ||
| VS Code Insiders | ||
| Xcode |
Note
For Eclipse, JetBrains, and Xcode, MCP management features are supported in the pre-release versions of Copilot.
Next steps
To create your own MCP registry, see Configure an MCP registry for your organization or enterprise.