Can my agent search for specific dashboards in my Grafana instance?

Yes. Use the 'search_dashboards' tool. You can provide an optional query string to match titles or tags. The agent will return basic info including the unique UID required for deeper inspection.

How do I extract the PromQL or SQL queries from a dashboard panel via chat?

Use the 'get_dashboard' tool with the dashboard UID. Your agent will retrieve the full JSON configuration, including all panels and their underlying data queries, enabling you to review the exact metrics logic natively.

Can I see firing alerts through the agent?

Absolutely. Use the 'list_alerts' tool. The agent retrieves all configured alert rules and their current statuses, allowing you to identify which monitors are currently in a firing state synchronousy.

Grafana MCP Server for VS Code Copilot 4 tools — connect in under 2 minutes

Name: Grafana
Availability: InStock
Author: Vinkius

code.visualstudio.com/docs/copilot/chat/mcp-servers

Built by Vinkius GDPR 4 Tools IDE

GitHub Copilot in VS Code is the most widely adopted AI coding assistant, embedded directly into the world's most popular code editor. With MCP support in Agent mode, Copilot can access external data and APIs to generate context-aware code grounded in real-time information.

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The modern way to manage MCP Servers — no config files, no terminal commands. Install Grafana and 2,500+ MCP Servers from a single visual interface.

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Classic Setup·json

{
  "mcpServers": {
    "grafana": {
      "url": "https://edge.vinkius.com/[YOUR_TOKEN_HERE]/mcp"
    }
  }
}

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Stream every event to Splunk, Datadog, or your own webhook in real-time

* Every MCP server runs on Vinkius-managed infrastructure inside AWS - a purpose-built runtime with per-request V8 isolates, Ed25519 signed audit chains, and sub-40ms cold starts optimized for native MCP execution. See our infrastructure

About Grafana MCP Server

Connect your Grafana instance to any AI agent and take full control of your application observability, dashboard inspections, and alerting workflows through natural conversation.

GitHub Copilot Agent mode brings Grafana data directly into your VS Code workflow. With a project-scoped config, the entire team shares access to 4 tools — Copilot queries live data, generates typed code, and writes tests from actual API responses, all without leaving the editor.

What you can do

Dashboard Discovery Orchestration — Search for Grafana dashboards by title or tag to retrieve unique UIDs and metadata natively within your chat
Panel & Query Inspection — Retrieve the full configuration of any dashboard by UID, extracting precise PromQL, LogQL, or SQL queries and panel layouts flawlessly
Data Source Auditing — List all configured data sources including Prometheus, Loki, CloudWatch, and SQL databases to verify connectivity boundaries securely
Alert Monitoring Oversight — Enumerate active alert rules and retrieve current firing states to monitor system health and resolve incidents synchronously
Observability Navigation — Analyze specific localized variables decoding active monitoring routes and extracting structural constraints from your Grafana environment
SRE Command Center — Verify dashboard UIDs and retrieve query strings to debug performance regressions or analyze log patterns using natural language

The Grafana MCP Server exposes 4 tools through the Vinkius. Connect it to VS Code Copilot in under two minutes — no API keys to rotate, no infrastructure to provision, no vendor lock-in. Your configuration, your data, your control.

How to Connect Grafana to VS Code Copilot via MCP

Follow these steps to integrate the Grafana MCP Server with VS Code Copilot.

Create MCP config

Create a .vscode/mcp.json file in your project root

Add the server config

Paste the JSON configuration above

Enable Agent mode

Open GitHub Copilot Chat and switch to Agent mode using the dropdown

Start using Grafana

Ask Copilot: "Using Grafana, help me..." — 4 tools available

Why Use VS Code Copilot with the Grafana MCP Server

GitHub Copilot for Visual Studio Code provides unique advantages when paired with Grafana through the Model Context Protocol.

VS Code is used by over 70% of developers — adding MCP tools to Copilot means your team can leverage external data without leaving their primary editor

Project-scoped MCP configs (`.vscode/mcp.json`) let you commit server configurations to your repository, ensuring the entire team shares the same tool access

Copilot's Agent mode integrates MCP tools seamlessly with file editing, terminal commands, and workspace search in a single agentic loop

GitHub's enterprise compliance and audit features extend to MCP tool usage, providing visibility into how AI interacts with external services

Grafana + VS Code Copilot Use Cases

Practical scenarios where VS Code Copilot combined with the Grafana MCP Server delivers measurable value.

Live API integration: Copilot can query an MCP server, inspect the response schema, and generate typed API client code in the same step

DevSecOps workflows: security teams can give developers access to domain intelligence tools directly in their editor for real-time vulnerability assessment during code review

Data pipeline development: Copilot fetches sample data via MCP and generates transformation scripts, validators, and test fixtures from actual API responses

Documentation generation: Copilot queries available tools and auto-generates README sections, API reference docs, and usage examples

Grafana MCP Tools for VS Code Copilot (4)

These 4 tools become available when you connect Grafana to VS Code Copilot via MCP:

firing_alerts

Returns alerting rules that are currently in "firing" state, including their labels and annotations. Get currently firing alerts from Grafana Unified Alerting

get_dashboard

Requires the dashboard UID, which you can get from search_dashboards. Get full dashboard configuration including panels and queries

list_datasources

) are available in this Grafana instance. List all configured data sources in Grafana

search_dashboards

Returns basic info including the UID. To inspect the panels and queries of a dashboard, use get_dashboard with the uid. Search Grafana dashboards by title or tag

Example Prompts for Grafana in VS Code Copilot

Ready-to-use prompts you can give your VS Code Copilot agent to start working with Grafana immediately.

"Search for dashboards tagged with 'production'"

"Show me the queries for dashboard 'abc-123'"

"Are there any firing alerts right now?"

Troubleshooting Grafana MCP Server with VS Code Copilot

Common issues when connecting Grafana to VS Code Copilot through the Vinkius, and how to resolve them.

MCP tools not available

Ensure you are in Agent mode in Copilot Chat. MCP tools only appear in Agent mode.

Grafana + VS Code Copilot FAQ

Common questions about integrating Grafana MCP Server with VS Code Copilot.

Which VS Code version supports MCP?

MCP support requires VS Code 1.99 or later with the GitHub Copilot extension. Ensure both are updated to the latest version. Older versions of Copilot may not expose the Agent mode toggle.

How do I switch to Agent mode?

Open the Copilot Chat panel and look for two mode options: "Ask" and "Agent". Click "Agent" to enable autonomous tool calling. In Ask mode, Copilot provides conversational answers but cannot invoke MCP tools.

Can I restrict which MCP tools Copilot can access?

Yes. VS Code shows a tool consent dialog before any MCP tool is invoked for the first time. You can also configure tool access policies at the organization level through GitHub Copilot settings.

Does MCP work in VS Code Remote or Codespaces?

Yes. MCP servers configured via .vscode/mcp.json work in Remote SSH, WSL, and GitHub Codespaces environments. The MCP connection is established from the remote host, so ensure the server URL is accessible from that environment.