How do I find my LicenseCheck API Key?

Log in to your [**LicenseCheck account**](https://licenseapi.dev/), and you will find your API Key in your dashboard or profile settings. Copy and paste it below.

What types of licenses are covered?

The API covers thousands of common open-source licenses (like MIT, Apache, GPL) as well as various proprietary and commercial licensing models.

Can the agent check for specific permissions?

Yes. Every license record retrieved by your agent includes metadata on permitted actions, such as commercial use, distribution, and modification.

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

Name: LicenseCheck API
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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Classic Setup·json

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

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* 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 LicenseCheck API MCP Server

Empower your AI agent to orchestrate your entire software compliance and license auditing workflow with LicenseCheck, the specialized source for open-source and proprietary license data. By connecting the LicenseAPI.dev service to your agent, you transform complex legal lookups into a natural conversation. Your agent can instantly retrieve license details, audit permissions and conditions, and query limitations without you ever touching a legal portal. Whether you are conducting dependency research or managing corporate compliance, your agent acts as a real-time legal consultant, ensuring your licensing data is always verified and precise.

GitHub Copilot Agent mode brings LicenseCheck API 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

License Auditing — Search for thousands of software licenses by name or ID and retrieve detailed metadata, including versions and IDs.
Permission Oversight — Audit specific permissions allowed by a license to understand the legal reach of your software usage instantly.
Condition Discovery — Query mandatory conditions required by specific licenses to assist in compliance and archival planning.
Legal Intelligence — Retrieve limitations and prohibitions for any license to identify relevant risk markers for your project.
Compliance Monitoring — Check API status to ensure your legal research workflow is always operational.

The LicenseCheck API 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 LicenseCheck API to VS Code Copilot via MCP

Follow these steps to integrate the LicenseCheck API 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 LicenseCheck API

Ask Copilot: "Using LicenseCheck API, help me...". 4 tools available

Why Use VS Code Copilot with the LicenseCheck API MCP Server

GitHub Copilot for Visual Studio Code provides unique advantages when paired with LicenseCheck API 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

LicenseCheck API + VS Code Copilot Use Cases

Practical scenarios where VS Code Copilot combined with the LicenseCheck API 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

LicenseCheck API MCP Tools for VS Code Copilot (4)

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

check_api_status

dev REST API. Check if the LicenseCheck service is operational

check_software_license

Search for a software license by name or identifier

get_license_details

Get full details and legal metadata for a specific license by ID

list_all_licenses

List all software licenses available in the database

Example Prompts for LicenseCheck API in VS Code Copilot

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

"Check the software license 'MIT' using LicenseCheck."

"What are the limitations of the 'GPL-3.0' license?"

"List all software licenses available in the database."

Troubleshooting LicenseCheck API MCP Server with VS Code Copilot

Common issues when connecting LicenseCheck API 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.

LicenseCheck API + VS Code Copilot FAQ

Common questions about integrating LicenseCheck API 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.