How to Use the Trefle MCP in VS Code Copilot

Q: How do I check plant distributions using Trefle and VS Code Copilot?

You instruct the agent to call getdistributionplants in a shared chat prompt. The resulting data, filtered by establishment, appears directly in the chat window for team review.

Q: What if I need to list all main species? How does Trefle help with that using VS Code Copilot?

The listplants tool provides a clean manifest of primary plant species. This is perfect for setting up common data structures across the entire engineering team.

Q: Can I get all available genera? How do I query it with Trefle and VS Code Copilot?

Yes, you use listgenera to pull a master list of every genus. You can then pass these results into other functions for further processing within the team's codebase.

Q: Is there a way to submit data corrections? Can I use Trefle and VS Code Copilot?

Absolutely. The submitspeciescorrection tool allows your teammates to formally propose changes using structured inputs, keeping the entire process auditable.

Team knowledge base access. Standardize botany research using Trefle right inside VS Code Copilot Chat.

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Connect Trefle MCP to VS Code Copilot

Create your Vinkius account to connect Trefle to VS Code Copilot and route execution through our secure gateway. The platform manages server hosting, runtime updates, and security layers. Configuration requires no manual server provisioning.

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Setup Trefle with VS Code Copilot

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Centralized Location Data

The team can now use `get_distribution_plants` to check plant locations across various zones. You simply commit the MCP config, and every developer gets access to this critical data. This tool allows your entire team to verify where plants are found by filtering results based on establishment criteria.

Master Species Lookup

Need a reliable list of all species? `list_plants` provides the primary species names, which is ideal for shared code components. It keeps out the messy forms and varieties. Additionally, developers can use `search_species` to search through every single recorded species type name when writing new features.

Data Integrity Checks

The team gains confidence knowing they have tools like `report_species_error`. This means bad data isn't just found, it can be reported directly through the shared MCP Server. Furthermore, using `search_plants` lets your teammates quickly narrow down main plants when writing code that relies on specific botanical names.

Setup guide

Set up Trefle MCP in VS Code Copilot

Prerequisites

VS Code 1.99 or later with GitHub Copilot extension
Active Vinkius subscription with a valid endpoint token

1

Open MCP configuration

Open the Command Palette (Cmd+Shift+P / Ctrl+Shift+P) and run "MCP: Add Server". Select HTTP (Streamable) as the server type. VS Code will create .vscode/mcp.json in your workspace.
2

Add the Trefle MCP

Paste the JSON snippet shown on the right into your .vscode/mcp.json. Replace [YOUR_TOKEN_HERE] with your endpoint token from cloud.vinkius.com.
3

Switch to Agent mode

Open Copilot Chat (Cmd+Shift+I / Ctrl+Shift+I) and switch to Agent mode using the dropdown. MCP tools are only available in Agent mode — they do not appear in Edit or Ask modes.
4

Verify the connection

In the Copilot Chat input, type # to list available tools. You should see the Trefle tools listed. Try asking: "List my recent Trefle transactions" and Copilot will invoke them automatically.

.vscode/mcp.json

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

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Common questions about Trefle MCP in VS Code Copilot

You instruct the agent to call `get_distribution_plants` in a shared chat prompt. The resulting data, filtered by establishment, appears directly in the chat window for team review.

The `list_plants` tool provides a clean manifest of primary plant species. This is perfect for setting up common data structures across the entire engineering team.

Yes, you use `list_genera` to pull a master list of every genus. You can then pass these results into other functions for further processing within the team's codebase.

Absolutely. The `submit_species_correction` tool allows your teammates to formally propose changes using structured inputs, keeping the entire process auditable.

This MCP Server handles botanical and taxonomic data—specifically genus, species, plant names, and geographical distribution records. This data is purely scientific knowledge.

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