Can I find the 'Human Rights Act 1998' and read its sections?

Yes! Use the `search_legislation` tool with the title 'Human Rights' and year '1998'. Once you have the type (ukpga) and number (42), you can use `get_section` to read specific parts of the act.

How do I see all legislation enacted in 2023?

Use the `get_legislation_by_year` tool and specify the `year` as '2023' and the `type` (e.g., 'ukpga' for Public General Acts). It will list all documents registered for that year.

Does this server provide recently published laws?

Yes, you can use the `get_recent_legislation` tool to fetch a list of the most recently enacted and published legislative documents in the UK.

UK Legislation MCP Server for VS Code Copilot 8 tools — connect in under 2 minutes

Name: UK Legislation
Availability: InStock
Author: Vinkius

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

Built by Vinkius GDPR 8 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": {
    "uk-legislation": {
      "url": "https://edge.vinkius.com/[YOUR_TOKEN_HERE]/mcp"
    }
  }
}

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About UK Legislation MCP Server

Empower your AI agent with the definitive source for UK law through the UK Legislation MCP server. This integration provides real-time access to the official database of Public General Acts, Statutory Instruments, and other legislative documents from the UK Parliament and devolved administrations. Your agent can search for legislation by title, year, or subject, retrieve full tables of contents, and extract specific sections or schedules for analysis. Whether you are conducting legal research, verifying regulatory compliance, or exploring constitutional history, your agent acts as a dedicated legal archivist through natural conversation.

GitHub Copilot Agent mode brings UK Legislation data directly into your VS Code workflow. With a project-scoped config, the entire team shares access to 8 tools. Copilot queries live data, generates typed code, and writes tests from actual API responses, all without leaving the editor.

What you can do

Legislative Search — Find acts and instruments by keyword, title, year, or subject area.
Content Extraction — Retrieve the full text or specific sections/schedules of any piece of legislation.
Structural Analysis — Fetch complete tables of contents to understand the hierarchy of complex acts.
Recent Updates — Monitor the most recently published legislative documents to stay informed of new laws.
Historical Reference — Access primary and secondary legislation enacted throughout history by year.

The UK Legislation MCP Server exposes 8 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 UK Legislation to VS Code Copilot via MCP

Follow these steps to integrate the UK Legislation 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 UK Legislation

Ask Copilot: "Using UK Legislation, help me...". 8 tools available

Why Use VS Code Copilot with the UK Legislation MCP Server

GitHub Copilot for Visual Studio Code provides unique advantages when paired with UK Legislation 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

UK Legislation + VS Code Copilot Use Cases

Practical scenarios where VS Code Copilot combined with the UK Legislation 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

UK Legislation MCP Tools for VS Code Copilot (8)

These 8 tools become available when you connect UK Legislation to VS Code Copilot via MCP:

get_legislation

Get specific UK legislation details

get_legislation_by_year

List UK legislation for a specific year

get_recent_legislation

Get recently published UK legislation

get_schedule

Get a specific schedule of UK legislation

get_section

Get a specific section of UK legislation

get_table_of_contents

Get the table of contents for UK legislation

search_by_subject

Search UK legislation by subject

search_legislation

Returns a list of matching acts, statutory instruments, and other legislative documents. Search for UK legislation

Example Prompts for UK Legislation in VS Code Copilot

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

"Search for the 'Data Protection Act 2018' in UK legislation."

"List all Public General Acts enacted in 2024."

"What is Section 1 of the Human Rights Act 1998?"

Troubleshooting UK Legislation MCP Server with VS Code Copilot

Common issues when connecting UK Legislation 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.

UK Legislation + VS Code Copilot FAQ

Common questions about integrating UK Legislation 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.