Can I get direct answers from my documents without reading through them?

Yes. Using the `get_grounded_answer` tool, your AI agent can process a natural language question and return a precise answer based specifically on the content within your Vertex AI Search data stores. This grounding ensures high accuracy and reduces hallucinations by sticking to your private data as the source of truth.

How do I know which data stores are available to search?

Ask your agent to list your data stores. It will return all configured data stores in your collection along with their IDs and names. You can then use these IDs to perform targeted semantic searches or browse specific document branches.

Can I use this for product recommendations on my website?

Absolutely. The `get_recommendations` tool allows your agent to retrieve personalized recommendations by providing user event data. This is ideal for testing recommendation engines and surfacing relevant content or products to users based on their historical behavior.

Vertex AI Search MCP Server for VS Code Copilot 7 tools — connect in under 2 minutes

Name: Vertex AI Search
Availability: InStock
Author: Vinkius

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

Built by Vinkius GDPR 7 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.

Get MCP Server for AI Agents

ASK AI ABOUT THIS MCP SERVER

Open in ChatGPT Open in Claude Open in Perplexity

Vinkius supports streamable HTTP and SSE.

RecommendedModern Approach — Zero Configuration

Vinkius Desktop App

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

Download Free Open SourceNo signup required

Classic Setup·json

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

Fully ManagedVinkius Servers

60%Token savings

High SecurityEnterprise-grade

IAMAccess control

EU AI ActCompliant

DLPData protection

V8 IsolateSandboxed

Ed25519Audit chain

<40msKill switch

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 Vertex AI Search MCP Server

Connect your Vertex AI Search account to any AI agent and harness the power of Google's semantic search technology on your own enterprise data through natural conversation.

GitHub Copilot Agent mode brings Vertex AI Search data directly into your VS Code workflow. With a project-scoped config, the entire team shares access to 7 tools — Copilot queries live data, generates typed code, and writes tests from actual API responses, all without leaving the editor.

What you can do

Semantic Search — Perform high-quality semantic searches across documents with AI-powered relevance and accuracy
Grounded Answers — Get direct, natural language answers grounded in your private document collection for reliable Q&A
Data Stores — List and browse your enterprise data stores and search engines to manage your searchable datasets
Document Discovery — Browse and list indexed documents within your data store branches directly from your agent
Personalized Recommendations — Retrieve intelligent recommendations based on user interaction events and patterns
Search Engines — View and manage high-level search applications configured for specific business use cases

The Vertex AI Search MCP Server exposes 7 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 Vertex AI Search to VS Code Copilot via MCP

Follow these steps to integrate the Vertex AI Search 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 Vertex AI Search

Ask Copilot: "Using Vertex AI Search, help me..." — 7 tools available

Why Use VS Code Copilot with the Vertex AI Search MCP Server

GitHub Copilot for Visual Studio Code provides unique advantages when paired with Vertex AI Search 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

Vertex AI Search + VS Code Copilot Use Cases

Practical scenarios where VS Code Copilot combined with the Vertex AI Search 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

Vertex AI Search MCP Tools for VS Code Copilot (7)

These 7 tools become available when you connect Vertex AI Search to VS Code Copilot via MCP:

get_datastore_details

Retrieves configuration and metadata for a specific data store

get_grounded_answer

Returns a natural language response based on your private data. Retrieves an AI-generated answer grounded in the documents of a data store

get_recommendations

Provide a data store ID and user event data as a JSON object. Retrieves personalized recommendations based on user events

list_data_stores

Lists all data stores in the Vertex AI Search collection

list_datastore_documents

Provide data store and branch IDs. Lists all indexed documents within a specific data store branch

list_search_engines

Lists all search engines configured in the collection

search_documents

Provide a data store ID and the query text. Performs a search query across documents in a specific data store

Example Prompts for Vertex AI Search in VS Code Copilot

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

"List all my available data stores in Vertex AI Search."

"Based on our documentation, what is our remote work policy?"

"Search the product catalog for 'blue wireless headphones'."

Troubleshooting Vertex AI Search MCP Server with VS Code Copilot

Common issues when connecting Vertex AI Search 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.

Vertex AI Search + VS Code Copilot FAQ

Common questions about integrating Vertex AI Search 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.