Bring Shared Inbox
to VS Code Copilot
Learn how to connect Helpwise to VS Code Copilot and start using 7 AI agent tools in minutes. Fully managed, enterprise secure, and ready to use without writing a single line of code.
What is the Helpwise MCP Server?
Connect your Helpwise account to any AI agent and manage your shared inboxes through natural conversation.
What you can do
- Mailbox Management — List all shared mailboxes (email, SMS, WhatsApp, social) with status and configuration
- Conversation Tracking — Browse conversations in any mailbox and inspect individual threads with full message history
- Contact Management — List all contacts and create new customer profiles with email and name
- Email Sending — Send outgoing emails or replies through any connected mailbox
- Team Overview — List all agents and team members linked to your account
How it works
1. Subscribe to this server
2. Enter your Helpwise API Key and API Secret from account settings
3. Start managing your inbox from Claude, Cursor, or any MCP-compatible client
Who is this for?
- Customer Support Teams — review conversations, reply to customers, and manage contacts without switching to the Helpwise dashboard
- Team Leads — monitor inbox activity, track response times, and oversee team workloads
- Operations Managers — audit communication history and manage contact databases through AI
Built-in capabilities (7)
Create a new contact
Get details for a specific conversation
List Helpwise contacts
List conversations in a mailbox
List Helpwise shared inboxes
List team users
Send an outgoing email
Why VS Code Copilot?
GitHub Copilot Agent mode brings Helpwise 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.
- —
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
Helpwise in VS Code Copilot
Helpwise and 3,400+ other MCP servers. One platform. One governance layer.
Teams that connect Helpwise to VS Code Copilot through Vinkius don't need to source, host, or maintain individual MCP servers. Every tool call runs inside a hardened runtime with credential isolation, DLP, and a signed audit chain.
Raw MCP | Vinkius | |
|---|---|---|
| Server catalog | Find and host yourself | 3,400+ managed |
| Infrastructure | Self-hosted | Sandboxed V8 isolates |
| Credential handling | Plaintext in config | Vault + runtime injection |
| Data loss prevention | None | Configurable DLP policies |
| Kill switch | None | Global instant shutdown |
| Financial circuit breakers | None | Per-server limits + alerts |
| Audit trail | None | Ed25519 signed logs |
| SIEM log streaming | None | Splunk, Datadog, Webhook |
| Honeytokens | None | Canary alerts on leak |
| Custom domains | Not applicable | DNS challenge verified |
| GDPR compliance | Manual effort | Automated purge + export |
Why teams choose Vinkius for Helpwise in VS Code Copilot
The Helpwise 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. All 7 tools execute in hardened sandboxes optimized for native MCP execution.
Your AI agents in VS Code Copilot only access the data you authorize, with DLP that blocks sensitive information from ever reaching the model, kill switch for instant shutdown, and up to 60% token savings. Enterprise-grade infrastructure, zero maintenance.
* 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
How Vinkius secures
Helpwise for VS Code Copilot
Every tool call from VS Code Copilot to the Helpwise MCP Server is protected by DLP redaction, cryptographic audit chains, V8 sandbox isolation, kill switch, and financial circuit breakers.
Frequently asked questions
Can I send emails through my shared inbox using the AI agent?
Yes. The send_email tool sends an outgoing email through any connected mailbox. Provide the mailbox ID, recipient email, subject, and body (HTML or plain text). Use list_mailboxes to see all available shared inboxes and their IDs.
Can I view the full conversation history for a customer thread?
Yes. Use list_conversations with a mailbox ID to browse all threads, then call get_conversation_details with the conversation ID to retrieve the complete message history including sender, timestamp, and content for each message.
Does Helpwise require two separate credentials?
Yes. Helpwise uses HTTP Basic Authentication with an API Key and an API Secret. Both are generated in your Helpwise account under Settings > API. The credentials are Base64-encoded and sent in the Authorization header as Basic base64(apiKey:apiSecret).
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.
MCP tools not available
Ensure you are in Agent mode in Copilot Chat. MCP tools only appear in Agent mode.