Bring Company Secretarial
to VS Code Copilot
Learn how to connect Inform Direct to VS Code Copilot and start using 10 AI agent tools in minutes. Fully managed, enterprise secure, and ready to use without writing a single line of code.
What is the Inform Direct MCP Server?
Connect your Inform Direct account to any AI agent and take full control of your UK company secretarial and statutory compliance workflows through natural conversation.
What you can do
- Company Portfolio Orchestration — List and manage all companies in your portfolio programmatically, retrieving detailed metadata including company numbers and public URLs
- Statutory Compliance Intelligence — Programmatically access and monitor statutory registers for directors, shareholders, and PSCs to ensure perfectly coordinated compliance
- Filings & Reporting Architecture — Track confirmation statement deadlines and Companies House filing statuses to maintain a audit trail of corporate actions
- Document Library Management — Access and organize minutes, resolutions, and share certificates directly through your agent for perfectly coordinated corporate governance
- Operational Monitoring — Verify account-level API connectivity and monitor portfolio health directly through your agent for instant performance reporting
How it works
1. Subscribe to this server
2. Retrieve your API Key from your Inform Direct account (Account > Integrations)
3. Start orchestrating your corporate compliance from Claude, Cursor, or any MCP client
No more manual logging into Companies House or secretarial portals to check deadlines. Your AI acts as your dedicated corporate secretary and compliance architect.
Who is this for?
- Company Secretaries & Accountants — instantly retrieve company summaries and monitor filing deadlines using natural language commands
- Legal & Compliance Teams — verify statutory registers and PSC details without leaving your workspace
- Business Owners — automate the management of their UK company portfolio through simple AI queries
Built-in capabilities (10)
Add a company
Verify Inform Direct API connectivity
Get account info
Get company details
Get filing deadlines
List all companies
List company directors
List company filings
List shareholders
This does not affect the company at Companies House. Remove a company
Why VS Code Copilot?
GitHub Copilot Agent mode brings Inform Direct data directly into your VS Code workflow. With a project-scoped config, the entire team shares access to 10 tools. Copilot queries live data, generates typed code, and writes tests from actual API responses, all without leaving the editor.
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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
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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
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GitHub's enterprise compliance and audit features extend to MCP tool usage, providing visibility into how AI interacts with external services
Inform Direct in VS Code Copilot
Inform Direct and 3,400+ other MCP servers. One platform. One governance layer.
Teams that connect Inform Direct 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 Inform Direct in VS Code Copilot
The Inform Direct 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 10 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
Inform Direct for VS Code Copilot
Every tool call from VS Code Copilot to the Inform Direct MCP Server is protected by DLP redaction, cryptographic audit chains, V8 sandbox isolation, kill switch, and financial circuit breakers.
Frequently asked questions
Can I add a UK company to my account via AI?
Yes. Use the add_company tool with the Companies House registration number and the company will be linked to your Inform Direct account instantly.
How do I check a company's filing deadlines?
Use the get_filing_status tool with the company number to see all upcoming deadlines for confirmation statements and annual accounts.
Can I view directors and shareholders?
Absolutely. Use list_directors and list_shareholders with the company number to retrieve complete officer and ownership records.
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.