Bring Satellite Imagery
to VS Code Copilot
Learn how to connect Upstream Lens to VS Code Copilot and start using 8 AI agent tools in minutes. Fully managed, enterprise secure, and ready to use without writing a single line of code.
What is the Upstream Lens MCP Server?
Connect your Upstream Tech Lens account to any AI agent and simplify how you monitor conservation projects, analyze satellite imagery, and track environmental changes through natural conversation.
What you can do
- Project & Portfolio Oversight — List all environmental projects and portfolios to manage your conservation assets.
- Imagery Analysis — Query available satellite imagery layers (Sentinel, Landsat, etc.) for specific property features.
- Geospatial Insights — Fetch detailed metadata and field observations for properties to track ground-truth data.
- Environmental Monitoring — List project notes and observations to keep a record of changes over time.
- Organization Management — Retrieve Lens organization profiles and verify account configurations.
- Operational Status — Check API health and connectivity to ensure your monitoring engine is always active.
How it works
1. Subscribe to this server
2. Enter your Upstream Tech Lens API Key (found in your account dashboard)
3. Start monitoring your environmental assets from Claude, Cursor, or any MCP client
Who is this for?
- Conservation Managers — quickly retrieve field notes and check satellite imagery availability via simple AI queries.
- Environmental Analysts — monitor changes in property features and verify geospatial metadata directly from the workspace.
- Sustainability Teams — track project observations and maintain an organized portfolio of environmental monitoring sites.
Built-in capabilities (8)
Check Lens API health
Get organization metadata
Get details for a specific property feature
List all portfolios
Can be filtered by update date. List observations and notes for a project
List detailed project observations
List all environmental projects
) for a specific property. List available imagery layers for a property
Why VS Code Copilot?
GitHub Copilot Agent mode brings Upstream Lens 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.
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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
Upstream Lens in VS Code Copilot
Upstream Lens and 3,400+ other MCP servers. One platform. One governance layer.
Teams that connect Upstream Lens 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 Upstream Lens in VS Code Copilot
The Upstream Lens 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 8 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
Upstream Lens for VS Code Copilot
Every tool call from VS Code Copilot to the Upstream Lens MCP Server is protected by DLP redaction, cryptographic audit chains, V8 sandbox isolation, kill switch, and financial circuit breakers.
Frequently asked questions
Can I see if new satellite images are available for my project?
Yes! Use the list_property_imagery tool and provide the Property ID. Your agent will retrieve all available imagery layers (Sentinel, Landsat, etc.) with their respective capture dates.
How do I retrieve field notes for a specific conservation project?
Run the list_project_notes query with your Project ID. You can also provide an optional timestamp to filter only notes updated after a specific date.
Is it possible to see the geospatial metadata for a property feature?
Absolutely. Use the get_property_details tool with the Feature ID to retrieve detailed geospatial data and metadata for any monitored property.
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.