Trends MCP for VS Code and GitHub Copilot

Trends MCP is the data layer. VS Code is the workspace host that many teams already commit as .vscode/. The native MCP file is .vscode/mcp.json with type set to http, url set to https://api.trendsmcp.ai/mcp, and Authorization: Bearer YOUR_API_KEY. That type field is the VS Code-specific key. Cursor uses transport instead. Windsurf uses serverUrl. Once the server is registered, Copilot Chat and any other MCP-aware VS Code feature can call get_trends, get_growth, and get_top_trends. Free accounts get 100 requests per month. Starter is $19 per month. VS Code is the right client when the trend server should travel with the repository rather than with one person’s home directory.

The .vscode/mcp.json shape

Command Palette → MCP: Add Server writes the same structure the docs show. The object lives under servers, not under Cursor’s mcpServers name. Headers carry the Bearer token. The host is always the api endpoint for this client.

"trends-mcp": {
  "type": "http",
  "url": "https://api.trendsmcp.ai/mcp",
  "headers": {
    "Authorization": "Bearer YOUR_API_KEY"
  }
}

A user-level MCP setting exists for people who refuse to put secrets in a repo. The project file is the right default for shared workspaces, with the key supplied locally. Checking in YOUR_API_KEY as a literal is a leak. Checking in the URL and type with a documented local override is normal.

Do not paste Windsurf serverUrl blocks into this file. Do not paste Claude.ai’s OAuth URL https://www.trendsmcp.ai/mcp. VS Code is a Bearer client on api.trendsmcp.ai. After a save, reload the window. The Connect docs keep the VS Code snippet next to Cursor and Windsurf so the three JSON dialects stay distinct.

When the workspace host is VS Code rather than Cursor

VS Code wins when the organization already standardizes on this editor, on GitHub Copilot seats, and on .vscode/ as the place settings live. A new hire clones the repo, copies a local key, and the MCP server is already named. Cursor users can still install the same Trends MCP account in ~/.cursor/mcp.json; the server does not care. The process difference is where the JSON lives and which key (type versus transport) the host demands.

Cursor Agent is often more aggressive about multi-step edits. VS Code plus Copilot Chat is often more conservative: a chat answer, then an apply. Trend research that should stay in a reviewable chat transcript (for a design review, for a dependency RFC) fits that Copilot Chat habit. Trend research that should immediately rewrite five files fits Cursor Agent. Neither editor owns a better copy of Google Search volume. Trends MCP pricing and sources are identical.

Cline also runs inside VS Code but keeps a separate MCP Servers tab. Teams that use Cline for long autonomous runs should configure Trends MCP there as well, using Cline’s remote URL plus header fields, documented on the Cline page. One VS Code window can therefore host Copilot Chat and Cline with two config surfaces pointing at one Trends MCP account.

How Copilot Chat should spend the three tools

Copilot Chat is a conversational caller. A good first question is a growth check, because get_growth returns compact percent fields that survive a chat bubble. Ask for npm plus google search on the exact package name, with percent_growth such as ["1Y"] or ["3M", "1Y"]. Several windows in one call still count as one request per source plus keyword. get_trends is the follow-up when someone in the thread wants the weekly curve that backs the percent. REST scripts outside the editor should use mode: "get_time_series" for that same history tool.

get_top_trends belongs at the start of a vague “what is moving in this ecosystem” chat. Valid types include GitHub Trending Repos and Reddit Hot Posts. Copilot will invent nearby strings; those 400. Paste the feed name from the data sources list. Prefix the user message with “using TrendsMCP” so Chat does not cite a year-old HN thread as if it were a live feed.

A dependency RFC workflow that stays inside VS Code: Chat pulls get_growth for the candidate and the incumbent, the human pastes both JSON blobs into the RFC, and get_trends runs only if a reviewer asks for the chart. That sequence is three or four requests, which a Free plan can absorb if the team is not also paging every live feed each morning.

Repo conventions that keep MCP alive in a team

Commit .vscode/mcp.json with the type and url fields. Keep headers out of git, or keep a dummy header and document the real one in a private 1Password note. Add a short AGENTS.md or wiki line: tools are get_trends, get_growth, get_top_trends; say using TrendsMCP; npm keywords are exact names. New Copilot users otherwise burn quota on retries with source: "NPM" in capitals.

Multi-root workspaces need the mcp.json in the folder VS Code treats as the MCP workspace. Opening a single file without a folder often means the project MCP file is invisible. User MCP settings then become the fallback.

Remote SSH and Codespaces must receive the Bearer token in that environment. A laptop-only key in user settings will not follow a cloud workspace. Treat the key like any other cloud secret.

Limits inside a VS Code week

Free is 100 requests per month. Starter is $19 per month for 1,000. Copilot Chat can hide how many tool calls a single “compare these eight packages” prompt issued. Ask Copilot to name the calls it will make before it makes them. get_top_trends paging with offset is an easy way to blow the cap. limit defaults to 25 and maxes at 200.

VS Code will not stop a loop. A custom extension that polls MCP on a timer should not exist on the Free plan; use REST from a job runner instead. 429 is monthly quota. 401 is almost always a missing Bearer prefix or a www OAuth URL pasted from Claude.ai notes.

The editor is not a dashboard. For shared charts, POST get_time_series into a warehouse from n8n or a Python job. VS Code should spend requests on decisions that change a pull request this week. History depth is about five years of weekly points. That grain is right for “is this library dying” and wrong for “what happened in the last 45 minutes.”

VS Code is the portable workspace host for the shared Trends MCP server. It is not a second trend product, and it is not the same JSON dialect as Cursor or Windsurf.