IntelliJ GitHub Copilot MCP: add Sume in mcp.json

To add an MCP server to GitHub Copilot in IntelliJ IDEA, open Copilot Chat in Agent mode, click the tools icon (Configure your MCP server) at the bottom of the chat window, click Add MCP Tools, and define the server in mcp.json under servers. A remote server takes a url, plus requestInit.headers when it needs a token. For Sume's hosted MCP server, the url is https://mcp.sume.com/mcp and the header is Authorization: Bearer with a Sume API key.

GitHub's side comes from Extending GitHub Copilot Chat with MCP servers; Sume's side comes from MCP OAuth and API keys, MCP quickstart, MCP tools and gates, and Authentication, all read on 2026-09-28. Sume has no official Copilot or JetBrains integration: Copilot connects to Sume's remote MCP server like any other, and Sume's basics page says hosted MCP still works but is not part of the primary path today. Copilot in VS Code is covered in VS Code remote MCP server.

What goes in mcp.json for Sume?

An entry in the shape of GitHub's remote example: a servers object, a name, the url, and the header under requestInit. JetBrains IDEs support both remote and local servers; Sume's is remote, on the Streamable HTTP endpoint its quickstart names. Sume accepts the key as Authorization: Bearer or x-api-key.

The key is stored in the file as written, so keep mcp.json private and rotate the key if it appears in logs or chat history. Then click the tools icon in Copilot Chat to see Sume's tools, and ask Copilot to call mcp_health, which confirms the endpoint, auth source, and safety posture.

{
  "servers": {
    "sume": {
      "url": "https://mcp.sume.com/mcp",
      "requestInit": {
        "headers": {
          "Authorization": "Bearer <YOUR_SUME_API_KEY>"
        }
      }
    }
  }
}

Why doesn't Copilot in IntelliJ show my MCP server?

Check the mode first: GitHub's steps have you configure MCP servers from Copilot Chat in Agent mode. Then check the policy. Organizations and enterprises turn MCP on or off with the MCP servers in Copilot policy, which is disabled by default, and it applies only to users with Copilot Business or Copilot Enterprise from an organization or enterprise that configures it.

Can Copilot in IntelliJ sign in to Sume with OAuth?

GitHub doesn't show it. Its JetBrains steps give only a remote example with a token header, and the OAuth sign-in on the same page, Auth from a CodeLens, is written for Visual Studio. Sume does offer OAuth to remote MCP clients, read-only until you turn Write on at consent, but this post uses the documented header.

A key session sees Sume's full hosted tool set, paid tools included, and spend resolves to the key's workspace. Sume's safety rules say to give agents read-only commands first and require explicit confirmation before paid generation, so tell Copilot to confirm with you before any paid call. Each paid call needs an idempotency_key, dry_run=true previews admission and cost without submitting the job, and max_spend_usd caps a call only when it is sent.

A job can outlast one wait. Sume's jobs_wait holds at most 55 seconds; on wait_slice_expired, Copilot should call it again with the same ids and never resubmit the paid create.

Does this work in PyCharm, Android Studio, or other JetBrains IDEs?

Yes. GitHub gives one set of JetBrains steps and one mcp.json format for every IDE it lists as compatible with Copilot: IntelliJ IDEA (Ultimate, Community, Educational), Android Studio, CLion, DataGrip, GoLand, PhpStorm, PyCharm, Rider, RubyMine, RustRover, WebStorm, and more.

JetBrains AI Assistant is a different assistant with its own MCP settings, and Gemini's agent in Android Studio has its own too: see Android Studio MCP server.