VS Code chat.mcp.autostart newAndOutdated: Sume's first run

VS Code reads MCP servers from an mcp.json file with a top-level servers object, and each entry has a type and a url. The VS Code MCP servers page shows type: "http" for remote servers and supports ${input:id} variables and an envFile, read 2026-10-03. For Sume's hosted server at https://mcp.sume.com/mcp, an HTTP entry with an input-prompted key avoids keeping a secret in the file.

{
  "servers": {
    "sume": {
      "type": "http",
      "url": "https://mcp.sume.com/mcp",
      "headers": { "Authorization": "Bearer ${input:sume-key}" }
    }
  },
  "inputs": [
    { "type": "promptString", "id": "sume-key",
      "description": "Sume API key", "password": true }
  ]
}

What autostart changes

The setting chat.mcp.autostart has three values on the page: never, onlyNew and newAndOutdated, which is the default. With the default, VS Code starts servers that are new or whose configuration changed, rather than waiting for a manual start. The page also says trust dialogs appear when a server starts or its configuration changes.

Read the trust prompt

Starting a server means running its tools in your session. Sume's server is remote, so the relevant question is what the credential allows. The Sume OAuth page says mcp:read is required and read-only, mcp:write is opt-in, and a write or paid tool under mcp:read returns insufficient_scope. Grant the smaller scope first and widen it only when a task needs to create.

First-run checklist

The VS Code page does not say how the key prompt is stored, so check your profile's secret handling before sharing a machine.

• Add the server through MCP: Add Server, which offers a workspace .mcp.json or Copilot Global.
• Keep the key out of the file by using ${input:id}.
• Call a read tool before any create tool.
• Send an idempotency_key on every paid call and treat a timeout as transport, not as a failed job.
• Do not commit a file that contains a literal key.