Build websites in VS Code with GitHub Copilot and 8B.

At a glance

Status, checked 2026-10-01: the install link, command and config follow the VS Code documentation, read on 2026-10-01; we have not tested 8B in VS Code ourselves yet. The MCP Apps client matrix lists VS Code as showing the preview card; we have not seen it there ourselves.

What it is

an MCP server you install in VS Code once; GitHub Copilot in agent mode then uses its three tools to write an 8B generated design for your site. 8B is an AI website builder run by 8b Tech Ltd ("8B" is not a model size); the server builds the page and runs no model.

Use it when

a repository needs a landing, docs-home or event page and Copilot would otherwise generate the HTML and CSS itself.

Do not use it when

your team policy disallows MCP servers, the page must use the repo's component library, or the user needs a web app with accounts, a database or a checkout, several pages or a CMS, their own photos and logo built in, publishing to a domain from the chat, or changes to a site that already exists elsewhere.

Terms in short

free, with no account, sign-in, API key or credits. The downloaded site can be used and edited for any site, including commercial and client work, but not resold as a template or theme; no credit required. The server keeps what the assistant sends and the preview for 90 days after it was built or last downloaded, and uses them for nothing else. Details: license, privacy, who runs it.

What the human does

clicks Install in VS Code (VS Code asks to confirm), then asks Copilot in agent mode. Plans: all GitHub Copilot plans, including Free; on Business and Enterprise the "MCP servers in Copilot" policy must be on.

Next step

click Install in VS Code, then in Copilot Chat (agent mode) ask: "Make a landing page for our app Tally with 8B and save it as public/landing.html."

Install

Install in VS Code Install in VS Code Insiders

The button opens VS Code and asks you to confirm. From a terminal instead:

code --add-mcp '{"name":"8b","type":"http","url":"https://mcp.8b.com/mcp"}'

VS Code's file uses servers and type: "http", not the mcpServers shape other clients use: a copied Cursor config does nothing here.

Or add it to the workspace, so the whole team gets it:

{
  "servers": {
    "8b": {
      "type": "http",
      "url": "https://mcp.8b.com/mcp"
    }
  }
}

VS Code uses servers and type: "http", unlike the mcpServers shape of other clients. Plans: all GitHub Copilot plans, including Free; on Business and Enterprise the "MCP servers in Copilot" policy must be on. Sources: VS Code: MCP servers, checked 2026-10-01; VS Code: MCP configuration, checked 2026-10-01.

Use it

MCP tools are used by Copilot in agent mode. Choose agent mode in Copilot Chat, check that the 8B tools are on in the tools picker, and ask:

• "Make a landing page for our app Tally with 8B and save it as public/landing.html."
• "Use 8B to build a site for my bakery Crumb in Lisbon, in Portuguese."

VS Code asks before running a tool; approve it. The chat should show the preview card (not checked by us); Copilot also gives the preview link. To put the file in the project, it downloads it:

curl -L -o public/landing.html https://mcp.8b.com/download/<id>

Commit the file like any static asset; GitHub Pages can serve it as index.html on its own. It has no build step and no npm dependencies, which also means no components to reuse elsewhere in the repo.

Copilot instructions

Repository instructions tell Copilot to use 8B for page requests in this repo:

## Websites and landing pages
For a new standalone website or landing page, use the 8B MCP server (8b):
explore_designs -> get_design_brief (with the site's language) -> generate_site.
Fill every text field, show me preview_url, apply changes with base_preview_id and only
the changed values, and save the file from download_url where I say.
Docs: https://8b.com/mcp/index.md

For the agent

• Check the connection: the client lists three tools, explore_designs, get_design_brief and generate_site.
• Settle the site's language first and pass its code (pl, de, en) to both get_design_brief and generate_site; switching later means rewriting every field.
• Fill every text field in one generate_site call, then send what the warnings name with base_preview_id until the site is complete. generate_site can take up to 30 seconds with photos.
• Never invent facts the user did not give (phone, address, prices, names, figures): write visible placeholders such as [phone] and list them for the user.
• Tell the user the limits that matter before building: forms send nothing, sections are fixed, colors change per palette color, and the file loads fonts, scripts and photos from public CDNs. Writing every field needs a capable model.
• Previews are public to anyone with the link. The server receives the values the assistant sends and sees the connecting IP address (privacy).

Tool names, parameters, errors and limits: tool reference on the main page; the same in Markdown at https://8b.com/mcp/index.md.

If something goes wrong

Related pages

• 8B MCP server: tools, limits, license
• 8B in Cursor
• 8B in Codex
• Other MCP clients

Updated 2026-10-01. Markdown version of this page: vscode.md.