MCP resources and prompts are not exposed to the Copilot agent
Description
GitHub Copilot correctly connects to an MCP server and exposes its tools, but does not expose the server's advertised MCP resources or prompts to the agent.
The MCP initialization response is received successfully and includes both resources and prompts capabilities. However, the agent has no available mechanism to list, read, or invoke them.
Environment
GitHub Copilot version: 1.0.87-0
MCP client implementation shown in logs: Rust rmcp
MCP protocol version used by the tested server: 2025-06-18
Steps to reproduce
Configure an MCP server that implements:
tools
resources
prompts
Ensure the server advertises these capabilities in its initialize response.
Start or resume a Copilot session with the MCP server enabled.
Confirm that MCP tools are available to the agent.
Ask the agent to list or use the MCP server's resources and prompts.
Expected behavior
Copilot should:
Discover resources using resources/list.
Read resources using resources/read.
Discover prompts using prompts/list.
Retrieve prompts using prompts/get.
Provide an agent- or user-accessible mechanism for using the discovered resources and prompts.
Actual behavior
MCP tools are exposed and callable.
MCP resources are not exposed to the agent.
MCP prompts are not exposed to the agent.
No corresponding resource- or prompt-related actions are available in the agent tool interface.
Diagnostic evidence
The Copilot process log confirms that the server's initialize response was received and that all relevant capabilities were advertised:
capabilities: ServerCapabilities {
prompts: Some(PromptsCapability { list_changed: Some(true) }),
resources: Some(ResourcesCapability {
subscribe: Some(false),
list_changed: Some(true)
}),
tools: Some(ToolsCapability { list_changed: Some(true) })
}
Despite this successful negotiation, the resources and prompts are not surfaced to the agent.
At INFO log level, no separate resources/list, resources/read, prompts/list, or prompts/get activity is visible. The logs do not include all raw JSON-RPC calls, so this absence alone is not conclusive; however, the agent interface also contains no way to access these MCP capabilities.
Impact
MCP servers cannot provide reusable context through resources or reusable workflows through prompts in Copilot. Server authors must duplicate this functionality through tools or external instructions, even though the client receives the advertised MCP capabilities.
Requested resolution
Please add support for MCP resources and prompts, including:
Capability-aware discovery after initialization.
Handling of resources/list, resources/read, prompts/list, and prompts/get.
A supported mechanism for exposing discovered resources and prompts to the Copilot agent or user.
Logging or diagnostics that show whether these capability requests were attempted and why an advertised capability was not loaded.
| Field |
Value |
| App version |
1.1.23 |
| OS |
Windows 10.0.26200 |
| Theme |
GitHub |
| Path |
/chat |
| Tenure |
Week 14 |
MCP resources and prompts are not exposed to the Copilot agent
Description
GitHub Copilot correctly connects to an MCP server and exposes its tools, but does not expose the server's advertised MCP resources or prompts to the agent.
The MCP initialization response is received successfully and includes both resources and prompts capabilities. However, the agent has no available mechanism to list, read, or invoke them.
Environment
GitHub Copilot version: 1.0.87-0
MCP client implementation shown in logs: Rust rmcp
MCP protocol version used by the tested server: 2025-06-18
Steps to reproduce
Configure an MCP server that implements:
tools
resources
prompts
Ensure the server advertises these capabilities in its initialize response.
Start or resume a Copilot session with the MCP server enabled.
Confirm that MCP tools are available to the agent.
Ask the agent to list or use the MCP server's resources and prompts.
Expected behavior
Copilot should:
Discover resources using resources/list.
Read resources using resources/read.
Discover prompts using prompts/list.
Retrieve prompts using prompts/get.
Provide an agent- or user-accessible mechanism for using the discovered resources and prompts.
Actual behavior
MCP tools are exposed and callable.
MCP resources are not exposed to the agent.
MCP prompts are not exposed to the agent.
No corresponding resource- or prompt-related actions are available in the agent tool interface.
Diagnostic evidence
The Copilot process log confirms that the server's initialize response was received and that all relevant capabilities were advertised:
capabilities: ServerCapabilities {
prompts: Some(PromptsCapability { list_changed: Some(true) }),
resources: Some(ResourcesCapability {
subscribe: Some(false),
list_changed: Some(true)
}),
tools: Some(ToolsCapability { list_changed: Some(true) })
}
Despite this successful negotiation, the resources and prompts are not surfaced to the agent.
At INFO log level, no separate resources/list, resources/read, prompts/list, or prompts/get activity is visible. The logs do not include all raw JSON-RPC calls, so this absence alone is not conclusive; however, the agent interface also contains no way to access these MCP capabilities.
Impact
MCP servers cannot provide reusable context through resources or reusable workflows through prompts in Copilot. Server authors must duplicate this functionality through tools or external instructions, even though the client receives the advertised MCP capabilities.
Requested resolution
Please add support for MCP resources and prompts, including:
Capability-aware discovery after initialization.
Handling of resources/list, resources/read, prompts/list, and prompts/get.
A supported mechanism for exposing discovered resources and prompts to the Copilot agent or user.
Logging or diagnostics that show whether these capability requests were attempted and why an advertised capability was not loaded.