Install Telegram MCP Server in VS Code

What you need first

• VS Code, installed.
• Docker, which gives the docker command the server starts with.
• Your own values for YOUR_TDLIB_API_ID,YOUR_TDLIB_API_HASH.

Steps

1. In your project, create .vscode/mcp.json, or open it. For every project, run MCP: Open User Configuration from the Command Palette instead.
2. Add this block. If the file already has servers, add only the entry inside it.

{
  "servers": {
    "telegram-mcp-tdlib": {
      "type": "stdio",
      "command": "docker",
      "args": ["run", "-i", "--rm", "-e", "TDLIB_API_ID", "-e", "TDLIB_API_HASH", "ghcr.io/tolboy/telegram-mcp-tdlib:1.19.1-stdio"],
      "env": { "TDLIB_API_ID": "YOUR_TDLIB_API_ID", "TDLIB_API_HASH": "YOUR_TDLIB_API_HASH" }
    }
  }
}

3. Replace YOUR_TDLIB_API_ID,YOUR_TDLIB_API_HASH with your own values.
4. Save the file and choose Start above the server's entry, or run MCP: List Servers. Its tools appear in Copilot Chat's agent mode.

Check it worked

Ask VS Code: List the tools of telegram-mcp-tdlib.

If it does not start

Cannot connect to the Docker daemon

Docker is not running. Start it, then restart VS Code.

The server starts, but its tools fail

A YOUR_… placeholder is still in the config, or its value is wrong.

Nothing changes after a restart

The file is not valid JSON any more. Look for a missing comma where the block was added.