VSCode config defaults fail and cause errors in startup

[timheuer]

The default flow of acquiring an NPM based MCP server in VS code can be done via "add server" commands. Using this path, the Azure MCP will fail on startup because the necessary args are not being provided.

See:

2025-04-17_16-24-26.mp4

If will fail on startup with:

2025-04-17 16:24:01.236 [info] Starting server azure-mcp
2025-04-17 16:24:01.236 [info] Connection state: Starting
2025-04-17 16:24:01.249 [info] Starting server from LocalProcess extension host
2025-04-17 16:24:01.333 [info] Connection state: Starting
2025-04-17 16:24:01.333 [info] Connection state: Running
2025-04-17 16:24:03.517 [warning] [server stderr] Required command was not provided.
2025-04-17 16:24:03.517 [warning] [server stderr] 
2025-04-17 16:24:03.517 [warning] Failed to parse message: "Description:\r\n"
2025-04-17 16:24:03.517 [warning] Failed to parse message: "  Azure MCP Server - A Model Context Protocol (MCP) server that enables AI agents to interact with Azure services through standardized communication patterns.\r\n"
2025-04-17 16:24:03.518 [warning] Failed to parse message: "\r\n"
2025-04-17 16:24:03.518 [warning] Failed to parse message: "Usage:\r\n"
2025-04-17 16:24:03.518 [warning] Failed to parse message: "  azmcp [command] [options]\r\n"
2025-04-17 16:24:03.518 [warning] Failed to parse message: "\r\n"
2025-04-17 16:24:03.528 [warning] Failed to parse message: "Options:\r\n"
2025-04-17 16:24:03.531 [warning] Failed to parse message: "  --version       Show version information\r\n"
2025-04-17 16:24:03.532 [warning] Failed to parse message: "  -?, -h, --help  Show help and usage information\r\n"
2025-04-17 16:24:03.532 [warning] Failed to parse message: "\r\n"
2025-04-17 16:24:03.532 [warning] Failed to parse message: "Commands:\r\n"
2025-04-17 16:24:03.532 [warning] Failed to parse message: "  cosmos        Cosmos DB operations - Commands for managing and querying Azure Cosmos DB resources. Includes operations for databases, containers, and document queries.\r\n"
2025-04-17 16:24:03.532 [warning] Failed to parse message: "  storage       Storage operations - Commands for managing and accessing Azure Storage resources. Includes operations for containers, blobs, and tables.\r\n"
2025-04-17 16:24:03.532 [warning] Failed to parse message: "  monitor       Azure Monitor operations - Commands for querying and analyzing Azure Monitor logs and metrics.\r\n"
2025-04-17 16:24:03.533 [warning] Failed to parse message: "  appconfig     App Configuration operations - Commands for managing App Configuration stores\r\n"
2025-04-17 16:24:03.533 [warning] Failed to parse message: "  tools         CLI tools operations - Commands for discovering and exploring the functionality available in this CLI tool.\r\n"
2025-04-17 16:24:03.533 [warning] Failed to parse message: "  extension     Extension commands for additional functionality\r\n"
2025-04-17 16:24:03.534 [warning] Failed to parse message: "  subscription  Azure subscription operations - Commands for listing and managing Azure subscriptions accessible to your account.\r\n"
2025-04-17 16:24:03.534 [warning] Failed to parse message: "  group         Resource group operations - Commands for listing and managing Azure resource groups in your subscriptions.\r\n"
2025-04-17 16:24:03.534 [warning] Failed to parse message: "  server        MCP Server operations - Commands for managing and interacting with the MCP Server.\r\n"
2025-04-17 16:24:03.534 [warning] Failed to parse message: "\r\n"
2025-04-17 16:24:03.574 [info] Connection state: Error Process exited with code 1
2025-04-17 16:24:03.574 [error] Server exited before responding to `initialize` request.

Workaround

To remedy this you need to go into the config that was provided by VS Code and add the two missing args: "server","start"

Recommendation

Other NPM-based servers have simple no-arg entry points. Azure MCP might consider making that the default entry point rather than more args.

[timheuer]

Update: there is an ICM on possibly the publish workflow that might be the cause here.

[timheuer]

FYI this has been identified as an issue upstream in publish. Likely can close now. Packages publishing using tools other than the npm cli are not pushing the readme info to the API metadata. VSCode relies on readme right now to look at instructional information and it is simply missing. A publishing infra fix is under investigation.

[joshfree]

Packages publishing using tools other than the npm cli are not pushing the readme info to the API metadata.

@hallipr can you take this issue to track following up on changes we may need to our packaging story?