Connect VS Code to Alphaday

also known as GitHub Copilot

The one client that does not use mcpServers. VS Code's top-level key is servers, and type is required — a config copied from Cursor or Claude will not load.

No API key No signup Remote HTTP, no local process

What you're connecting to

One endpoint exposing 22 data capabilities across 57 pre-described tools — news, governance, DeFi, security and market data. It is a remote server, so there is no package to install, no process to keep alive and no key to obtain. That matters for VS Code setup specifically: almost every MCP example online is command + args spawning a local binary, and none of it applies here.

https://api.alphaday.com/mcp

Before you start

The config below assumes all of this is already true. Most failed setups are one of these rather than a wrong field.

GitHub Copilot Chat installed and signed in. MCP servers are a Copilot agent feature, so no Copilot means no MCP.
Copilot Chat set to Agent mode. Ask and Edit modes do not call tools.
A workspace open, if you are using .vscode/mcp.json rather than the user-level configuration.

Set it up

Workspace

.vscode/mcp.json

{
  "servers": {
    "alphaday": {
      "type": "http",
      "url": "https://api.alphaday.com/mcp"
    }
  }
}

Where it goes

.vscode/mcp.json (workspace)
Command Palette → MCP: Open User Configuration (global)

Check it worked

Confirm the connection before you go looking for a bug in your prompt. A server that is listed but not connected looks identical to a model that chose not to call it.

In VS Code

Command Palette

1Command Palette → MCP: List Servers
2alphaday should show as Running
3Open Copilot Chat in Agent mode and click the tools icon — the Alphaday tools should be listed and tickable

Running in the server list, and tools present in the Agent-mode picker. VS Code also puts a Start / Stop / Restart codelens directly above the server block in mcp.json, which is the fastest way to retry after an edit.

Or test the endpoint directly

This is the first message of the MCP protocol, sent by hand. If it answers, the server is reachable from your machine and every remaining problem is on the VS Code side.

curl -s -X POST https://api.alphaday.com/mcp \
  -H 'Content-Type: application/json' \
  -H 'Accept: application/json, text/event-stream' \
  -d '{"jsonrpc":"2.0","id":1,"method":"initialize","params":{
        "protocolVersion":"2025-06-18","capabilities":{},
        "clientInfo":{"name":"curl","version":"1"}}}'

Expected response

{"jsonrpc":"2.0","id":1,"result":{
  "protocolVersion":"2025-06-18",
  "capabilities":{"tools":{"listChanged":false}, ...},
  "serverInfo":{"name":"alphaday","version":"1.30.0"}
}}

The version number moves; "name":"alphaday" is the part to look for. The response also carries an mcp-session-id header, which is what a client reuses for every later call.

Try it

Ask these in Copilot Chat in Agent mode. Each one needs data the model cannot have — a live feed, an incident record, a yield table — so a good answer is proof the tools fired, not just that the server is listed.

What's trending in crypto news right now, and what changed in the last 24 hours?
Which DeFi pools are paying over 20% APY, and which of them carry real impermanent-loss risk?
Summarise the three most recent on-chain exploits and what was taken.
Compare GitHub developer activity for Solana and Sui over the last month.

Things that catch people out

The top-level key is servers, not mcpServers. This is the single most common reason a pasted config silently fails here.
The type must be "http" for streamable HTTP. "sse" is the legacy transport.
Copilot Chat must be in Agent mode to call MCP tools.
VS Code shows a trust prompt the first time a server starts. MCP: Reset Trust clears the decision.
VS Code caps how many tools it offers the model at once. With a large server plus other extensions, some Alphaday tools may arrive unticked in the picker.

When it doesn't connect

Symptom first, because that is what you have. The status codes below were produced against the live server rather than copied from elsewhere — if yours does not appear here, it is worth trusting that difference.

The server never starts and no error is shown.

Almost always mcpServers instead of servers. VS Code does not read the key it does not recognise, so there is nothing for it to report.

Change the top-level key to servers, then use the Restart codelens above the block.

406 in the MCP output, or the server flaps between starting and stopped.

The type is "sse", or missing, so VS Code is not using streamable HTTP.

Set "type": "http" exactly.

Tools exist in the picker but Copilot never calls them.

Ask mode, or the tools are unticked because the request hit the tool cap.

Switch to Agent mode, tick the Alphaday tools, and untick extensions you are not using.

A dialog asks whether you trust the server, and nothing works until it is answered.

Expected on first start for any MCP server.

Accept it. MCP: Reset Trust clears the decision if you want to answer again.

Opening the endpoint in a browser returns {"detail": "Bad Request"}.

A browser sends a GET. MCP is JSON-RPC over POST, so a 400 here is the server working correctly — there is no page to serve at an MCP endpoint.

Nothing. A 400 on a plain GET is the expected response, and it confirms the server is reachable.

406, or Could not satisfy the request Accept header, in the client's logs.

The client is using the deprecated SSE transport — sending a GET with Accept: text/event-stream instead of a POST. This is what a wrong or missing type field produces, and it is the most common silent failure across MCP clients.

Set the transport to streamable HTTP using the spelling this client expects. It is not the same string in any two of them.

404 {"detail": "Not Found"}.

The URL has a trailing slash, or a path appended. /mcp/ and /mcp/sse are both distinct routes from /mcp, and neither exists.

Use the endpoint exactly as written, with no trailing slash and nothing after it.

The server shows as connected, but the model never calls it.

Not a connection problem. Most clients only call tools in an agent mode, and several ship new tools unticked or capped.

Switch to the client's agent mode, confirm the Alphaday tools are enabled in its tool picker, and ask something that cannot be answered without live data.

The server does not appear anywhere, with no error at all.

An unparseable config. Most clients skip a file they cannot read rather than surfacing a parse error, and a trailing comma after the last field is the usual culprit.

Validate the file, then reload the window. Every block on this page is valid JSON as written; retyping it by hand is where commas get added.

What you get once it's connected

22 datasets, reached by 57 tools — most datasets have a list form, a detail form and a trending form, which is why the two numbers differ. These four are the ones a general crypto API does not have:

Security exploits

180+ on-chain exploits and hacks, each with a written incident record.

Developer activity

3,000+ GitHub activity snapshots — commits and contributors per coin.

Kasandra

AI-detected chart patterns with a bullish/bearish signal and confidence score.

TVL yields

32,000+ DeFi yield pools with base and reward APY, TVL and IL risk.

News

Real-time news from 49 crypto outlets — 440,000+ articles, tagged and deduped.

Forum

59 governance forums — 60,000+ posts — behind one endpoint.

Blogs

133 project blogs — 19,000+ posts — in one feed.

Podcasts

118 crypto podcast feeds — 22,000+ episodes, each with its audio URL and duration.

Videos

121 YouTube channels — 34,000+ videos — timestamped.

Market coins

Prices, metadata, history and trending movers for the top coins.

Coin categories

700+ token categories; about half carry a market-cap aggregate.

Exchanges

140+ centralized exchanges with trust scores and volume.

On-chain DEXes

700+ DEXes with the chains and protocols behind them.

TVL fees

2,000+ protocol fee and revenue records across DeFi.

TVL stablecoins

400+ stablecoins — peg type, mechanism and circulating supply.

DAO

Live Snapshot proposals across 51 DAOs.

Events

6,000+ conferences, meetups, hackathons and side events.