Screenshot MCP Server for Visual Studio and GitHub Copilot

Set it up (recommended: sign in with OAuth)

Visual Studio 2026, and Visual Studio 2022 from version 17.14, connect GitHub Copilot agent mode to remote MCP servers and sign in with OAuth, following the MCP authorization spec.

1Create %USERPROFILE%\.mcp.json (all solutions) or <SOLUTIONDIR>\.mcp.json (one solution) with the snippet below. Or add the server from Copilot Chat: switch to Agent, open Tools and click the + button.
2Save the file and select Authentication Required in the CodeLens above the server. Sign in to SnapRender in the browser and Allow. A free account works.
3In Copilot Chat, switch to Agent, tick the SnapRender tools in the tool picker and ask for a screenshot.

%USERPROFILE%\.mcp.json

{
  "servers": {
    "snaprender": { "url": "https://app.snap-render.com/mcp" }
  }
}

Check it worked: In Copilot Chat in Agent mode, open the tool picker: the SnapRender tools are listed. New tools start disabled, so tick them before you ask.

Or run the server locally

Runs the open-source server from npm on your machine instead. Visual Studio runs the command exactly as you give it. Replace YOUR_API_KEY with the key from your SnapRender dashboard. The package is snaprender-mcp on npm.

%USERPROFILE%\.mcp.json

{
  "servers": {
    "snaprender": {
      "command": "npx",
      "args": ["-y", "snaprender-mcp"],
      "env": { "SNAPRENDER_API_KEY": "YOUR_API_KEY" }
    }
  }
}

Visual Studio's docs show OAuth sign-in for remote servers but no API key header, so sign in, or run the local server with a key.
Visual Studio also reads .vscode\mcp.json and .cursor\mcp.json in the solution folder, so an existing VS Code or Cursor setup carries over.
Manage Authentication in the same CodeLens signs in again or switches accounts. If you do not see the CodeLens, turn it on in Tools, Options, Text Editor, CodeLens.
Organizations can limit MCP servers with an allow list in their GitHub Copilot policy.

What Visual Studio can do with it

take_screenshot

Capture any URL, HTML or Markdown as PNG, JPEG, WebP or PDF, full page or by device. Inline image by default, or an attached file with as_file

extract_content

Read a page as markdown, text, article, links or metadata

batch_screenshots

Capture up to 50 URLs in one job

get_batch_status

Check a batch and get its download links

sign_screenshot_url

Create a shareable capture URL that does not expose your key

check_screenshot_cache

See whether a capture is cached, without spending quota

get_usage

Show renders used and left this month

list_webhooks

List your webhooks

create_webhook

Get notified when batches finish

delete_webhook

Remove a webhook

test_webhook

Send a test delivery

Prompts to try

"Take a screenshot of https://staging.example.com and check the header against the design spec in this solution."
"Compare https://example.com on desktop and iPhone and list layout problems on mobile."
"Read https://example.com/api/docs as markdown and generate C# models for the responses it documents."

SnapRender renders public pages from its own servers, with ads and cookie banners removed. Pages behind a login and localhost are out of reach; use a preview deployment or a tunnel for local work.

Questions

Which Visual Studio versions support MCP servers?+

Visual Studio 2026, and Visual Studio 2022 version 17.14 or later. Microsoft recommends the latest servicing release for the newest MCP features.

Can Copilot in Visual Studio see web pages?+

With a screenshot MCP server, yes. With SnapRender added, Copilot agent mode can capture a page, look at it and act on what it sees.

Other clients

Checked against learn.microsoft.com in November 2026.

Give Visual Studio eyes on the web

Set it up (recommended: sign in with OAuth)

Or run the server locally

What Visual Studio can do with it

Questions

Other clients

200 free renders a month to start