Vibe coding with GitHub Copilot: Agent mode and MCP support in JetBrains and Eclipse

Today, we’re excited to announce that GitHub Copilot Agent Mode and MCP support are now in public preview for both JetBrains and Eclipse! Whether you’re working in IntelliJ IDEA, PyCharm, WebStorm or Eclipse, you can now access Copilot’s intelligent agent features and seamlessly manage your project workflows, all from within your IDE.

In this post, we’ll demonstrate how Agent Mode and MCP support can supercharge real-world development workflows through a collaborative feature development story. Meet Adrian, a backend-focused Java developer who primarily uses JetBrains, and Lucy, a full-stack enthusiast working in Eclipse. Together, they’re enhancing the popular Spring PetClinic project by adding a brand-new feature: Pet Adoption.

PetClinic is a classic Spring Boot demo application, widely used for learning and prototyping. It simulates a veterinary clinic system, with features like managing pets, owners, and visits. Adrian and Lucy’s mission: add a Pet Adoption feature from scratch, showing how GitHub Copilot Agent Mode and MCP make collaboration effortless.

🚀 Gets Started with Agent Mode and MCP on JetBrains IDEs

Adrian begins by cloning the PetClinic repo into his IntelliJ: git clone https://github.com/spring-projects/spring-petclinic.git

By switching to the Agent(Preview) in the chat window, he gains the access to the agent mode and simply types:"Build and run the project"

Copilot handles the setup, including project build, dependency resolution, and launching the app.

Next, Adrian uses Agent Mode to generate the new adoption page:

Create a new tab for me called "Adopt Me": this adoption page should have 

1. A new page called "Adoption"
2. A tab entry in the navigation bar called "Adopt Me", this tab is next to the "Find Owners" tab
3. A description paragraph calling for pets adoption, make it the 1st person point of view
4. A table of content with these columns:
           - Species (cat, dog, snake) 
           - Gender 
           - Age 
           - Description 
           - Adopt Me (a button for a quick adopt page, if adopted, the button will be greyed out)

Within seconds, Copilot scaffolds the new feature with a new navigation tab, a dedicated page, and a responsive table interface. Adrian is impressed.

Adrian then decided to publish the project to GitHub. But before that, he needs to setup the GitHub MCP server.

Click on the GitHub Copilot Icon in the lower Right Corner 
Select Edit Settings in the menu 
Find the MCP section and click on Edit in mcp.json

{ 

    "servers": { 

        "GitHub": { 

            "command": "npx", 

            "args": [ 

                "-y", 

                "@modelcontextprotocol/server-github" 

            ], 

            "env": { 

                "GITHUB_PERSONAL_ACCESS_TOKEN": "your-own-token" 

            } 

        } 

    } 

}

Notice that if it is your first time to enable the github personal access token(pat), please follow the instructions from the official doc.
You also need to have node.js installed in your local environment.

With the MVP ready, Adrian switches to GitHub Copilot MCP and instructs:

Create a repo called PetClinicAcoption and push this project into the repo. Return me the repo URL.

Copilot MCP creates the repository, pushes the code, and sets everything up.

The project is now available on GitHub. Adrian then adds Lucy as a collaborator, and they decide Lucy will refine the UI by updating the icon for the new tab.

🚀 Gets Started with Agent Mode and MCP on Eclipse IDE

Lucy opens Eclipse and forks the repo using GitHub MCP server.

To enable MCP on Eclipse:

Click on the GitHub Copilot Icon in the lower Right Corner .
Select Edit Preferences in the menu 
In the left pane, expand GitHub Copilot and Click on MCP

After switching to the agent mode by selecting Agent(Preview) in the chat box, Lucy types:

Clone https://github.com/AdrianContoso/PetClinicAcoption and create a new branch called adoption_new_icon

Adrian’s project has now been cloned, where she creates a new branch to begin her work. She then instructs:

 Change the adoption tab icon from a heart to a claw icon

Copilot locates the relevant UI component and swaps the icon, keeping the styling and layout intact.

Lucy wants to check the build, so she types:

Build and run the project

Looks like there are some build errors, GitHub Copilot then started to troubleshoot the issue.

After getting the confirmation from Lucy, GitHub Copilot fixes the issue and re-run the project, now Lucy can see the new icon took effects:

After testing the updated UI via Agent Mode, Lucy uses MCP once again to send the PR:

Done. The collaboration is complete. Effortlessly orchestrated across tools and platforms with GitHub Copilot.

🙌 Try It Yourself

The power of GitHub Copilot Agent Mode and Managed Code Projects (MCP) is now in your hands. Whether you’re a JetBrains pro like Adrian or an Eclipse power user like Lucy, you can streamline your development, collaborate more easily, and focus on what really matters—building great software.

👉 Ready to get started? Enable Agent Mode and MCP in your JetBrains or Eclipse today and start vibe coding with GitHub Copilot!

Feedback Channel for JetBrains IDEs: https://github.com/microsoft/copilot-intellij-feedback/issues Video demos: Copilot Agent Mode is now available in JetBrains IDEs