Enable/disable MCP server via UI/config per user/workspace

[digitarald]

Right now the only option for reliably disabling a server is uninstalling it. Better would be disabling or enabling it only for a specific workspace. Same experience as extensions offer, but for MCP servers.

Modes and prompts can't override state for manually disabled servers.

• Enabled/disabled state should be reflected in the mcp.json
• Also available for extension-provided MCP servers
• Entry point in the tools picker for easy access

Related: #243620

[digitarald]

@sandy081 got a few more requests from field and developers in shared repos. Many other areas of VS Code allow fine-grained enabling (tasks/tests/etc)

The common theme is that maintainers get control to not just auto-install specific servers, but also specific tools for a given repository. Otherwise, all these choices fall onto every single developer opening the repo.

Specific feedback:

This could help IDEs and coding agent selectively activate tools at startup, improving consistency and reducing noise. While not a long-term fix , it could help narrow down what's in use today and make the developer experience more manageable.

[sandy081]

I will bring this up in the next planning.

[ChrisRomp]

Adding my two cents, I'd love to see the ability to quickly update a workspace settings file with my tool selection. Something kind of like this: