Which settings.json is that in? Workspace/remote/user?

I'm experiencing the same issue. It's the user settings.

UPDATE: it has resolved itself by restarting vscode. Then vscode asked me for the github token.

This works for me in my user settings in the latest Insiders. @toby can you confirm what you're seeing / if you still repro?

I know on user settings.json on windows (worked perfect on macOS) for 1.99.0 I still can't get inputs recognized. I also tried the reload of vscode and no change.

@byjrack please share your config and its path

Not a problem

%APPDATA%\Code\User\settings.json

{
    "remote.defaultExtensionsIfInstalledLocally": [
        "GitHub.copilot",
        "GitHub.copilot-chat",
        "GitHub.vscode-pull-request-github"
    ],
    "chat.agent.enabled": true,
    "mcp": {
    "inputs": [
      {
        "id": "github_token",
        "type": "promptString",
        "description": "GitHub Personal Access Token",
        "password": true
      },
    ],
    "servers": {
      "github": {
        "command": "docker",
        "args": [
          "run",
          "-i",
          "--rm",
          "-e",
          "GITHUB_PERSONAL_ACCESS_TOKEN",
          "ghcr.io/github/github-mcp-server"
        ],
        "env": {
          "GITHUB_PERSONAL_ACCESS_TOKEN": "${input:github_token}"
        }
      }
    }
  }
}

Can you confirm the version of VS Code you're using?

Can't grab the whole version, but 1.99.0 a fresh upgrade of stable. And the Chat extension was latest as well.

ammended w complete version info

Version: 1.99.0 (user setup)
Commit: 4437686
Date: 2025-04-02T21:35:19.530Z
Electron: 34.3.2
ElectronBuildId: 11161073
Chromium: 132.0.6834.210
Node.js: 20.18.3
V8: 13.2.152.41-electron.0
OS: Windows_NT x64 10.0.22631

Thanks! Can you see if this repro's for you on Insiders? This seems to be fixed there..

So need to try a different MCP server in this case, but Insiders didn't seem to allow for docker case out of the box.

I did create a stdio server in %APPDATA%\Code - Insiders\User\settings.json and getting the same error with resolving inputs.

{
    "mcp": {
        "inputs": [
        {
            "id": "github_token",
            "type": "promptString",
            "description": "GitHub Personal Access Token",
            "password": true
        }
        ],
        "servers": {
            "test": {
                "type": "stdio",
                "command": "github-mcp-server",
                "args": [ "stdio" ],
                "env": {
                "GITHUB_PERSONAL_ACCESS_TOKEN": "${input:github_token}"
            }
        }
    }
}
}

Version: 1.100.0-insider (user setup)
Commit: 86489f1015f670cc7c1ef18d937ed87d38002071
Date: 2025-04-08T08:18:59.097Z
Electron: 34.4.1
ElectronBuildId: 11317338
Chromium: 132.0.6834.210
Node.js: 20.18.3
V8: 13.2.152.41-electron.0
OS: Windows_NT x64 10.0.22631

+1

Version: 1.100.0-insider (Universal)
Commit: 043f699013796cbeae7c8fe9abac9b9eb26b3c51
Date: 2025-04-11T05:23:04.452Z (18 hrs ago)
Electron: 34.4.1
ElectronBuildId: 11317338
Chromium: 132.0.6834.210
Node.js: 20.18.3
V8: 13.2.152.41-electron.0
OS: Darwin arm64 24.3.0

{
    "mcp": {
      "inputs": [
        {
          "type": "promptString",
          "id": "github_token",
          "description": "GitHub Personal Access Token",
          "password": true
        }
      ],
      "servers": {
        "github": {
          "command": "docker",
          "args": [
            "run",
            "-i",
            "--rm",
            "-e",
            "GITHUB_PERSONAL_ACCESS_TOKEN",
            "ghcr.io/github/github-mcp-server"
          ],
          "env": {
            "GITHUB_PERSONAL_ACCESS_TOKEN": "${input:github_token}"
          }
        }
      }
    }
  }

After running into this, I uninstalled vscode insiders, and deleted the following folder: ~/Library/Application Support/Code - Insiders and reinstalled vscode, recofigured with the same above GH MCP Server config, and I get the same error. To workaround, I can just replace ${input:github_token} with my actual PAT and it will work again. But there's definitely a problem here.

EDIT:
Copilot is trying to be helpful and will now not accept my plaintext PAT. It says it's exposed and it thinks I can't authenticate with the github-owned repo.

AHA! Not sure if this is everyone's experience, but I was trying to launch the MCP server without an open workspace/folder.

Repro:

1. Install VS Code Insiders
2. Authenticate to access copilot extensions
3. Configure new GitHub MCP server following these instructions in ~/Library/Application Support/Code - Insiders/User/settings.json
4. Ensure Agent mode is enabled in settings
5. Open Chat
6. Choose Agent mode
7. Without an open workspace/folder, start your MCP server from your settings.json

Results:

Error starting github: CodeExpectedError: Variable 'github_token' must be defined in an 'inputs' section of the debug or task configuration.

Cause:

You have to open a workspace or folder for this to work. This error message is misleading.

And used stable 1.99.2 and can confirm the same experience. I had just been testing w Files opened before when the error was firing. Selected "Open Folder" and the input popped w/o any issues. So guessing there is an unhandled case where folder/workspace is not in scope.