Connecting Cline, Roo Code & VS Code

The Model Context Gateway (MCG) integrates seamlessly with autonomous coding extensions in Visual Studio Code, including Cline, Roo Code, and Continue.

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📁 Configuration File Locations

Cline and Roo Code store MCP server definitions in their extension settings directory:

• macOS: ~/Library/Application Support/Code/User/globalStorage/saoudrizwan.claude-dev/settings/cline_mcp_settings.json
• Windows: %APPDATA%\Code\User\globalStorage\saoudrizwan.claude-dev\settings\cline_mcp_settings.json
• Linux: ~/.config/Code/User/globalStorage/saoudrizwan.claude-dev/settings/cline_mcp_settings.json

Alternatively, you can open the settings file directly within VS Code:

1. Open the Cline or Roo Code extension tab in the VS Code Activity Bar.
2. Click the MCP Servers icon (the plug or network icon).
3. Click Configure MCP Servers or Edit Settings File.

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🚀 Configuration Options

Option A: Unified Meta-Mode (Recommended)

Connect to /sse to use dynamic two-step tool searching:

{
  "mcpServers": {
    "mcg": {
      "url": "http://localhost:8080/sse",
      "headers": {
        "Authorization": "Bearer mcp-usr-Xk9L2mPq-7vN3wZ8aB1cE4fG9"
      }
    }
  }
}

Option B: Target Server Direct Proxy

To expose all tools from a specific backend server directly to Cline (e.g. docker):

{
  "mcpServers": {
    "docker": {
      "url": "http://localhost:8080/docker",
      "headers": {
        "Authorization": "Bearer mcp-usr-Xk9L2mPq-7vN3wZ8aB1cE4fG9"
      }
    }
  }
}

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🔄 Verification & Usage

1. In the Cline / Roo Code panel, open the MCP Servers view.
2. Verify that mcg shows a Connected badge with a green light.
3. In a new chat prompt, instruct the agent:

   "Use your MCP tools to check the status of running containers on the Docker server."

4. Cline calls search_tools on MCG, retrieves the relevant tool definition (docker__ps), and executes it via execute_tool.

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🛠️ Troubleshooting

• Connection Errors in Output Panel:
  • Open the VS Code Output panel (View -> Output).
  • In the dropdown, select Cline or Roo Code.
  • Check for HTTP connection refused or authorization failures.
• Header Authorization Issues:
  • Verify that the header key is spelled "Authorization" with "Bearer <key>" as the value.
  • Ensure the AppKey has not expired or exceeded quota limits.