devbox

The Dev Box MCP Server integrates Microsoft Dev Box capabilities with MCP-enabled AI agents. It exposes a set of tools for managing Dev Boxes, projects, pools, and related operations, allowing natural language queries to translate into Dev Box API calls (e.g., listing Dev Boxes, creating a new Dev Box, starting or stopping a Dev Box, and configuring pools or schedules). The server presents a collection of resources organized under Dev Box Lifecycle, Projects, Dev Box Pools, Actions & Schedules, and customization options, so you can orchestrate Dev Box workflows through familiar MCP tooling. Use an MCP client (such as Visual Studio Code with the MCP extension) to interact with the server and invoke the available actions and queries described in the tool documentation.

Once connected, you can ask the MCP client to list Dev Boxes across projects, fetch details for a specific Dev Box, start or stop a Dev Box, or manage schedules and customization groups. The tools support scope-based patterns (e.g., /projects//users/me/devboxes/) to target resources across your Dev Box environment. This enables automated workflows and AI-assisted operations for Dev Box provisioning, lifecycle management, and configuration tasks.

Prerequisites

• Node.js 18 or newer installed on your machine
• Internet access to fetch the MCP package

Installation steps

1. Verify Node.js installation

node -v
npm -v

2. Install the Dev Box MCP Server using NPX (no global install required)

npx -y @microsoft/devbox-mcp@latest

This will start the MCP server via NPX. If you want to pin a specific version, replace latest with a version tag, e.g., @latest or a semver like 1.2.3.

3. Optional: configure your MCP client to connect to the server

• For VS Code, add the MCP server with the following settings (workspace or user settings):

{
  "servers": {
    "DevBox": {
      "command": "npx",
      "args": ["-y", "@microsoft/devbox-mcp@latest"]
    }
  }
}

4. Test the connection by starting a minimal MCP session in your client and invoking a simple Dev Box query (e.g., list Dev Boxes) to confirm the server responds.

Notes

• If you prefer a persistent installation, you can install the MCP server package locally in your project and run it via a script in package.json.
• The commands above rely on NPX; ensure your npm installation is up to date to avoid fetch/cache issues.

Tips and common considerations:

• The server expects access to your Azure Dev Box resources; ensure proper Azure RBAC permissions are configured for the account running the MCP server.
• If you encounter tool cache or module loading issues, try clearing the npx cache: npx clear-npx-cache
• When using VS Code, you can add the MCP server programmatically or via the UI; the repository documentation provides one-click install badges that launch the NPX install flow.
• The tool set includes Dev Box Lifecycle, Projects, Dev Box Pools, and Actions & Schedules, with detailed endpoint patterns provided for each resource type. Use scope-based paths to constrain operations to specific projects or Dev Boxes.
• For production deployments, consider containerizing the MCP server or running it in a managed environment where you can secure environment variables and restrict access to Dev Box resources.