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MCP servers with "disabled": true in mcp-config.json are still loaded and available #3582
Description
Describe the bug
MCP servers marked with "disabled": true in ~/.copilot/mcp-config.json are still being loaded and their tools are available in the session. The disabled flag is completely ignored by the CLI runtime.
Affected version
1.0.57-0
Steps to reproduce the behavior
- Open ~/.copilot/mcp-config.json
- Set "disabled"#COLON| true on one or more MCP server entries:
{
"mcpServers": {
"calendar": {
"disabled": true,
"type": "sse",
"url": "https://example.com/sse",
"headers": { ... }
}
}
} - Start a new Copilot CLI session
- Observe that tools from the "disabled" servers are still listed and callable
Expected behavior
Servers with "disabled": true should not be connected, and their tools should not be available in the session.
But in actuality, all MCP servers are loaded regardless of the disabled flag. In my case, 8 servers are marked disabled: true and all 8 have their tools available
Additional context
- Copilot CLI version: 1.0.57-0
- OS: Windows 11
- Config file: ~/.copilot/mcp-config.json
- Model: Claude Opus 4.6
Activity
IrynaKulakova commentedon Jun 18, 2026
Investigation Results
Conclusion:
"disabled": trueon individual server entries is not a supported propertyThe
MCPServerConfigschema (src/core/persistence/mcp-config.ts) defines these properties for each server entry inmcp-config.json:tools,type,isDefaultServer,filterMapping,timeout,oidc,auth,deferToolscommand/args/env/cwd(local) orurl/headers(remote)There is no
disabledproperty on the per-server config schema. The Zod schema drops unknown keys, so"disabled": trueis silently ignored.How disabling actually works
The CLI uses a separate
disabledMcpServersstring array stored insettings.json(notmcp-config.json). This list contains server names (keys frommcpServers). The disable mechanism:/mcpslash command → toggles servers on/off, writes tosettings.jsonviaUserSettings.writeKey("disabledMcpServers", ...)McpHost(src/mcp-client/mcp-host.ts) receivesdisabledMcpServersat construction and filters them out before connectingmcpConfigApi.disable()(src/core/sharedApi/mcpConfigApi.ts) adds server names to the persisted disabled listWorkaround
To disable an MCP server, either:
/mcpin an interactive session and toggle the server offdisabledMcpServersarray in~/.copilot/settings.jsonmcp-config.jsonentirelyRecommendation
This is a feature request rather than a bug — the
"disabled": trueper-server property was never implemented. Could be closed as "not a bug" or converted to a feature request to support VS Code-style inline"disabled": trueon server entries.