Article
Using GitHub Copilot in VS Code With IBKR Chart Data
Connect your live chart to GitHub Copilot in VS Code with one click, then ask about your own levels and indicators without retyping them into a chat box.
You are in VS Code with a strategy open. You also have a chart open in MyLinedChart with levels drawn on it, and the two do not know about each other. So you end up describing the chart to Copilot in prose: the symbol, roughly where the resistance sits, what the indicator was doing. That description is where the accuracy goes. This connects the chart to Copilot directly, so you can ask about the analysis you actually did rather than a paraphrase of it.
One Click, From Inside the App
Open MyLinedChart, find the AI connection panel, and click Add to VS Code. VS Code opens and offers to add MyLinedChart as an MCP server. Approve it and Copilot can see the chart.
There is no API key to paste and no account to link. The connector runs on your own machine, and the chart data never routes through our servers.
If your browser blocks the vscode: link, or you are reading this on a machine that is not the one running the app, the same install works through a normal web link that hands off to VS Code.
- Works with the free VS Code. A Copilot subscription is between you and GitHub.
- Nothing else to install. The connector ships with the app.
- You can add Claude, Cursor and Codex at the same time. They do not conflict.
What You Can Actually Ask It
The useful questions are the ones where Copilot needs to see both your code and your chart. That is the whole point of connecting them: you stop being the translation layer between the two.
Ask it to reconcile, to explain, or to draft. Do not ask it to decide.
| Ask | Why it works here |
|---|---|
| Which levels on my chart have no equivalent in this strategy file? | It can read both, so the answer is checkable |
| Write a test fixture from the bars currently on screen | The values are real, not invented |
| Explain what I drew on this chart and when | Drawings carry their own dates and prices |
| Turn the levels on this chart into constants in my config | A mechanical transcription you would otherwise do by hand |
| Does my indicator setup match what the code assumes? | The two drift apart and nothing else compares them |
What Copilot Can See
It sees the chart context, not your account. There is no order history, no balance, no broker credential in what the connector exposes.
| Visible | Not visible |
|---|---|
| Symbol, timeframe, chart type, range | Your broker login or API keys |
| Your drawings, with their dates and prices | Account balance or buying power |
| Indicator configuration and values | Order history or open positions from the broker |
| Bars currently loaded on the chart | Anything from a chart you do not have open |
Where Your Data Goes
The connector runs locally, as a process on your machine that VS Code starts. The chart data goes from the app to VS Code on the same computer. It does not pass through MyLinedChart servers, and we never see it.
What Copilot itself does with a prompt is between you and GitHub, under whatever terms your Copilot plan carries. That part is unchanged by connecting the chart, but it is worth knowing which half is which.
The Config Key VS Code Wants Is Different
If you skip the one-click install and write the config by hand, there is one trap worth knowing about, because it fails silently.
VS Code reads .vscode/mcp.json, and its wrapper key is servers. Claude, Cursor and most other clients use mcpServers. Paste the wrong one and VS Code parses the file without complaint, reports no error, and simply never starts the server. You end up debugging the connector when the connector is fine.
Full explanation and both correct files: VS Code MCP Config: servers, Not mcpServers
| Client | File | Wrapper key |
|---|---|---|
| GitHub Copilot in VS Code | .vscode/mcp.json | servers |
| Cursor | ~/.cursor/mcp.json | mcpServers |
| Claude Desktop | config file or the installer | mcpServers |
| Codex, Claude Code | added by one CLI command | n/a |
It Works Alongside the Others, Pick Any
This is the same MCP connector that already serves Claude, Cursor and Codex. Adding VS Code does not replace them and does not need a different setup on the MyLinedChart side.
In practice people use more than one: an agent in the terminal for a long refactor, Copilot in the editor for the thing they are looking at right now. The chart answers all of them the same way.
If you are choosing rather than collecting, see Which AI Should Read Your Chart? Cursor, Claude Code, Codex, and Claude Desktop.
Where MyLinedChart Fits
MyLinedChart is the part that makes the chart legible to an agent. Connect Interactive Brokers with your own credentials, draw the way you already draw, and the levels, notes and indicator values become structured data instead of pixels.
You can also export the whole chart as XLSX, CSV or JSON if you would rather hand a file to something than wire up a live connection.
What Not to Ask
Copilot will answer these fluently and the answer will not be supported by anything it can see.
| Do not ask | Why it fails |
|---|---|
| Should I take this trade | Nothing on the chart encodes your risk, size or account |
| Is this level going to hold | It will produce a narrative, and a narrative is not evidence |
| Build me a profitable strategy from this | The chart describes what you drew, not what worked |
| Optimise these parameters | One symbol and one chart is curve fitting with extra steps |
Next Step
Open a chart with the levels you actually trade on it, click Add to VS Code, and ask Copilot one narrow question about a file you already have open. The reconciliation question is the one that surprises people most often.
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FAQ
Is this the same Copilot that is built into Windows?
No, and the distinction matters. This is GitHub Copilot running inside VS Code, which supports MCP servers. The Windows taskbar assistant is a different product that happens to share the name, and it cannot connect to the chart.
Do I need a paid VS Code or a paid Copilot plan?
VS Code is free. Copilot itself is billed by GitHub under whatever plan you are on, and that relationship is unchanged by connecting the chart. MyLinedChart adds no markup and never sees your Copilot usage.
Is this a different integration from the Claude or Cursor one?
No. It is the same MCP connector with a different install path. You can have VS Code, Claude, Cursor and Codex all connected at once without conflict.
Why did my hand-written config do nothing?
Almost always the wrapper key. VS Code's .vscode/mcp.json expects servers, while Claude and Cursor expect mcpServers. VS Code parses the wrong key without any error and silently never starts the server. Use the one-click install, or see VS Code MCP Config: servers, Not mcpServers.
Can Copilot place a trade through this?
No. MyLinedChart is read only. It reads chart data and marks it up, and never places, modifies or cancels an order. Anything Copilot produces here is analysis and code for you to review.
Sample Structured Chart-Data Exports
Review how chart drawings, annotations, OHLC, volume, and execution context become reusable structured data.