How-to connect Copilot to Atlassian

Below is a short tutorial on how you can connect Copilot agent in VS Code to Atlassian through an MCP server.

Requirements

Ensure the following are installed or accessible:

npx for installation
Node.js v18 or later to run the local MCP proxy (mcp-remote)
An Atlassian Cloud site with Jira, Compass, and/or Confluence
A supported IDE (for example, Claude desktop, VS Code, or Cursor) or a custom MCP-compatible client
A modern browser to complete the authorization flow, if using OAuth 2.1
An API token, if your admin has enabled authentication via API tokens

Add Atlassian MCP server

In VS Code, press Shift+Command+P to open the quick access menu
Select "MCP: Open User Configuration"
Add this new object inside the "servers" object:

"atlassian-mcp-server": {
  "url": "https://mcp.atlassian.com/v1/mcp/authv2",
  "type": "http"
}

Click "Start". This will initiate the authentication process in Atlassian. If everything is fine, you will be redirected back to VS Code.
To check whether the Atlassian MCP server is active, click the Copilot agent's "Configure Tools..." button. You should see "atlassian-mcp-server" MCP server in the list. Make sure it is selected for the next step.

Testing the Atlassian MCP server

1. Read a Confluence page

You can use this example prompt:

Replace the link with a page in your Confluence account.
Replace the name of the folder with the folder you are actually using in your repo and make sure it exists.

Read the PRD in this link: https://galenic.atlassian.net/wiki/spaces/PH/pages/2359307/Pomodoro+app+-+MVP+PRD.
Then create a plan that we can use to implement this PRD.
Save the plan as a markdown formatted file in the "specs/" folder.

2. Create a Confluence page

Example prompt:

Create a child page in the previous page. The child page title: Success Criteria.
The content of this new child page is the list from the "Success Criteria [MVP]" section of #file:IMPLEMENTATION_PLAN.md file.

3. Update a JIRA ticket