ZenRows MCP Integration for VS Code

Learn how to configure the ZenRows MCP server in VS Code with GitHub Copilot to scrape web pages and extract data from your editor.

Before You Start

You need:

ZenRows Account

A ZenRows account

ZenRows API Key

Your ZenRows API key

Node.js

Latest version of Node.js installed on your machine

VS Code

VS Code installed

Setup

1. Step 1: Open the configuration file

   Open or create the MCP configuration file in your project:

   .vscode/mcp.json
   
2. Step 2: Add the ZenRows MCP server

   Paste the following into the configuration file, replacing YOUR_ZENROWS_API_KEY with your actual API key:

   {
   "servers": {
       "zenrows": {
           "type": "stdio",
           "command": "npx",
           "args": ["-y", "@zenrows/mcp"],
           "env": {
               "ZENROWS_API_KEY": "YOUR_ZENROWS_API_KEY"
               }
           }
       }
   }
   
3. Step 3: Reload the window

   Save the file and reload the VS Code window (Cmd+Shift+P / Ctrl+Shift+P, then Developer: Reload Window) to load the new configuration.

Start scraping

Ask GitHub Copilot to scrape a webpage or automate a browser workflow in plain English:

Get the product names and prices from https://www.scrapingcourse.com/ecommerce/.

Scrape https://www.scrapingcourse.com/antibot-bypass using Premium Proxies.

Fetch https://www.scrapingcourse.com/javascript-rendering/ with JavaScript rendering enabled and return the page as Markdown.

Open https://scrapingcourse.com/login in a browser, fill in the credentials, click submit, then extract the account details.

Troubleshooting

The scrape tool is not available

Confirm .vscode/mcp.json is present in your project root and contains valid JSON. You can validate the JSON syntax at jsonlint.com. Then reload the VS Code window.

Page content is missing or incomplete

The page likely loads content dynamically. Ask the assistant to enable JavaScript rendering:

Scrape https://www.scrapingcourse.com/javascript-rendering/ with `js_render: true`.

Requests return a 403 or bot detection page

Ask the assistant to use Premium Proxies:

Scrape https://www.scrapingcourse.com/antibot-bypass using `premium_proxy: true`.

For more troubleshooting options, see the ZenRows MCP overview.