Setup Guide

Connect Gym Navigator to VS Code

VS Code added MCP support to Copilot's agent mode, which means the Gym Navigator coach can run there too. It's a developer-flavoured setup, but if you already use Copilot Chat it's a two-minute job.

Connector URL (GitHub Copilot with MCP)https://coach.gymnavigator.com/mcp

The one-step way

Add to VS Code

Skips writing .vscode/mcp.json by hand. The file-based route below still works.

Setup, step by step

  1. 1
    Create a .vscode/mcp.json file

    In your workspace, add a .vscode/mcp.json file (or use the Command Palette: "MCP: Add Server"). This is where VS Code reads remote MCP servers from.

  2. 2
    Register the remote server

    Add a server entry pointing at https://coach.gymnavigator.com/mcp as the URL, with a name like gym-navigator. Save it.

  3. 3
    Start the server in Copilot

    Open Copilot Chat, switch to Agent mode, and start the gym-navigator server from the tools picker. VS Code lists every tool the connector exposes.

  4. 4
    Prompt it

    Ask Copilot "Look up the barbell bench press on Gym Navigator" and it'll run get_exercise and drop the link into the chat.

Good to know

  • MCP in VS Code lives in Copilot's Agent mode, not the default ask mode. Switch modes first.
  • Keep the URL in .vscode/mcp.json, not in plain settings, so it travels with the workspace.

What to ask once it's connected

The connector exposes 8 tools. You never call them by name, you just talk, and VS Codepicks the right one. Each tool has its own page with example prompts:

Search the exercise libraryFind exercises by muscle, equipment, or free-text and get straight to the form guide.Get one exercise in detailPull a single exercise with its coaching cue and demo video.Find a gymSearch 36,000+ gym listings by city and open the one you want.Search training articlesPull Gym Navigator articles to back up advice with a real source.Save a workout planTurn a designed session into an interactive timer page you can train from.Log a workoutRecord a finished session to your own journal.Read your workout historyPull past sessions back from your journal, with an optional date window.Track your progressCompute volume, estimated 1RM, and trend for one exercise or overall.

Using a different app?

The same URL works everywhere MCP does. Here are the other guides:

Claude ChatGPT Claude Code Cursor Raycast

That's it

Paste the URL into VS Code and ask it to build your first plan.

https://coach.gymnavigator.com/mcp