> ## Documentation Index
> Fetch the complete documentation index at: https://docs.wherobots.com/llms.txt
> Use this file to discover all available pages before exploring further.

# Set Up Wherobots in VS Code

> Install the Wherobots VS Code Extension in Visual Studio Code. The extension automatically configures the MCP Server and includes Agent Skills.

<Badge color="purple">Public Preview</Badge>

**Visual Studio Code** by Microsoft is a Code OSS-based editor. In VS Code, the [Wherobots VS Code Extension](https://marketplace.visualstudio.com/items?itemName=wherobots.wherobotsjobsubmit) automatically configures the **MCP Server** and includes **Agent Skills**, so no separate MCP or Skills setup is required.

## Component Overview

Wherobots' Agentic Tools consist of the following components that work together to provide our agentic experience:

<AccordionGroup>
  <Accordion title="MCP Server" icon="message-bot">
    Connects your AI assistant to Wherobots Cloud for catalog exploration, Spatial SQL generation, and query execution.
  </Accordion>

  <Accordion title="Agent Skills" icon="brain">
    Gives your AI assistant domain-specific Wherobots knowledge for more accurate commands and fewer errors.
  </Accordion>

  <Accordion title="Wherobots CLI" icon="terminal">
    Wraps the full Wherobots API into a single binary for job submission, log streaming, and automation.
  </Accordion>
</AccordionGroup>

## Why use Wherobots' agentic tools?

Wherobots' agentic tools connect your AI assistant to Wherobots Cloud and your local development environment so you can interact with your spatial data, catalogs, and jobs in a more intuitive way.

<AccordionGroup>
  <Accordion title="Explore your spatial catalog conversationally" icon="book-open">
    The MCP Server connects your AI assistant to Wherobots Cloud so you can browse catalogs, databases, and table schemas (including Overture Maps and your own datasets) by asking questions in plain language instead of navigating the console.
  </Accordion>

  <Accordion title="Generate Spatial SQL without memorizing functions" icon="code">
    Describe a geospatial task (e.g. "find buildings within 500m of this point") and the MCP Server returns optimized Spatial SQL using WherobotsDB's ST functions, spatial joins, and indexing patterns.
  </Accordion>

  <Accordion title="Submit and monitor Wherobots jobs from your editor" icon="rocket">
    Use the CLI or the extension to submit Spark job runs, stream logs in real time, check resource metrics, and cancel jobs without leaving your editor or terminal.
  </Accordion>

  <Accordion title="Get Wherobots-aware AI assistance" icon="brain">
    Agent Skills teach your AI assistant Wherobots-specific APIs, query patterns, and workflow sequences so it produces correct `wherobots` CLI commands, valid MCP tool calls, and accurate notebook code on the first try.
  </Accordion>
</AccordionGroup>

## Before you start

* [Visual Studio Code](https://code.visualstudio.com/) version 1.85 or later.
* A **Wherobots Account** within a Community, Professional, or Enterprise Organization. See [Create a Wherobots Account](/get-started/wherobots-cloud/create-account).

  <Info>
    **Organization Availability:** Available to all Wherobots Organization Editions.<br />

    * **Community Edition Organizations** can create and run local notebooks against the [Tiny and Micro runtimes](/develop/runtimes).
    * **Professional or Enterprise Organizations** are required for job submission, the Wherobots MCP server, and additional compute tiers. For more information, see [Upgrade Organization](/get-started/upgrade-organization) or [Organization Editions](/get-started/organization-management/organization-editions).
  </Info>
* Active [GitHub Copilot](https://github.com/features/copilot) subscription (for AI-assisted features).

## Install the extension

Run the following command in your terminal:

```bash theme={"system"}
code --install-extension wherobots.wherobotsjobsubmit
```

Or install from the [Visual Studio Marketplace](https://marketplace.visualstudio.com/items?itemName=wherobots.wherobotsjobsubmit).

<Tip>
  If VS Code prompts you to install a missing dependency extension (e.g., Jupyter), click **Install and Reload**.
</Tip>

### Configure the extension

After installation, set your API key to connect to Wherobots Cloud.

<Tip>
  These steps apply to VS Code, Cursor, Windsurf, [Kiro](https://kiro.dev/), Positron, Antigravity, Trae, VS Codium, and other Code OSS editors. All use the same Command Palette and extension settings.
</Tip>

<Steps>
  <Step title="Open the Command Palette">
    To open the **Command Palette**, click the search bar at the top of your editor and type `>wherobots:`.

    <img src="https://mintcdn.com/wherobots/sQRlg2xOr4yRMlZ8/develop/vscode-extension/images/command-palette.png?fit=max&auto=format&n=sQRlg2xOr4yRMlZ8&q=85&s=2aa9ace9432dc208b27ea4ac2ca8730c" alt="Command Palette" width="1188" height="332" data-path="develop/vscode-extension/images/command-palette.png" />

    <Tip>
      You can also press <kbd>⌘</kbd> + <kbd>Shift</kbd> + <kbd>P</kbd> on Mac, <kbd>Ctrl</kbd> + <kbd>Shift</kbd> + <kbd>P</kbd> on Windows/Linux.
    </Tip>
  </Step>

  <Step title="Set your API key">
    1. If you don’t have an API key yet, click `Wherobots: Generate API Key on Wherobots Cloud` to create one.
    2. Click `Wherobots: Set API Key` and enter your existing or newly created [Wherobots API key](/get-started/wherobots-cloud/api-keys/) when prompted, then press <kbd>Enter</kbd>.

    <Note>
      API keys are stored securely in your editor's Secret Storage.
    </Note>
  </Step>
</Steps>

### Verify the installation

To confirm the extension is installed and configured correctly:

<Steps>
  <Step title="Open the Command Palette">
    To open the **Command Palette**, click the search bar at the top of your editor and type `>wherobots:`.

    <img src="https://mintcdn.com/wherobots/sQRlg2xOr4yRMlZ8/develop/vscode-extension/images/command-palette.png?fit=max&auto=format&n=sQRlg2xOr4yRMlZ8&q=85&s=2aa9ace9432dc208b27ea4ac2ca8730c" alt="Command Palette" width="1188" height="332" data-path="develop/vscode-extension/images/command-palette.png" />

    <Tip>
      You can also press <kbd>⌘</kbd> + <kbd>Shift</kbd> + <kbd>P</kbd> on Mac, <kbd>Ctrl</kbd> + <kbd>Shift</kbd> + <kbd>P</kbd> on Windows/Linux.
    </Tip>
  </Step>

  <Step title="Confirm available commands">
    Type **Wherobots** to see the available extension commands.
    At this point, you should see commands including:

    * `Wherobots: Set API Key`
    * `Wherobots: Create Workspace`
    * `Wherobots: Submit Job`
    * `Wherobots: Refresh Workspaces`
    * `Wherobots: Open Settings`
    * `Wherobots: Install Jupyter Extension`
  </Step>
</Steps>

## MCP Server and Agent Skills

<Info>
  **Automatic:** The extension automatically configures the [Wherobots MCP Server](/develop/mcp/mcp-server-setup) and includes [Agent Skills](/develop/agent-skills) in VS Code. No manual setup is needed.
</Info>

<Tip>
  The extension exposes optional settings for the MCP server — including query timeout, runtime size, and cloud region. See [Configure MCP server settings](/develop/mcp/mcp-server-setup#configure-mcp-server-settings).
</Tip>

If the Wherobots VS Code Extension is pinned to your sidebar, you can also create a new workspace by clicking the **Create Workspace** button.

<Frame caption="The Wherobots extension sidebar showing the Create Workspace button. Specific UI details vary by editor.">
  <img src="https://mintcdn.com/wherobots/sQRlg2xOr4yRMlZ8/develop/vscode-extension/images/create-workspace-button.png?fit=max&auto=format&n=sQRlg2xOr4yRMlZ8&q=85&s=e332886b053f117e25344181c1066f30" alt="Create Workspace button in the Wherobots sidebar" style={{ float: "none", marginLeft: "1rem", maxWidth: "300px" }} width="672" height="626" data-path="develop/vscode-extension/images/create-workspace-button.png" />
</Frame>

To pin the Wherobots extension to the sidebar:

<Steps>
  <Step title="Pin the extension">
    Right-click the **Activity Bar** (the vertical icon bar on the left side of your editor).

    A menu will appear showing all available extensions.
  </Step>

  <Step title="Select the extension">
    To pin the extension, find **Wherobots** in the list and click on it to ensure it's checked.

    <Frame caption="The Activity Bar context menu with the Wherobots extension checked. Specific UI details vary by editor.">
      <img src="https://mintcdn.com/wherobots/sQRlg2xOr4yRMlZ8/develop/vscode-extension/images/check-wherobots.png?fit=max&auto=format&n=sQRlg2xOr4yRMlZ8&q=85&s=e9b67e126c0b6eb539490848027b9514" alt="Wherobots extension checked in the Activity Bar" style={{ float: "none", marginLeft: "1rem", maxWidth: "300px" }} width="666" height="598" data-path="develop/vscode-extension/images/check-wherobots.png" />
    </Frame>

    Now you'll have easy access to the extension in your editor's sidebar.
  </Step>
</Steps>

## Verify everything works

1. Open **GitHub Copilot Chat** via **View > Chat**.
2. Select **Agent** as the chat mode from the dropdown at the top of the chat panel.
   <img src="https://mintcdn.com/wherobots/sQRlg2xOr4yRMlZ8/develop/vscode-extension/images/agent-mode.png?fit=max&auto=format&n=sQRlg2xOr4yRMlZ8&q=85&s=f27cc427fa03df0fb0cf1111480fc64b" style={{width: "450px", height: "auto"}} alt="Screenshot showing the Agent mode dropdown" width="846" height="206" data-path="develop/vscode-extension/images/agent-mode.png" />
3. Select an advanced model (Claude Opus, Claude Sonnet, GPT Codex, or Gemini Pro) for best results.
4. Ask a test question:
   > Show me the catalogs in my Organization
5. If successful, the assistant will confirm it is using the Wherobots MCP server (showing `Ran list_catalogs` or a similar tool) and display your available catalogs.
   <img src="https://mintcdn.com/wherobots/IMHna5Z6Z-9kG6n0/develop/mcp/mcp-images/chat-response-catalogs.png?fit=max&auto=format&n=IMHna5Z6Z-9kG6n0&q=85&s=b8d180f349561a9d3c81b3f660a68abd" style={{width: "450px", height: "auto"}} alt="Screenshot showing the MCP server catalogs response" width="746" height="498" data-path="develop/mcp/mcp-images/chat-response-catalogs.png" />

## Next steps

<CardGroup cols={2}>
  <Card title="Browse Your Data" icon="database" href="/develop/vscode-extension/integrate-your-data">
    Browse catalogs, schemas, and tables in the Data Hub sidebar.
  </Card>

  <Card title="AI-Assisted Notebooks" icon="notebook" href="/develop/vscode-extension/notebooks">
    Create and connect local notebooks to remote Wherobots compute with GitHub Copilot.
  </Card>

  <Card title="Submit Job Runs" icon="play" href="/develop/vscode-extension/jobs">
    Submit Python scripts as Wherobots job runs from your editor.
  </Card>

  <Card title="Workspaces & Usage" icon="server" href="/develop/vscode-extension/workspaces">
    Create, start, stop, and manage notebook workspaces.
  </Card>

  <Card title="MCP Server Best Practices" icon="message-bot" href="/develop/mcp/mcp-server-usage">
    Common tasks, example prompts, and cost considerations for the MCP Server.
  </Card>

  <Card title="Install the CLI" icon="terminal" href="/develop/cli">
    Submit jobs and access the full Wherobots API from your terminal.
  </Card>
</CardGroup>