{"slug": "mcp-allowlists-in-enterprise-managed-settings", "title": "MCP allowlists in enterprise managed settings", "summary": "GitHub has made generally available new enterprise managed settings keys, `allowedMcpServers` and `deniedMcpServers`, that let enterprise owners centrally control which Model Context Protocol (MCP) servers GitHub Copilot clients can run. The feature, enforced on the GitHub Copilot app, Copilot CLI, and VS Code, supports matchers by remote URL, local command, or name, and policies fail closed to block malformed configurations.", "body_md": "# MCP allowlists in enterprise managed settings\n\nEnterprise owners can now centrally control which Model Context Protocol (MCP) servers GitHub Copilot clients are allowed to run by using the new `allowedMcpServers`\n\nand `deniedMcpServers`\n\nkeys in enterprise managed settings. Approve the MCP servers your developers depend on and block untrusted or non-compliant ones across your enterprise. This capability is generally available.\n\n[How it works](#how-it-works)\n\nAdd either or both keys to `copilot/managed-settings.json`\n\n. Each key is a list of matchers that identify MCP servers by remote URL, local command, or name:\n\n`serverUrl`\n\n: Matches remote (HTTP/SSE) servers. It supports`*`\n\nwildcards and canonicalizes URLs to prevent evasion.`serverCommand`\n\n: Matches local (stdio) servers by exact command and arguments.`serverName`\n\n: Matches the user-assigned label. This is only supplied as a convenience, not a security control, since users can rename servers.\n\nPolicies fail closed, meaning a malformed or unverifiable configuration is blocked rather than allowed. When policies come from multiple layers, a server must pass every layer.\n\nIn server-managed deployments, both keys can be marked `overridable`\n\nso enterprise teams can define their own allow and deny lists on top of your baseline. To learn more, see [our docs on overriding settings for individual teams](https://docs.github.com/copilot/how-tos/administer-copilot/manage-for-enterprise/manage-agents/configure-enterprise-managed-settings#overriding-settings-for-specific-teams).\n\nFor configuration examples and the full matcher syntax, see [Enterprise managed settings reference](https://docs.github.com/en/copilot/reference/enterprise-administrators/enterprise-managed-settings#example-configuration).\n\n[Supported clients](#supported-clients)\n\nMCP allowlists are currently enforced on the GitHub Copilot app, Copilot CLI and VS Code.\n\n[Getting started](#getting-started)\n\nIn your source organization’s `.github-private`\n\nrepository, add the keys to `copilot/managed-settings.json`\n\nand commit to the default branch.\n\nTo learn more, see [configuring enterprise managed settings](https://docs.github.com/enterprise-cloud@latest/copilot/how-tos/administer-copilot/manage-for-enterprise/manage-agents/configure-enterprise-managed-settings).", "url": "https://wpnews.pro/news/mcp-allowlists-in-enterprise-managed-settings", "canonical_source": "https://github.blog/changelog/2026-08-06-mcp-allowlists-in-enterprise-managed-settings", "published_at": "2026-08-07 00:11:19+00:00", "updated_at": "2026-08-09 09:08:46.379146+00:00", "lang": "en", "topics": ["ai-tools", "ai-policy", "developer-tools"], "entities": ["GitHub", "GitHub Copilot", "Model Context Protocol (MCP)", "VS Code"], "alternates": {"html": "https://wpnews.pro/news/mcp-allowlists-in-enterprise-managed-settings", "markdown": "https://wpnews.pro/news/mcp-allowlists-in-enterprise-managed-settings.md", "text": "https://wpnews.pro/news/mcp-allowlists-in-enterprise-managed-settings.txt", "jsonld": "https://wpnews.pro/news/mcp-allowlists-in-enterprise-managed-settings.jsonld"}}