MemPalace + VS Code Copilot MCP and Hook Setup

A developer documented a working setup for integrating MemPalace with VS Code and GitHub Copilot, including MCP server registration and hook wiring. The solution converts VS Code Copilot chat transcripts from JSONL event logs into plain-text format for MemPalace's conversation mining. The setup uses a custom MCP server entry in .vscode/mcp.json and hooks in .github/hooks/mempalace.json to automate transcript processing.

This note documents a working MemPalace setup for VS Code + GitHub Copilot, including MCP registration, hook wiring, and a custom transcript conversion flow for Copilot chat transcripts. All paths below are sanitized. Replace placeholders like ${HOME} and ${WORKSPACE} with your own values. MemPalace conversation mining supports several formats out of the box, including ChatGPT exports, Claude JSON, Slack exports, Markdown, and plain text transcripts. VS Code Copilot chat transcripts are different. MemPalace's ChatGPT import path expects a turn-oriented JSON structure with a mapping tree. VS Code Copilot stores chat history as JSONL event logs under a workspace storage directory, with records like: session.start user.message assistant.message assistant.turn start assistant.turn end tool.execution start tool.execution complete Because of that mismatch, raw VS Code Copilot transcript files should not be passed directly to mempalace mine --mode convos . The working solution is: - Discover VS Code Copilot transcript files. - Convert the event stream into a plain-text transcript format MemPalace already accepts. - Mine those converted transcripts with mempalace mine ... --mode convos . Add a MemPalace server entry to .vscode/mcp.json : { "servers": { "mempalace": { "type": "stdio", "command": "uv", "args": "run", "--with", "mempalace", "python", "-m", "mempalace.mcp server" } } } This uses uv instead of requiring a permanently activated virtualenv. If you already have other MCP servers configured, merge the mempalace entry into your existing servers object instead of replacing the whole file. Example of a fuller .vscode/mcp.json : { "servers": { "serena": { "type": "stdio", "command": "serena", "args": "start-mcp-server", "--context=vscode", "--project", "${workspaceFolder}" }, "context-mode": { "type": "stdio", "command": "context-mode" }, "mempalace": { "type": "stdio", "command": "uv", "args": "run", "--with", "mempalace", "python", "-m", "mempalace.mcp server" }, "git": { "type": "stdio", "command": "uvx", "args": "mcp-server-git", "--repository", "${workspaceFolder}" }, "filesystem": { "command": "npx", "args": "-y", "@modelcontextprotocol/server-filesystem", "${workspaceFolder}" }, "eslint": { "type": "stdio", "command": "npx", "args": "@eslint/mcp@latest" } }, "inputs": } That full example is optional. The only MemPalace-specific part is the mempalace server block. Create .github/hooks/mempalace.json : { "hooks": { "Stop": { "type": "command", "command": "./.bin/mempal save hook.sh", "cwd": ".", "timeout": 120, "env": { "MEMPAL DIR": "." } } , "PreCompact": { "type": "command", "command": "./.bin/mempal precompact hook.sh", "cwd": ".", "timeout": 120, "env": { "MEMPAL DIR": "." } } } } These hooks are VS Code/Copilot variants of the upstream MemPalace save/precompact hooks. Store the scripts in ./.bin/ : mempal precompact hook.sh mempal save hook.sh mempal mine vscode transcripts.py mempal reseed vscode transcripts.sh Make them executable: chmod +x .bin/mempal precompact hook.sh chmod +x .bin/mempal save hook.sh chmod +x .bin/mempal mine vscode transcripts.py chmod +x .bin/mempal reseed vscode transcripts.sh VS Code Copilot transcripts live under a workspace storage path like this: ${HOME}/.config/Code/User/workspaceStorage/<workspace-storage-id /GitHub.copilot-chat/transcripts The hooks use transcript discovery logic that: - Uses transcript path when the hook payload provides it. - Otherwise searches the VS Code workspace storage directory. - Prefers a filename matching the Copilot sessionId . - Falls back to the most recently modified transcript file. An optional override is supported: export VSCODE WORKSPACE STORAGE DIR="${HOME}/.config/Code/User/workspaceStorage" The custom converter script reads the Copilot JSONL event stream and keeps only real conversation turns: user.message - user turn assistant.message - assistant turn It ignores lifecycle and tool execution noise, then emits plain-text transcript content like: User question Assistant answer Next question Next answer This output is written to a cache directory, by default: ${HOME}/.mempalace/vscode-copilot-transcripts Each converted file is named by session ID when available. To re-import everything from the VS Code Copilot transcript folder, use: ./.bin/mempal reseed vscode transcripts.sh This script: - Targets the Copilot transcript directory. - Clears the converted transcript cache. - Rebuilds the converted plain-text transcript set. - Runs MemPalace conversation mining on the converted output. Optional modes: ./.bin/mempal reseed vscode transcripts.sh --dry-run ./.bin/mempal reseed vscode transcripts.sh --extract general ./.bin/mempal reseed vscode transcripts.sh --convert-only You can also override the source directory: ./.bin/mempal reseed vscode transcripts.sh /path/to/GitHub.copilot-chat/transcripts Or set it via environment: export MEMPAL VSCODE TRANSCRIPTS DIR="/path/to/GitHub.copilot-chat/transcripts" If you want to rebuild MemPalace from scratch: rm -rf ${HOME}/.mempalace ./.bin/mempal reseed vscode transcripts.sh If you also want general memory extraction: rm -rf ${HOME}/.mempalace ./.bin/mempal reseed vscode transcripts.sh ./.bin/mempal reseed vscode transcripts.sh --extract general MemPalace's conversation miner currently treats conversation files as effectively immutable for idempotency checks. That means the custom converter/reseed flow works well for: - first-time imports - full reseeds after wiping the palace - historical backfills But repeated incremental re-mining of an already-filed converted transcript may still be skipped by MemPalace unless the underlying miner behavior changes. So the safest model today is: - use hooks for ongoing capture attempts - use the reseed script when doing a fresh rebuild or historical import .vscode/mcp.json updated with the MemPalace MCP server .github/hooks/mempalace.json .bin/mempal precompact hook.sh .bin/mempal save hook.sh .bin/mempal mine vscode transcripts.py .bin/mempal reseed vscode transcripts.sh MCP server runs via VS Code using uv reseed from VS Code Copilot transcripts ./.bin/mempal reseed vscode transcripts.sh dry-run ./.bin/mempal reseed vscode transcripts.sh --dry-run general extraction pass ./.bin/mempal reseed vscode transcripts.sh --extract general