How to Integrate GitHub Copilot with Zenrows

Install the Zenrows plugin for GitHub Copilot and Copilot can read the live web while it works: the current content of a page, named fields from it, a list of URLs as one job, the pages behind a start URL, and multi-step flows in a hosted browser. The plugin connects Copilot to the remote Zenrows MCP server and adds skills that tell Copilot which Zenrows tool fits each task. You sign in with your Zenrows account, so there is no API key to copy. The plugin is open source at github.com/ZenRows/copilot-zenrows.

What Is GitHub Copilot?

GitHub Copilot is GitHub’s AI coding assistant. It runs in your terminal as Copilot CLI, in VS Code as an agent in the Chat view, and on GitHub as Copilot cloud agent, which works on issues and pull requests in a repository. Copilot loads agent plugins: packages of skills, MCP servers, and other components that extend what it can do. You add a plugin from the command line or from VS Code, and Copilot picks up its skills and tools in every session.

Why Connect Zenrows to Copilot?

The real page, past anti-bot protection: a plain fetch of a site behind Cloudflare, DataDome, or similar returns a challenge page, and Copilot then works from the wrong content. Zenrows returns the page itself.
JavaScript-heavy pages, rendered: Zenrows starts with a plain request and adds JavaScript rendering or Premium Proxies only when a page needs them, so single-page apps come back with their content.
Fields as JSON: Copilot can ask for named fields as JSON, which is what you want when the output becomes a fixture, a seed file, or a test.
More than one page at a time: a list of URLs runs as one Batch job, and a start URL can become a Crawl over a site section, instead of Copilot fetching pages one by one.
Skills that pick the tool: the plugin’s skills tell Copilot when to scrape, extract, batch, crawl, or open a browser session, and to confirm the scope before a multi-page job.

What the Plugin Adds

The plugin adds one MCP server and nine skills.

MCP server: zenrows, connected to https://mcp.zenrows.com/mcp over streamable HTTP. It provides the scrape, extract, batch_*, crawl_*, browser_*, and account_usage tools. See the MCP tool reference.
Skills:

Skill	Copilot uses it for
`using-zenrows`	An overview of the tools, their defaults, and error handling
`getting-started`	First-run checks and troubleshooting, including sign-in
`scrape-webpage`	Reading one page
`extract-structured-data`	Named fields or JSON from one page
`batch`	A list of five or more URLs as one job
`crawl`	Many pages under one site section
`map`	Listing a site’s URLs without fetching them
`browser-automation`	Clicks, forms, pagination, and multi-step flows in the Zenrows Browser
`capture-api-calls`	Finding the API calls a page makes

You don’t call the skills by name. Copilot reads their descriptions and loads the one that matches your request.

Prerequisites

GitHub Copilot, with access to at least one of Copilot CLI, VS Code, or Copilot cloud agent.
A Zenrows account. You can also create one during the sign-in step.
Create an account

Install the Plugin

Copilot CLI
VS Code
Copilot cloud agent

Add the Zenrows marketplace

copilot plugin marketplace add ZenRows/copilot-zenrows

Copilot CLI registers the marketplace as zenrows and prints Marketplace "zenrows" added successfully.

Install the plugin

copilot plugin install zenrows@zenrows

Copilot CLI prints Plugin "zenrows" installed successfully. Installed 9 skills.

Check the MCP server

copilot mcp list

zenrows (http) appears under Plugin servers.

Inside an interactive session, /plugin marketplace add ZenRows/copilot-zenrows and /plugin install zenrows@zenrows do the same.

Turn on agent plugins

In your VS Code settings, make sure chat.plugins.enabled is true.

Add the Zenrows marketplace

Add the repository to the chat.plugins.marketplaces setting:

"chat.plugins.marketplaces": ["ZenRows/copilot-zenrows"]

You can do the same from the Agent Customizations editor: select Browse, open the source menu, select Configure Marketplaces, then Add Marketplace, and enter ZenRows/copilot-zenrows.

Install the plugin

In the Agent Customizations editor, select Browse, pick the zenrows marketplace from the source menu, select the zenrows plugin, and select Install. VS Code asks you to trust the marketplace the first time.

If you already installed the plugin with Copilot CLI, VS Code picks it up from ~/.copilot/installed-plugins/ without a second install.

Add the marketplace and the plugin to your repository’s .github/copilot/settings.json, and commit the file:

{
  "extraKnownMarketplaces": {
    "zenrows": {
      "source": { "source": "github", "repo": "ZenRows/copilot-zenrows" }
    }
  },
  "enabledPlugins": {
    "zenrows@zenrows": true
  }
}

The marketplace key must be zenrows, the name in the repository’s marketplace.json, and the plugin ID is zenrows@zenrows.

The Zenrows MCP server uses OAuth, so you sign in once in the browser instead of pasting an API key. If you don’t have an account yet, you can create one on the same screen.

Copilot CLI
VS Code

Start an interactive session with copilot and run:

/mcp auth zenrows

Copilot CLI opens the Zenrows sign-in page in your browser. Sign in, approve access, and return to the terminal.

Open the Command Palette (Cmd+Shift+P / Ctrl+Shift+P) and run MCP: List Servers. Select zenrows, select Start Server, and allow it to authenticate. VS Code opens the Zenrows sign-in page in your browser.

Never paste a Zenrows API key into a Copilot chat. The plugin signs in with OAuth, and its skills tell Copilot not to ask for a key.

Start Scraping

Ask Copilot in plain English. It picks the skill and the Zenrows tool for you:

Use Zenrows to get the product names and prices from https://www.scrapingcourse.com/ecommerce/.

Read https://www.scrapingcourse.com/antibot-bypass and tell me what the page says.

Fetch these five product pages as one batch and save the titles and prices to products.json.

Map https://www.scrapingcourse.com/ecommerce/ and list the product page URLs.

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

For the first prompt, Copilot loads the extract-structured-data skill and calls the Zenrows extract tool. Before a crawl, a batch, or a browser loop, it confirms the scope with you, because every page fetched uses credits on your Zenrows plan.

Update or Remove the Plugin

In Copilot CLI:

copilot plugin update zenrows        # update to the latest version
copilot plugin uninstall zenrows     # remove the plugin
copilot plugin marketplace remove zenrows

In VS Code, open the Agent Customizations editor, select Plugins, and use Check for and Apply Updates, or run Chat: Update Plugins. Disable or uninstall the plugin from its details view.

Troubleshooting

Tool calls fail with “requires authentication”

The plugin is installed but not signed in. Run /mcp auth zenrows in Copilot CLI, or start the zenrows server from MCP: List Servers in VS Code, and complete the browser sign-in. See Sign in to Zenrows.

The Zenrows tools don’t appear

Run copilot plugin list and check that zenrows@zenrows is listed, then copilot mcp list and check that zenrows (http) appears under Plugin servers. In VS Code, check that chat.plugins.enabled is true and that the plugin shows under Plugins in the Agent Customizations editor. Manage the plugin from the interface you installed it with: the CLI’s /plugin commands and the VS Code editor keep separate lists.

`copilot plugin install` can’t find the plugin

Add the marketplace first with copilot plugin marketplace add ZenRows/copilot-zenrows. The install command takes the form <plugin>@<marketplace>, and both names are zenrows.

Page content is missing or incomplete

The page probably loads its content with JavaScript after the first response. Ask Copilot to wait for the element you need, for example:

Scrape https://www.scrapingcourse.com/javascript-rendering/ and wait for the product grid before reading it.

For more options, see Troubleshooting in the MCP overview.

Frequently Asked Questions

Do I need a Zenrows API key?

No. The plugin signs in with OAuth through your Zenrows account. If you’d rather use an API key, connect the Zenrows MCP server to your client directly instead of installing the plugin.

Which Copilot surfaces does the plugin work in?

Copilot CLI, VS Code, and Copilot cloud agent. In VS Code, it works with Copilot’s agent in the Chat view.

How is the plugin different from adding the MCP server to VS Code?

Both connect Copilot to the same Zenrows tools. The plugin adds nine skills that tell Copilot when to use each tool and how to keep requests efficient, signs in with OAuth instead of an API key, and installs the same way in Copilot CLI, VS Code, and Copilot cloud agent.

How are requests billed?

Each tool call uses credits on your Zenrows plan, the same as the equivalent API request. Zenrows starts with a plain request and adds JavaScript rendering or Premium Proxies only when a page needs them, and bills only the configuration that succeeds. See Pricing.

Who maintains the plugin?

Zenrows publishes and maintains it. The source is MIT-licensed at github.com/ZenRows/copilot-zenrows.

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How to Integrate GitHub Copilot with Zenrows

What Is GitHub Copilot?

Why Connect Zenrows to Copilot?

What the Plugin Adds

Prerequisites

Install the Plugin

Start Scraping

Update or Remove the Plugin

Troubleshooting

Tool calls fail with “requires authentication”

The Zenrows tools don’t appear

`copilot plugin install` can’t find the plugin

Page content is missing or incomplete

Further Reading

Frequently Asked Questions

​What Is GitHub Copilot?

​Why Connect Zenrows to Copilot?

​What the Plugin Adds

​Prerequisites

​Install the Plugin

​Sign In to Zenrows

​Start Scraping

​Update or Remove the Plugin

​Troubleshooting

​Tool calls fail with “requires authentication”

​The Zenrows tools don’t appear

​copilot plugin install can’t find the plugin

​Page content is missing or incomplete

​Further Reading

​Frequently Asked Questions

What Is GitHub Copilot?

Why Connect Zenrows to Copilot?

What the Plugin Adds

Prerequisites

Install the Plugin

Sign In to Zenrows

Start Scraping

Update or Remove the Plugin

Troubleshooting

Tool calls fail with “requires authentication”

The Zenrows tools don’t appear

`copilot plugin install` can’t find the plugin

Page content is missing or incomplete

Further Reading

Frequently Asked Questions