Connect Grain to VS Code
Give VS Code governed access to Grain’s 15 tools through Runlayer, with identity, policy, scanning, and audit on every call.
Set up
Add Grain to VS Code in four steps
Admins approve the server once. Everyone in VS Code then gets it through the same governed connection.
- 1
Approve Grain in Runlayer
Add Grain from the catalog and choose who can use it and which of its tools are allowed.
- 2
Connect VS Code to Runlayer
Runlayer’s CLI installs the Runlayer Plugin natively in VS Code; users can also add it over MCP. With direct tool listing turned on for your deployment, Grain’s 15 tools show up in VS Code’s own tool list (VS Code 1.103 or newer).
VS Code setup guide - 3
Sign in to Grain
Sign in the way Grain requires. Runlayer holds the credentials so they stay out of the client’s configuration.
- 4
Use Grain from VS Code
Grain’s approved tools appear in VS Code. Every call is checked against policy and recorded.
Tools
15 Grain tools in VS Code
Runlayer policy decides which of these VS Code users can call. 15 read data only.
Myself
Get information about the logged-in Grain user.
List meetings
Returns a filtered list of Grain meetings you have access to, ordered by most recent.
List attended meetings
Returns a filtered list of Grain meetings you have attended, ordered by most recent.
Fetch meeting
Fetches information about a single Grain meeting by ID.
Fetch meeting notes
Fetches the AI notes payload from a single Grain meeting by ID.
Fetch meeting transcript
Fetches the transcript from a single Grain meeting by ID.
Search persons
Returns a filtered list of persons that were participants of Grain meetings you have access to.
Search companies
Returns a filtered list of companies that were participants of Grain meetings you have access to.
Control
What Runlayer can see and stop in VS Code
Some controls apply to every client at the gateway. Others depend on what VS Code exposes to Runlayer.
Gateway policy (available)
Every Grain call from VS Code passes through Runlayer, where your policies can allow, alert, mask, or block it.
Audit trail (available)
Each call is recorded with the user, VS Code as the client, the tool, and the policy and scanner decisions.
Client hooks (available)
Capture supported prompts, reasoning, local and MCP tool calls, responses, and scanner decisions in real time.
Stop a call before it runs (available)
Runlayer can deny a tool call before VS Code runs it.
Block output after it runs (available)
Runlayer can block a tool’s output before VS Code’s model sees it.
Redact output in place (available)
Runlayer can mask sensitive parts of a tool’s output in VS Code and pass the rest through.
Frequently asked questions
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