Connect Guru to VS Code
Give VS Code governed access to Guru’s 6 tools through Runlayer, with identity, policy, scanning, and audit on every call.
Set up
Add Guru 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 Guru in Runlayer
Add Guru 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, Guru’s 6 tools show up in VS Code’s own tool list (VS Code 1.103 or newer).
VS Code setup guide - 3
Sign in to Guru
Each user signs in to Guru with OAuth. Runlayer keeps the tokens out of the client’s configuration.
- 4
Use Guru from VS Code
Guru’s approved tools appear in VS Code. Every call is checked against policy and recorded.
Tools
6 Guru tools in VS Code
Runlayer policy decides which of these VS Code users can call. 4 read data only and 1 can change or delete data.
Ask knowledge agent
Generate direct answers to questions using the knowledge base.
Create a draft of content
Create a Draft of a Card in Guru.
Search documents
Find and retrieve specific documents, sources or cards.
Update card content
Update the content of an existing card.
List knowledge agents
Get available knowledge agents and their IDs.
Get Card content by ID
Get full card content in original HTML format by card ID
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 Guru 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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