Give GitHub Copilot an Android phone: an Android MCP server for VS Code agent mode.
Set it up
1. Get a key. Paste this into GitHub Copilot. It installs the Phonebox CLI and signs you in from the terminal, so you never paste a key into the chat. Then put the key in your environment with export PHONEBOX_API_KEY=$(phonebox token).
Read https://phonebox.dev/setup.md and set me up with Phonebox from here: get me signed in and ready, then find out what I want to use phones for and help me with that.2. Add the server. Commit this .vscode/mcp.json. VS Code asks each person for their key once and stores it securely, so the key never sits in the repository.
{
"inputs": [
{ "type": "promptString", "id": "phonebox-key", "description": "Phonebox API key", "password": true }
],
"servers": {
"phonebox": {
"type": "http",
"url": "https://phonebox.dev/mcp",
"headers": { "Authorization": "Bearer ${input:phonebox-key}" }
}
}
}3. Check it. Run MCP: List Servers from the Command Palette, then open the tools picker in Copilot Chat's agent mode. You should see phonebox with 13 tools. list_phones is a safe first call: it only reads.
What GitHub Copilot can do with the phone
| Task | Tools |
|---|---|
| Get a phone | create_phone, list_phones, get_phone, start_phone |
| See the screen | observe: numbered text elements with labels, plus a screenshot |
| Use apps | act: up to 20 taps, types, swipes and key presses per call |
| Install your build | create_app_upload, complete_app_upload, install_app, list_apps |
| Hand off to a person | live_view_url: a link to watch and control the phone |
| Stop paying | park_phone; reboot_phone when an app hangs |
GitHub Copilot reads the screen as text, so it taps “Sign in” by its label instead of guessing coordinates. Phonebox never retries a write to the phone on its own, so a slow response can't turn into a double order. A parked phone is free and keeps its apps, files and sign-ins. A running one costs $0.06 a minute, billed per second, and new accounts get $2 of credit with no card.
A first task
Build the debug APK and install it on my Phonebox phone.
Walk through the onboarding and settings screens I changed in this branch.
Read the screen before every action. Report anything that looks broken,
with the screen text you saw. Park the phone when you finish.Other agents
The same server works in Claude Code, Codex, Cursor, Gemini CLI, Windsurf and Cline. See the Android MCP server guide for every tool, and cloud phones for AI agents for the bigger picture.
Questions
Can GitHub Copilot control an Android phone?
Yes, in VS Code agent mode through MCP. Add Phonebox's hosted server to .vscode/mcp.json with type http, url https://phonebox.dev/mcp and an Authorization header that reads the key from a promptString input. Copilot then gets tools to create a cloud Android phone, read its screen, act on it and install APKs.
How do I share the config without sharing my key?
Use an inputs entry with type promptString and password true, and reference it as ${input:phonebox-key} in the header. VS Code prompts each person once and stores the value securely.
What does it cost?
$0.06 per phone-minute while the phone runs, billed per second. Parked phones are free and keep their apps and sign-ins. New accounts get $2 of credit with no card.