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Using Claude Code? You don’t need VS Code at all. Install the Developer MCP and use the Xano CLI to pull, edit, and push — no extension required.
This guide walks you through setting up VS Code for Xano development — connecting your workspace, configuring your AI assistant, editing an endpoint, and syncing changes back to Xano.
1

Set up your editor

Install the XanoScript extension for VS Code. This provides syntax highlighting, real-time validation, code completion, and a built-in connection manager for syncing with your Xano workspace.
Using Cursor, Windsurf, or another .vsix-compatible IDE? Download the extension from the Open VSX Registry and follow your IDE’s instructions for installing .vsix files.
Using the Developer MCP? Install the XanoScript Language Server instead. It provides syntax highlighting and validation without conflicting with the MCP. The full extension above should not be installed alongside the Developer MCP.
2

Configure your AI assistant

The XanoScript extension works with multiple AI coding tools. Choose the setup that matches your workflow.
Make sure you have GitHub Copilot Pro or higher enabled in VS Code. For the best results generating XanoScript, use:
  • GPT 5 or higher
  • Sonnet 4.5, or Opus
No additional installation is needed — you’ll generate AI Agent Instructions when you connect to Xano in the next step. These files help Copilot understand your workspace structure and XanoScript conventions.
3

Connect to Xano

Make sure you have the folder you want to work in open before continuing.
Using the XanoScript Language Server + CLI? Run xano auth to authenticate, then xano workspace pull ./my-workspace to pull your workspace. See the CLI Get Started guide for details, and skip ahead to the next step.
1

Click the Xano logo in the left sidebar and choose Get Started

getting-started-code-20260112-095637
2

Login to Xano

Click Login to Xano to authenticate with your Xano account and follow the instructions.getting-started-code-20260112-095955
3

Pull changes from Xano into your IDE

Select your instance from the dropdown that appears, and then select your workspace and your live branch.After selection, click Pull Changes to get everything that’s currently present in your Xano workspace.getting-started-code-20260112-100203
4

Generate AI Agent Instructions (Copilot users)

If you’re using GitHub Copilot, select Setup AI Agent Instructions to generate context files for your workspace. These help Copilot understand your workspace structure and XanoScript conventions. It is highly recommended to generate these for the best possible experience.
Using the Developer MCP? Skip this step — the MCP provides XanoScript context to your AI tools directly.
4

Understand where things live

Xano repos follow a very simple structure. Each primitive lives in its folder, with logic stored inside .xs files.Repository Layout
api/
    authentication/
      api_group.xs
      000_auth_signup_post.xs
      000_auth_login_post.xs
      000_auth_me_get.xs

table/
    000_user.xs
You’ll see other folders for things like functions, AI Agents, and more — for this quick start, we’re just looking at APIs and tables.
5

Open the Signup endpoint and make a change

Navigate to api/authentication/000_auth_signup_post.xsAdd a new function below security.create_auth_token. Order matters — this ensures the email is sent only after signup succeeds. This is our send_email function; just copy and paste the code below.
util.send_email {
  service_provider = "xano"
  subject = "Welcome!"
  message = "Thanks for checking out Xano. We're so glad you're here."
} as $x1
This is what you should be seeing now:getting-started-code-20260112-101408
6

Save and sync to Xano

Save your changes, and then click the option in the XanoScript extension to stage your changes.getting-started-code-20260112-101847Push your changes to Xano. Progress is shown in a notification in the bottom-right corner.getting-started-code-20260112-101647
Prefer the terminal? You can also use xano workspace push and xano workspace pull via the Xano CLI instead of the extension’s UI.
https://mintcdn.com/xano-997cb9ee/How4y2-NUVnTIPUm/images/icons/GitHub_light.svg?fit=max&auto=format&n=How4y2-NUVnTIPUm&q=85&s=7304b7cb9606506e332ca0504388559ehttps://mintcdn.com/xano-997cb9ee/How4y2-NUVnTIPUm/images/icons/GitHub_dark.svg?fit=max&auto=format&n=How4y2-NUVnTIPUm&q=85&s=adb0b7079fcba72618143a25d1fafdff https://mintcdn.com/xano-997cb9ee/l34pjCw6QluB5NGI/images/icons/gitlab.svg?fit=max&auto=format&n=l34pjCw6QluB5NGI&q=85&s=9c4f55426b9ab4cbeabe567578ad364a Git works like it always has — your workspace is plain files on disk. Commit your changes to Git before or after pushing to Xano for full version history, branching, and collaboration.
7

Call the modified API

Send a POST request to your auth/signup endpoint and review the results.
curl -X POST "https://your-xano-instance.xano.io/api:abcD123/auth/signup" \
-H "Content-Type: application/json" \
-d '{
  "name": "John Doe",
  "email": "john.doe@example.com",
  "password": "super_secure_password"
}'
You should receive a welcome email shortly after the request completes.
8

Visually validate the change in Xano

This step is optional, but you can quickly see the parity between your code and the visual representation.Head into Xano, and navigate to your auth/signup API by clicking API in the left-hand nav, choose the Authentication group, and click auth/signup.You should see the Send Email step at the end of the logic, right after the Create Authentication Token step.getting-started-code-20260112-103534