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Getting started

This page takes you from nothing to your first crash dump analysis. It uses VS Code with GitHub Copilot and uvx, which is the quickest path. Other clients work the same way once the server is configured, see Client configuration.

1. Check the prerequisites

You need a 64-bit Windows machine with:

  • Debugging Tools for Windows, which ships cdb.exe. The simplest install is WinDbg from the Microsoft Store:

    winget install 9PGJGD53TN86 --accept-source-agreements --accept-package-agreements

    Alternatively install the Windows SDK or WDK and tick Debugging Tools for Windows. The server auto-detects cdb.exe in the usual locations; if yours is elsewhere, you will pass --cdb-path later.

  • uv, a fast Python package manager that also provides uvx:

    powershell -ExecutionPolicy ByPass -c "irm https://astral.sh/uv/install.ps1 | iex"

    Prefer plain Python? Install Python 3.10+ instead and use pip, see Client configuration.

  • VS Code with the GitHub Copilot extension, and MCP enabled (step 3).

Quick sanity check

Confirm cdb.exe is reachable before you start:

cdb.exe -version

If that fails, note the full path to cdb.exe and pass it with --cdb-path.

2. Configure the server in VS Code

Create .vscode/mcp.json in your workspace. With uvx, there is nothing to install first, it fetches and runs the server on demand:

.vscode/mcp.json
{
    "servers": {
        "mcp_windbg": {
            "type": "stdio",
            "command": "uvx",
            "args": [
                "--from",
                "git+https://github.com/svnscha/mcp-windbg",
                "mcp-windbg"
            ],
            "env": {
                "_NT_SYMBOL_PATH": "SRV*C:\\Symbols*https://msdl.microsoft.com/download/symbols"
            }
        }
    }
}

The _NT_SYMBOL_PATH line points the debugger at the Microsoft symbol server (cached under C:\Symbols), which is what makes stack traces readable. Adjust as needed, see Command-line options for symbol and CDB path handling.

Escape backslashes in JSON

JSON treats \ as an escape character. Write Windows paths with doubled backslashes (C:\\Symbols) or forward slashes.

3. Enable MCP in Copilot

  1. Open VS Code settings (Ctrl+,).
  2. Search for MCP.
  3. Enable Model Context Protocol in Copilot Chat.
  4. Restart VS Code so it picks up .vscode/mcp.json.

4. Analyze your first dump

Open Copilot Chat (agent mode) and ask, in plain language:

Analyze the crash dump at C:\dumps\app.dmp

Copilot calls the open_windbg_dump tool, which runs the common triage commands and returns the crash information, the !analyze -v result, the stack trace, modules, and threads. From there you keep asking:

Show the call stack with kb and explain the access violation
Run .ecxr then u to disassemble around the fault
Check the heap around 0x1f2a0040 with !heap -p -a 0x1f2a0040

Each request becomes a run_windbg_cmd call against the same open session. When you are done, ask it to close the session to free the cdb.exe process:

Close the crash dump session for C:\dumps\app.dmp

Where to go next