Speaker A
In today's video, I'm going to be showing you exactly how to build a Notion MCP server in VS Code. And this server is going to do two cool things. One, we're going to use AI to write content in a Notion page. And the second thing is
Step-by-step tutorial on setting up a Notion MCP server using VS Code and GitHub Copilot to automate content creation and review.
Key Takeaways
- Notion MCP servers can be set up easily in VS Code with GitHub Copilot for AI-driven content management.
- Authorization tokens and integration capabilities must be properly configured for secure and functional access.
- The MCP server enables both content creation and automated review with actionable AI comments.
- This setup supports various collaborative and automation workflows in Notion.
- Exploring the Notion directory expands the range of MCP server actions available.
Summary
- Introduction to building a Notion MCP server in VS Code with AI capabilities.
- Explanation of MCP server architecture involving GitHub Copilot chat, MCP client, and Notion MCP server.
- Instructions to create and configure MCP.json file with authorization bearer token from Notion integrations.
- Guide to setting integration capabilities for reading, updating, inserting content, and adding comments in Notion.
- Demonstration of starting the MCP server in VS Code and interacting with it via GitHub Copilot chat.
- Example of AI generating a detailed blog post inside a Notion page using a prompt.
- Using the MCP server to review content and drop comments with suggestions for improvement.
- Overview of potential use cases like team documentation review, blog post automation, and meeting notes summarization.
- Reference to Notion directory for exploring available MCP server actions such as creating pages and updating schemas.
- Encouragement to engage with the video through comments, likes, and subscriptions.
Chapters
- 00:00Introduction to Notion MCP Server and AI Capabilities
- 00:27Background on MCPs and Previous Video Reference
- 00:49MCP Server Architecture Overview
- 01:31Setting Up MCP.json and Notion Integration
- 02:26Configuring Integration Capabilities and Access
- 03:35Starting the MCP Server in VS Code
- 04:01Using GitHub Copilot to Create Content in Notion
- 04:47Allowing Permissions for Copilot Chat
- 05:16Using MCP Server to Drop Comments and Review Content
- 06:19Reviewing AI Comments in Notion
Full Transcript — Download SRT & Markdown
Speaker A
we're going to use AI to also review this content and drop comments on this page. If you've been wondering how to get started with MCP servers, this is your step-by-step guide. And if you're not familiar with the concept of MCPs,
Speaker A
then pause this video because I did a breakdown on what MCPs are and their core components in a previous video. So you may want to check that out first.
Speaker A
The link is in the description box below. Let's get started. Here's the structure of what we're going to be building. The GitHub Copilot chat acts as the host when it wants to work with Notion. So it sends a request to the MCP
Speaker A
client and then that client uses the MCP protocol to communicate with the Notion MCP server and then that server then talks with the Notion service or the external application to carry out the AI instruction. So going over to our code,
Speaker A
let's create that in our VS Code. I'm using VS Code. Create a .vscode folder inside your project at the root. So I'm going to create a VS Code folder and within this you want to create an MCP.json file. So create it here.
Speaker A
Within this file, this is where you're going to be setting up the Notion MCP server. So go over to the Notion MCP server documentation.
Speaker A
So right here we have the code we need to add to our MCP.json file. Copy it and then paste it in here. We'll make a couple of changes. Instead of MCP servers, we're going to make this servers.
Speaker A
And we also need to add in our authorization bearer token. So we can grab this from Notion. So go over to your Notion integrations which is right here. The link is notion.so/profile/integrations right here. You want to
Speaker A
create a new integration. So click on the plus icon and add in the integration name. I'm just going to call this MCP.
Speaker A
The associated workspace is this for shading. My name internal every other thing stays the same. So we save this.
Speaker A
And now we can properly configure our integration settings. So this internal integration secret is what you want to focus on. This is the Notion bearer token. So I'm just going to copy this. We'll be pasting it shortly in our VS Code. But another
Speaker A
thing you want to do is to give this MCP some capabilities. So what are the things you want it to have access to? Do you want it to read content, update content, insert content? Remember, we also want it to add comments. So I'm
Speaker A
going to check the read comments and insert comments because I want my MCP server to be able to do this. Then in terms of the access that is what kind of pages should it have access to. This is
Speaker A
where you want to select the pages. So I already have created this page in Notion. It's called MCP.
Speaker A
Notion MCP. That's it. It's already added and now I can update my access. [Music] This is the page right here that we granted access to. So, let's go back to VS Code to paste in our Notion bearer token. So, I'm just going to take out
Speaker A
this and paste it in here. You notice that it shows the start button that allows us to start the server. So, click on it to start your MCP server.
Speaker A
Now, our server is running and let's see the server in action. I'm going to be using the GitHub Copilot chat here as my host. So, this will help me interact with my MCP server. So, the first thing I want to do is to ask it to create an
Speaker A
article in Notion. I already have my prompt here. I said inside the Notion MCP page, create a detailed blog titled "How to Lose Weight While Working from Home." It should have four paragraphs.
Speaker A
You can see my model. I'm using the Claude Zunet four. That's the model. So, send this to the Copilot.
Speaker A
[Music] It's asking for permissions here. So you can either continue by allowing in this session in this workspace or always allow. So I'm going to click or allow in this workspace.
Speaker A
[Music] Now within seconds we'll get a new article inside our Notion page that is titled "How to Lose Weight While Working from Home."
Speaker A
And just like that, AI has created a long-form content for us that is titled "How to Lose Weight While Working from Home." And it did all of this without you lifting a finger. So let's check out this blog post in Notion.
Speaker A
"How to Lose Weight While Working from Home." Perfect. AI has created this detailed article for you and you can then take this blog and publish it to your website blog. Now imagine you're working in a team and someone already
Speaker A
has this article ready for you to review. You can also use the MCP server to drop comments on this article. So let's go back to VS Code to see how we can even make this article much better.
Speaker A
So I'm going to drop this prompt that says read the page "How to Lose Weight While Working from Home" in Notion and leave a comment suggesting how to make the intro more engaging. To send this in.
Speaker A
This MCP server has done its work again and it has gone into our Notion document to add comments on how we can improve the introduction. So, let's go back to Notion to check out these comments that it has dropped for us. So, these are the
Speaker A
comments. Great blog post. Here are some suggestions to make the introduction more engaging. Start with a relatable scenario. Add compelling statistics. Use a question hook. Start with a thought-provoking question. What if I told you that your home office could be
Speaker A
your most powerful weight loss tool? H, that sounds interesting. Create urgency and promise a transformation. So, these changes could make readers feel immediately connected and motivated to continue reading. This is the power of an MCP server. And with this Notion MCP
Speaker A
server that we just created, you can use it to review documentation in your team, write blog posts, automate content creation end to end, and even summarize meeting notes. The use cases are endless. If you're interested in knowing more about the actions that this Notion
Speaker A
MCP server can take, you want to check out the Notion directory here. It has different available actions. You can create a Notion page, delete a blog, fetch comment, fetch database up until update database schema. So feel free to
Speaker A
check out the available actions. If you found this video helpful, don't forget to drop a comment, like, and subscribe to my channel. Till next time, I'll see you in another one. Bye.
Topics:Notion MCP serverVS CodeGitHub CopilotAI content creationNotion integrationsMCP protocolautomationcontent reviewAI commentstutorial
