GitHub MCP server

The Zed GitHub Context Server allows the Zed AI assistant to access and understand your GitHub repositories, providing relevant context for more informed AI assistance. This server acts as a bridge between your GitHub account and the Zed editor.

Installation and Setup

Prerequisites

Before using the GitHub Context Server, you'll need:

1. The Zed editor installed on your system
2. A GitHub account
3. A GitHub personal access token

Configuring the Server

To enable the GitHub Context Server, you need to add your GitHub personal access token to your Zed settings:

1. Open Zed's settings.json file
2. Add the following configuration:

{
  "context_servers": {
    "github-context-server": {
      "settings": {
        "github_personal_access_token": "your_personal_access_token_here"
      }
    }
  }
}

3. Replace your_personal_access_token_here with your actual GitHub personal access token

Usage

Once configured, the GitHub Context Server automatically provides your Zed AI assistant with access to your GitHub repositories. This means:

• The AI can reference your GitHub projects when answering questions
• Code suggestions will be more aligned with your repository's style and patterns
• The assistant can provide more relevant help based on your GitHub project's context

No additional commands are needed to activate the server - it works seamlessly in the background once properly configured.

Troubleshooting

Common Issues

• Token Authentication Errors: Ensure your GitHub personal access token has the necessary repository access permissions
• Context Not Loading: Restart Zed after adding the configuration to ensure the context server initializes properly

If you encounter persistent issues, verify that your settings.json file is properly formatted and that the token is valid.

How to install this MCP server

For Claude Code

To add this MCP server to Claude Code, run this command in your terminal:

claude mcp add-json "github-context-server" '{"command":"npx","args":["-y","zed-github-mcp"]}'

See the official Claude Code MCP documentation for more details.

For Cursor

There are two ways to add an MCP server to Cursor. The most common way is to add the server globally in the ~/.cursor/mcp.json file so that it is available in all of your projects.

If you only need the server in a single project, you can add it to the project instead by creating or adding it to the .cursor/mcp.json file.

Adding an MCP server to Cursor globally

To add a global MCP server go to Cursor Settings > Tools & Integrations and click "New MCP Server".

When you click that button the ~/.cursor/mcp.json file will be opened and you can add your server like this:

{
    "mcpServers": {
        "github-context-server": {
            "command": "npx",
            "args": [
                "-y",
                "zed-github-mcp"
            ]
        }
    }
}

Adding an MCP server to a project

To add an MCP server to a project you can create a new .cursor/mcp.json file or add it to the existing one. This will look exactly the same as the global MCP server example above.

How to use the MCP server

Once the server is installed, you might need to head back to Settings > MCP and click the refresh button.

The Cursor agent will then be able to see the available tools the added MCP server has available and will call them when it needs to.

You can also explicitly ask the agent to use the tool by mentioning the tool name and describing what the function does.

For Claude Desktop

To add this MCP server to Claude Desktop:

1. Find your configuration file:

• macOS: ~/Library/Application Support/Claude/claude_desktop_config.json
• Windows: %APPDATA%\Claude\claude_desktop_config.json
• Linux: ~/.config/Claude/claude_desktop_config.json

2. Add this to your configuration file:

{
    "mcpServers": {
        "github-context-server": {
            "command": "npx",
            "args": [
                "-y",
                "zed-github-mcp"
            ]
        }
    }
}

3. Restart Claude Desktop for the changes to take effect