GitHub Actions MCP server for AI agents

The GitHub Actions MCP Server enables AI assistants to manage and operate GitHub Actions workflows. It provides a comprehensive interface for workflow management, including listing, viewing, triggering, canceling, and rerunning workflows with robust error handling and security features.

Installation

Prerequisites

Node.js (v14 or higher)
npm (v6 or higher)
GitHub Personal Access Token with appropriate permissions

Setup Instructions

Unix/Linux/macOS

git clone https://github.com/ko1ynnky/github-actions-mcp-server.git
cd github-actions-mcp-server
npm install
npm run build

Windows

git clone https://github.com/ko1ynnky/github-actions-mcp-server.git
cd github-actions-mcp-server
npm install
npm run build:win

Alternatively, use the included batch file:

run-server.bat [optional-github-token]

Configuration with AI Assistants

Claude Desktop

Add this to your claude_desktop_config.json:

{
  "mcpServers": {
    "github-actions": {
      "command": "node",
      "args": [
        "<path-to-mcp-server>/dist/index.js"
      ],
      "env": {
        "GITHUB_PERSONAL_ACCESS_TOKEN": "<YOUR_TOKEN>"
      }
    }
  }
}

Codeium

Add to your Codeium MCP config file (typically at ~/.codeium/windsurf/mcp_config.json on Unix or %USERPROFILE%\.codeium\windsurf\mcp_config.json on Windows):

{
  "mcpServers": {
    "github-actions": {
      "command": "node",
      "args": [
        "<path-to-mcp-server>/dist/index.js"
      ],
      "env": {
        "GITHUB_PERSONAL_ACCESS_TOKEN": "<YOUR_TOKEN>"
      }
    }
  }
}

Windsurf

Windsurf uses the same configuration format as Codeium.

Available Tools

Workflow Management

List Workflows

const result = await listWorkflows({
  owner: "your-username",
  repo: "your-repository",
  page: 1,
  perPage: 30
});

Get Workflow Details

const result = await getWorkflow({
  owner: "your-username",
  repo: "your-repository",
  workflowId: "ci.yml" // or workflow ID number
});

Get Workflow Usage

const result = await getWorkflowUsage({
  owner: "your-username",
  repo: "your-repository",
  workflowId: "ci.yml"
});

Workflow Runs

List Workflow Runs

const result = await listWorkflowRuns({
  owner: "your-username",
  repo: "your-repository",
  branch: "main",
  status: "completed",
  perPage: 10
});

Get Workflow Run Details

const result = await getWorkflowRun({
  owner: "your-username",
  repo: "your-repository",
  runId: 123456789
});

Get Workflow Run Jobs

const result = await getWorkflowRunJobs({
  owner: "your-username",
  repo: "your-repository",
  runId: 123456789,
  filter: "latest"
});

Workflow Operations

Trigger Workflow

const result = await triggerWorkflow({
  owner: "your-username",
  repo: "your-repository",
  workflowId: "ci.yml",
  ref: "main",
  inputs: {
    environment: "production",
    debug: "true"
  }
});

Cancel Workflow Run

const result = await cancelWorkflowRun({
  owner: "your-username",
  repo: "your-repository",
  runId: 123456789
});

Rerun Workflow

const result = await rerunWorkflow({
  owner: "your-username",
  repo: "your-repository",
  runId: 123456789
});

Troubleshooting

Common Issues

Authentication Errors
- Verify your GitHub token has the correct permissions
- Ensure the token is properly set as an environment variable
Rate Limiting
- The server implements rate limiting to prevent hitting GitHub API limits
- If encountering rate limit errors, reduce request frequency
Windows-Specific Issues
- If encountering build errors, ensure TypeScript is installed: npm install -g typescript
- For permission issues, run commands in a prompt with appropriate permissions
- Verify Node.js compatibility with node --version

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-actions" '{"command":"node","args":["<path-to-mcp-server>/dist/index.js"],"env":{"GITHUB_PERSONAL_ACCESS_TOKEN":"<YOUR_TOKEN>"}}'

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-actions": {
            "command": "node",
            "args": [
                "<path-to-mcp-server>/dist/index.js"
            ],
            "env": {
                "GITHUB_PERSONAL_ACCESS_TOKEN": "<YOUR_TOKEN>"
            }
        }
    }
}

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-actions": {
            "command": "node",
            "args": [
                "<path-to-mcp-server>/dist/index.js"
            ],
            "env": {
                "GITHUB_PERSONAL_ACCESS_TOKEN": "<YOUR_TOKEN>"
            }
        }
    }
}

3. Restart Claude Desktop for the changes to take effect