GitHub MCP server for AI agents

The GitHub MCP Server provides seamless integration with GitHub APIs through the Model Context Protocol (MCP), enabling advanced automation and interaction capabilities for developers and tools.

Installation Options

Prerequisites

Docker installed for container-based deployment
GitHub Personal Access Token with appropriate permissions for the GitHub APIs you plan to use

Using VS Code

For quick installation, you can use the one-click install buttons available in VS Code or VS Code Insiders.

For manual installation, add the following configuration to your VS Code User Settings (JSON):

{
  "mcp": {
    "inputs": [
      {
        "type": "promptString",
        "id": "github_token",
        "description": "GitHub Personal Access Token",
        "password": true
      }
    ],
    "servers": {
      "github": {
        "command": "docker",
        "args": [
          "run",
          "-i",
          "--rm",
          "-e",
          "GITHUB_PERSONAL_ACCESS_TOKEN",
          "ghcr.io/github/github-mcp-server"
        ],
        "env": {
          "GITHUB_PERSONAL_ACCESS_TOKEN": "${input:github_token}"
        }
      }
    }
  }
}

To access the User Settings in VS Code, press Ctrl + Shift + P and type Preferences: Open User Settings (JSON).

Alternatively, you can add the configuration to .vscode/mcp.json in your workspace to share with others (omit the mcp key in this case).

Using Claude Desktop

Add the following configuration to Claude Desktop:

{
  "mcpServers": {
    "github": {
      "command": "docker",
      "args": [
        "run",
        "-i",
        "--rm",
        "-e",
        "GITHUB_PERSONAL_ACCESS_TOKEN",
        "ghcr.io/github/github-mcp-server"
      ],
      "env": {
        "GITHUB_PERSONAL_ACCESS_TOKEN": "<YOUR_TOKEN>"
      }
    }
  }
}

Building from Source

If you don't have Docker, you can build the binary using Go:

# Navigate to the project directory and build
go build ./cmd/github-mcp-server

# Run the server with your GitHub token
GITHUB_PERSONAL_ACCESS_TOKEN=your_token_here ./github-mcp-server stdio

Configuration Options

GitHub Enterprise Server

For GitHub Enterprise Server users:

# Using command line flag
./github-mcp-server --gh-host your-enterprise-server.com

# Or using environment variable
GH_HOST=your-enterprise-server.com ./github-mcp-server

Customizing Tool Descriptions

You can override tool descriptions by creating a github-mcp-server-config.json file:

{
  "TOOL_ADD_ISSUE_COMMENT_DESCRIPTION": "an alternative description",
  "TOOL_CREATE_BRANCH_DESCRIPTION": "Create a new branch in a GitHub repository"
}

Export current translations:

./github-mcp-server --export-translations

You can also use environment variables with the prefix GITHUB_MCP_:

export GITHUB_MCP_TOOL_ADD_ISSUE_COMMENT_DESCRIPTION="an alternative description"

Available Tools

Issue Management

get_issue - Gets the contents of an issue within a repository
get_issue_comments - Get comments for a GitHub issue
create_issue - Create a new issue in a GitHub repository
add_issue_comment - Add a comment to an issue
list_issues - List and filter repository issues
update_issue - Update an existing issue in a GitHub repository
search_issues - Search for issues and pull requests

Pull Request Operations

get_pull_request - Get details of a specific pull request
list_pull_requests - List and filter repository pull requests
merge_pull_request - Merge a pull request
get_pull_request_files - Get the list of files changed in a pull request
get_pull_request_status - Get the combined status of all status checks for a pull request
update_pull_request_branch - Update a pull request branch with the latest changes from the base branch
get_pull_request_comments - Get the review comments on a pull request
get_pull_request_reviews - Get the reviews on a pull request
create_pull_request_review - Create a review on a pull request review
create_pull_request - Create a new pull request

Repository Management

create_or_update_file - Create or update a single file in a repository
push_files - Push multiple files in a single commit
search_repositories - Search for GitHub repositories
create_repository - Create a new GitHub repository
get_file_contents - Get contents of a file or directory
fork_repository - Fork a repository
create_branch - Create a new branch
list_commits - Gets commits of a branch in a repository

Search Functionality

search_code - Search for code across GitHub repositories
search_users - Search for GitHub users

Code Scanning

get_code_scanning_alert - Get a code scanning alert
list_code_scanning_alerts - List code scanning alerts for a repository

Resource Access

The server provides access to repository content through resource URLs:

Repository Content Resources

Basic repository content: repo://{owner}/{repo}/contents{/path*}
Branch-specific content: repo://{owner}/{repo}/refs/heads/{branch}/contents{/path*}
Commit-specific content: repo://{owner}/{repo}/sha/{sha}/contents{/path*}
Tag-specific content: repo://{owner}/{repo}/refs/tags/{tag}/contents{/path*}
Pull request content: repo://{owner}/{repo}/refs/pull/{prNumber}/head/contents{/path*}

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" '{"command":"docker","args":["run","-i","--rm","-e","GITHUB_PERSONAL_ACCESS_TOKEN","ghcr.io/github/github-mcp-server"],"env":{"GITHUB_PERSONAL_ACCESS_TOKEN":"${input:github_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": {
            "command": "docker",
            "args": [
                "run",
                "-i",
                "--rm",
                "-e",
                "GITHUB_PERSONAL_ACCESS_TOKEN",
                "ghcr.io/github/github-mcp-server"
            ],
            "env": {
                "GITHUB_PERSONAL_ACCESS_TOKEN": "${input:github_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": {
            "command": "docker",
            "args": [
                "run",
                "-i",
                "--rm",
                "-e",
                "GITHUB_PERSONAL_ACCESS_TOKEN",
                "ghcr.io/github/github-mcp-server"
            ],
            "env": {
                "GITHUB_PERSONAL_ACCESS_TOKEN": "${input:github_token}"
            }
        }
    }
}

3. Restart Claude Desktop for the changes to take effect

GitHub MCP server