GitHub MCP server for AI agents

The GitHub MCP Server implements the Model Context Protocol for GitHub integration, enabling interaction with GitHub's API through various tools. It provides functionality for repository creation, content management, and user information retrieval with proper error handling and type safety.

Prerequisites

Node.js (v18 or higher)
npm (v8 or higher)
PowerShell (for Windows installation)
GitHub Personal Access Token with repo scope

Installation

Windows Automatic Installation

Clone the repository:

git clone https://github.com/oghenetejiriorukpegmail/github-mcp.git

Run the installation script:

.\install.ps1

This script will automatically create directories, install dependencies, build the TypeScript code, and configure MCP settings.

Manual Installation

Create the MCP directory:

mkdir -p "$env:APPDATA\Roo-Code\MCP\github-mcp"

Clone the repository into that directory:

git clone https://github.com/oghenetejiriorukpegmail/github-mcp.git "$env:APPDATA\Roo-Code\MCP\github-mcp"

Install dependencies:

cd "$env:APPDATA\Roo-Code\MCP\github-mcp"
npm install

Build the TypeScript code:

npm run build

Add the server configuration to your MCP settings file located at: %APPDATA%\Code\User\globalStorage\rooveterinaryinc.roo-cline\settings\cline_mcp_settings.json

{
  "mcpServers": {
    "github": {
      "command": "node",
      "args": [
        "%APPDATA%\Roo-Code\MCP\github-mcp\build\index.js"
      ],
      "env": {
        "GITHUB_TOKEN": "your-github-token-here"
      },
      "disabled": false,
      "alwaysAllow": []
    }
  }
}

Make sure to replace "your-github-token-here" with your actual GitHub Personal Access Token.

Available Tools

The MCP server provides several tools for GitHub integration:

Get User Information

Use the get_user tool to retrieve GitHub user information:

{
  "username": "octocat"
}

Create Repository

Use the create_repo tool to create a new GitHub repository:

{
  "repo_name": "my-new-repo",
  "description": "A new repository",
  "private": false
}

Push Content to Repository

Use the push_to_repo tool to push content to a GitHub repository:

{
  "repo_name": "my-repo",
  "file_path": "docs/README.md",
  "content": "# My Project\nThis is a test file.",
  "message": "Add README file"
}

These tools can be invoked through the MCP protocol to interact with GitHub without directly using the GitHub API.

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":"node","args":["%APPDATA%\\Roo-Code\\MCP\\github-mcp\\build\\index.js"],"env":{"GITHUB_TOKEN":"your-github-token-here"},"disabled":false,"alwaysAllow":[]}'

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": "node",
            "args": [
                "%APPDATA%\\Roo-Code\\MCP\\github-mcp\\build\\index.js"
            ],
            "env": {
                "GITHUB_TOKEN": "your-github-token-here"
            },
            "disabled": false,
            "alwaysAllow": []
        }
    }
}

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": "node",
            "args": [
                "%APPDATA%\\Roo-Code\\MCP\\github-mcp\\build\\index.js"
            ],
            "env": {
                "GITHUB_TOKEN": "your-github-token-here"
            },
            "disabled": false,
            "alwaysAllow": []
        }
    }
}

3. Restart Claude Desktop for the changes to take effect