Git Repo Browser MCP server

This Node.js MCP Git Repo Browser provides a Model Context Protocol (MCP) server that allows you to browse Git repositories, view their directory structure, and access important files through a standardized interface.

Installation Requirements

Before installing, ensure your system meets these requirements:

• Node.js 14.x or higher
• Git installed on your system

Setting Up the Server

Install the Server

git clone <repository-url>
cd mcp-git-repo-browser
npm install

Configure MCP Settings

Add the following configuration to your MCP settings file:

{
    "mcpServers": {
        "mcp-git-repo-browser": {
            "command": "node",
            "args": ["/path/to/mcp-git-repo-browser/src/index.js"]
        }
    }
}

Make sure to replace /path/to/mcp-git-repo-browser with the actual path where you cloned the repository.

Using the Server

Starting the Server

The server runs on stdio, making it compatible with MCP clients:

node src/index.js

Available Tools

The server provides two main functionalities:

1. Browse Repository Directory Structure

The git_directory_structure tool returns a tree-like representation of a repository's structure.

Input: Repository URL
Output: ASCII tree representation of the repository structure

2. Access Important Repository Files

The git_read_important_files tool reads and returns the contents of specified files in a repository.

Input: Repository URL and list of file paths
Output: Dictionary mapping file paths to their contents

Implementation Features

• Creates deterministic temporary directories based on repository URL hashes
• Reuses cloned repositories when possible for efficiency
• Implements clean error handling and resource cleanup
• Uses simple-git for Git repository operations

The server automatically handles the Git operations in the background, providing a clean interface for accessing repository information through the MCP protocol.

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 "mcp-git-repo-browser" '{"command":"node","args":["/path/to/mcp-git-repo-browser/src/index.js"]}'

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": {
        "mcp-git-repo-browser": {
            "command": "node",
            "args": [
                "/path/to/mcp-git-repo-browser/src/index.js"
            ]
        }
    }
}

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": {
        "mcp-git-repo-browser": {
            "command": "node",
            "args": [
                "/path/to/mcp-git-repo-browser/src/index.js"
            ]
        }
    }
}

3. Restart Claude Desktop for the changes to take effect