Skip to content
appsgit

GitHub

GitHub is an MCP server that connects AI tools directly to GitHub's platform. This gives AI agents, assistants, and chatbots the ability to read repositories and code files, manage issues and PRs, analyze code, and automate… It has 33,414 GitHub stars, is released under the MIT license and runs locally with docker run -i --rm -e GITHUB_PERSONAL_ACCESS_TOKEN ghcr.io/github/github-mcp-server:2.0.0.

github.com/github/github-mcp-server (opens in a new tab)

Install GitHub

Generated from the server's MCP registry entry. Replace your-value with your own values.

Claude Desktop

claude_desktop_config.json
{
  "mcpServers": {
    "github": {
      "command": "docker",
      "args": [
        "run",
        "-i",
        "--rm",
        "-e",
        "GITHUB_PERSONAL_ACCESS_TOKEN",
        "ghcr.io/github/github-mcp-server:2.0.0"
      ],
      "env": {
        "GITHUB_PERSONAL_ACCESS_TOKEN": "your-value"
      }
    }
  }
}

Settings > Developer > Edit Config. macOS: ~/Library/Application Support/Claude/, Windows: %APPDATA%\Claude\. Restart Claude Desktop afterwards.

Claude Code

claude mcp add --env GITHUB_PERSONAL_ACCESS_TOKEN=your-value --transport stdio github -- docker run -i --rm -e GITHUB_PERSONAL_ACCESS_TOKEN ghcr.io/github/github-mcp-server:2.0.0

Cursor

.cursor/mcp.json
{
  "mcpServers": {
    "github": {
      "type": "stdio",
      "command": "docker",
      "args": [
        "run",
        "-i",
        "--rm",
        "-e",
        "GITHUB_PERSONAL_ACCESS_TOKEN",
        "ghcr.io/github/github-mcp-server:2.0.0"
      ],
      "env": {
        "GITHUB_PERSONAL_ACCESS_TOKEN": "your-value"
      }
    }
  }
}

Project file; use ~/.cursor/mcp.json to enable it in every project.

VS Code

.vscode/mcp.json
{
  "inputs": [
    {
      "type": "promptString",
      "id": "github_personal_access_token",
      "description": "GITHUB_PERSONAL_ACCESS_TOKEN",
      "password": true
    }
  ],
  "servers": {
    "github": {
      "type": "stdio",
      "command": "docker",
      "args": [
        "run",
        "-i",
        "--rm",
        "-e",
        "GITHUB_PERSONAL_ACCESS_TOKEN",
        "ghcr.io/github/github-mcp-server:2.0.0"
      ],
      "env": {
        "GITHUB_PERSONAL_ACCESS_TOKEN": "${input:github_personal_access_token}"
      }
    }
  }
}

Claude Code (remote)

claude mcp add --transport http github "https://api.githubcopilot.com/mcp/"

The same server is also hosted as a remote MCP endpoint, so nothing runs on your machine.

Config formats checked against the official docs on Oct 7, 2026: modelcontextprotocol.io (opens in a new tab), code.claude.com (opens in a new tab), cursor.com (opens in a new tab), code.visualstudio.com (opens in a new tab).

Environment variables

Variables the server reads at startup.

NameRequiredDescription
GITHUB_PERSONAL_ACCESS_TOKENsecretNoOptional GitHub Personal Access Token. Omit to log in with OAuth on first use.

Tools (40)

Parsed from the Tools section of the README; check the repository for the current list.

  • actions_get

    Get details of GitHub Actions resources (workflows, workflow runs, jobs, and artifacts)

  • method

    The method to execute (string, required)

  • owner

    Repository owner (string, required)

  • repo

    Repository name (string, required)

  • resource_id

    The unique identifier of the resource. This will vary based on the "method" provided, so ensure you provide the…

  • actions_list

    List GitHub Actions workflows in a repository

  • page

    Page number for pagination (default: 1) (number, optional)

  • workflow_jobs_filter

    Filters for workflow jobs. ONLY used when method is 'listworkflowjobs' (object, optional)

  • workflow_runs_filter

    Filters for workflow runs. ONLY used when method is 'listworkflowruns' (object, optional)

  • actions_run_trigger

    Trigger GitHub Actions workflow actions

  • inputs

    Inputs the workflow accepts. Only used for 'run_workflow' method. (object, optional)

  • run_id

    The ID of the workflow run. Required for all methods except 'run_workflow'. (number, optional)

  • workflow_id

    The workflow ID (numeric) or workflow file name (e.g., main.yml, ci.yaml). Required for 'run_workflow' method.

  • get_job_logs

    Get GitHub Actions workflow job logs

  • failed_only

    When true, gets logs for all failed jobs in the workflow run specified by runid. Requires runid to be provided.

  • job_id

    The unique identifier of the workflow job. Required when getting logs for a single job. (number, optional)

  • return_content

    Returns actual log content instead of URLs (boolean, optional)

  • tail_lines

    Number of lines to return from the end of the log (number, optional)

  • get_code_quality_finding

    Get code quality finding

  • get_code_scanning_alert

    Get code scanning alert

  • list_code_scanning_alerts

    List code scanning alerts

  • severity

    Filter code scanning alerts by severity (string, optional)

  • state

    Filter code scanning alerts by state. Defaults to open (string, optional)

  • tool_name

    The name of the tool used for code scanning. (string, optional)

  • get_me

    Get my user profile

  • get_team_members

    Get team members

  • team_slug

    Team slug (string, required)

  • get_teams

    Get teams

  • user

    Username to get teams for. If not provided, uses the authenticated user. (string, optional)

  • ui_get

    Get UI data

  • assign_copilot_to_issue

    Assign Copilot to issue

  • base_ref

    Git reference (e.g., branch) that the agent will start its work from.

  • custom_instructions

    Optional custom instructions to guide the agent beyond the issue body.

  • issue_number

    Issue number (number, required)

  • request_copilot_review

    Request Copilot review

  • assign_copilot_to_issue_with_intent

    Assign Copilot to issue with intent

  • confidence

    How confident you are in this choice. 'HIGH' for clear signal or explicit user request, 'MEDIUM' for reasonable…

  • is_suggestion

    If true, records a pending Copilot assignment intent rather than launching the agent.

  • rationale

    One concise sentence explaining what specifically about the issue led to choosing Copilot.

  • get_dependabot_alert

    Get dependabot alert

About GitHub

The GitHub MCP Server connects AI tools directly to GitHub's platform. This gives AI agents, assistants, and chatbots the ability to read repositories and code files, manage issues and PRs, analyze code, and automate workflows. All through natural language interactions.

  • github
  • mcp
  • mcp-server

FAQ

GitHub FAQ

Still curious? Email info@appsgit.com.

What is GitHub?

GitHub is an MCP server that connects AI tools directly to GitHub's platform. This gives AI agents, assistants, and chatbots the ability to read repositories and code files, manage issues and PRs, analyze code, and automate… It has 33,414 GitHub stars, is released under the MIT license and runs locally with docker run -i --rm -e GITHUB_PERSONAL_ACCESS_TOKEN ghcr.io/github/github-mcp-server:2.0.0. The source code is at github.com/github/github-mcp-server.

How do I install the GitHub MCP server?

Add the command docker run -i --rm -e GITHUB_PERSONAL_ACCESS_TOKEN ghcr.io/github/github-mcp-server:2.0.0 to your MCP client: put it in claude_desktop_config.json for Claude Desktop, run claude mcp add for Claude Code, or add it to .cursor/mcp.json (Cursor) or .vscode/mcp.json (VS Code). The snippets on this page are ready to paste.

Is GitHub free?

The server is open source under the MIT license, so running it is free. It needs credentials (GITHUB_PERSONAL_ACCESS_TOKEN) for the service it connects to, which may require a paid account.

Is GitHub actively maintained?

The most recent commit was on Oct 6, 2026. The latest release is v2.0.0, published Oct 6, 2026. appsgit only lists MCP servers with a commit in the last six months and re-checks every server daily.