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Github MCP Server

GitHub's official MCP server — repos, issues, PRs, Actions, and security data for your agent, as a free hosted remote or a local Docker server.

open sourcemcp
Updated Jun 11, 2026
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GitHub's official MCP server gives agents the full GitHub surface — repositories, issues, pull requests, Actions, code and secret scanning, Dependabot, discussions, projects — organized into toolsets you can enable selectively, each with a read-only variant. Use the hosted remote at api.githubcopilot.com/mcp with a PAT or OAuth, or run it locally via Docker.

The GitHub MCP Server is GitHub's official bridge between agents and everything on github.com — and the most consequential MCP server for day-to-day development work. Issues become readable context, PRs become something the agent can review and update, Actions logs become debuggable, and security findings become fixable, all without leaving the session.

Highlights

  • Seventeen toolsets, enabled selectively — repos, issues, pull_requests, actions, code_security, secret_protection, dependabot, discussions, projects, and more. Mount only what the task needs.
  • Read-only variants — every toolset has one (append /readonly to the hosted URL); the right default for review-and-triage agents.
  • Hosted or local — the free hosted remote at api.githubcopilot.com/mcp (OAuth 2.1 or PAT), or the same MIT server self-hosted via Docker, including GitHub Enterprise support.
  • Per-toolset URLs — …/mcp/x/issues exposes just the issues toolset; clean composition for narrowly-scoped agents.
  • Copilot handoff — the remote-only create_pull_request_with_copilot tool delegates a task to the Copilot coding agent (Copilot subscription required).

In an AI-assisted workflow

claude mcp add --transport http github https://api.githubcopilot.com/mcp \
  -H "Authorization: Bearer YOUR_GITHUB_PAT"
# then:
# > Triage the open issues labeled "bug", reproduce the top one, and draft a fix PR

The agent reads the issue thread, checks related PRs and CI runs, and works the task with real project state instead of your paraphrase of it.

WARNING

The server can do whatever your token can. Use a fine-grained PAT scoped to the repos and permissions the agent actually needs (the docs' minimum: repo, read:packages, read:org), and prefer read-only toolsets for agents that shouldn't write. Then mirror those limits in Claude Code's own permission rules — mcp__github__* deny rules are your second fence.

Good to know

MIT-licensed, ~30k GitHub stars, and actively developed by GitHub itself — the hosted remote went GA in late 2025 with OAuth 2.1 + PKCE. One Windows-specific gotcha from GitHub's own install guide: if claude mcp add-json fails with "Invalid input", use the --transport http form shown above instead. For driving GitHub from CI rather than a session, the same plumbing powers the Claude Code GitHub Action.

Frequently asked questions

How do I add the GitHub MCP server to Claude Code?
Hosted remote with a PAT: claude mcp add --transport http github https://api.githubcopilot.com/mcp -H "Authorization: Bearer YOUR_GITHUB_PAT". Locally instead: claude mcp add github -e GITHUB_PERSONAL_ACCESS_TOKEN=YOUR_PAT -- docker run -i --rm -e GITHUB_PERSONAL_ACCESS_TOKEN ghcr.io/github/github-mcp-server.
What can the GitHub MCP server do?
Seventeen toolsets cover most of GitHub: repos, issues, pull_requests, actions, code_security, secret_protection, dependabot, discussions, gists, git, labels, notifications, orgs, projects, and more. You scope what's exposed by enabling toolsets per URL or env var, and any toolset can be mounted read-only.
Do I need a Copilot subscription to use it?
No — the server is MIT-licensed and the hosted remote is free with a GitHub account and a PAT. The one exception is the remote-only create_pull_request_with_copilot tool, which delegates work to the Copilot coding agent and requires a Copilot plan.

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