Best for
- Development teams that want to handle issues, files, and pull requests from a coding assistant
- Maintainers automating repetitive GitHub workflows
G
66FMRS · C
GitHub workflow coverage is broad, but write-capable tokens need strict scoping; maintenance and reliability remain conservative until the current upstream implementation is runtime-verified.
This server wraps the GitHub REST and GraphQL APIs so models can update files, work with issues, create pull requests, and inspect repository history from a conversation. It reduces context switching during everyday development and collaboration.
Tools
create_or_update_file
Create a new repository file or update an existing one
search_repositories
Search repositories by keyword
create_issue
Create a new issue
create_pull_request
Open a pull request
list_commits
List commit history for a branch
merge_pull_request
Merge an approved pull request
Setup
Create a GitHub Personal Access Token with the repository permissions you need, then pass it through the configured environment variable.
claude_desktop_config.json
{
"mcpServers": {
"github": {
"command": "npx",
"args": ["-y", "@modelcontextprotocol/server-github"],
"env": {
"GITHUB_PERSONAL_ACCESS_TOKEN": "ghp_xxxxxxxxxxxx"
}
}
}
}
Fit and risk
Not for
- Environments that cannot provide a GitHub token
- Organizations requiring every repository write to be confirmed manually in GitHub's UI
Required permissions
- A GitHub Personal Access Token
- Least-privilege Contents, Issues, or Pull requests access for the target repositories
Risks and side effects
- A leaked high-privilege token can modify repository code and issues
- The model can create incorrect branches, issues, or pull requests; retain human confirmation for writes
Troubleshooting
- Confirm the token is active and can access the target repository
- Check whether organization SSO authorization is required
- For 403 responses, review fine-grained token repository and permission scopes
Use cases
Create a fix branch and open a pull request
Triage and respond to a backlog of issues
Generate a weekly summary of repository commits
Supported clients
Claude DesktopFull support
CursorFull support
ClineFull support
VS CodePartial support