Developer ToolsOfficial

GitHub

Create and manage repositories, issues, pull requests, branches, and code reviews directly from your AI assistant.

Overview

The GitHub MCP server connects an AI assistant to your GitHub account so it can read repositories, open and comment on issues, review and create pull requests, and check CI results. A practical example: ask "summarise the open issues labelled bug in my repo and draft a fix plan for the top three", and the assistant fetches the real issues itself. Note: the original reference package (@modelcontextprotocol/server-github) was archived in 2025. The maintained successor is GitHub's own official server, github/github-mcp-server.

Access is scoped by a GitHub Personal Access Token you create: the server can only see repositories and perform actions that token allows. If you use the hosted remote server, you sign in with OAuth instead and can revoke access from your GitHub settings at any time. Read-only mode is available if you only want browsing.

Instructions

docker run -i --rm -e GITHUB_PERSONAL_ACCESS_TOKEN ghcr.io/github/github-mcp-server

Choose remote or localThe hosted remote server at https://api.githubcopilot.com/mcp/ needs no install and signs you in via OAuth. The local option runs GitHub's official Docker image on your machine and uses a Personal Access Token instead. Remote is simpler; local keeps everything on your computer.
Create a token (local only)On GitHub, go to Settings, Developer settings, Personal access tokens, and create a fine-grained token. Grant it only the repositories and permissions you need, for example read-only on issues and pull requests. Set it as the GITHUB_PERSONAL_ACCESS_TOKEN environment variable.
Connect your clientClaude Code remote: claude mcp add --transport http github https://api.githubcopilot.com/mcp/. Claude Desktop local: add an mcpServers entry with command "docker" and args ["run","-i","--rm","-e","GITHUB_PERSONAL_ACCESS_TOKEN","ghcr.io/github/github-mcp-server"], passing the token in env.
Run a first testAsk: "List my repositories" or "Show the five most recent open issues in <owner>/<repo>." If you get an authentication error, the token is missing, expired, or lacks access to that repository. Approve each tool call prompt as it appears.

Starter recipes

Real tasks you can ask an agent once this server is connected.

Triage this week's issues

Ask the assistant to pull all issues opened in the last seven days, group them into bugs, feature requests, and questions, and draft a short reply for each one for you to review.

Try

Summarise a pull request

Give it a PR number and ask for a plain-English summary of what changed, which files are riskiest, and whether the CI checks passed, before you review the code yourself.

Try

Open an issue from a conversation

After discussing a bug in chat, ask the assistant to file it: it creates a GitHub issue with a clear title, reproduction steps, and labels, in the repository you name.

Try

Install

docker run -i --rm -e GITHUB_PERSONAL_ACCESS_TOKEN ghcr.io/github/github-mcp-server

Runs in a Docker container on your computer. Docker must be installed first.

From the project README · checked 5 Oct 2026

Owner

github

github.com/github/github-mcp-server

Downloads

No download count: pulls on ghcr.io are not public.

Not confirmed: download count (pulls on ghcr.io are not public).

Checked 5 Oct 2026

License

MIT

Official server

Access

It can only reach repositories and actions your token or OAuth grant allows; a fine-grained token scoped to one repo keeps the blast radius small. Reading is low-risk, but the server can also write (create issues, comment, merge), so use read-only mode or minimal scopes if you just want browsing.

GitHub

Starter recipes

Triage this week's issues

Summarise a pull request

Open an issue from a conversation

One AI recipe you can use.Every Monday.

One AI recipe you can use.
Every Monday.