GitHub MCP Server

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.

• Repository Management: Browse and query code, search files, analyze commits, and understand project structure across any repository you have access to.
• Issue & PR Automation: Create, update, and manage issues and pull requests. Let AI help triage bugs, review code changes, and maintain project boards.
• CI/CD & Workflow Intelligence: Monitor GitHub Actions workflow runs, analyze build failures, manage releases, and get insights into your development pipeline.
• Code Analysis: Examine security findings, review Dependabot alerts, understand code patterns, and get comprehensive insights into your codebase.
• Team Collaboration: Access discussions, manage notifications, analyze team activity, and streamline processes for your team.

The remote GitHub MCP Server is hosted by GitHub and provides the easiest method for getting up and running. If your MCP host does not support remote MCP servers, don't worry! You can use the local version of the GitHub MCP Server instead.

Prerequisites

1. A compatible MCP host with remote server support (VS Code 1.101+, Claude Desktop, Cursor, Windsurf, etc.)
2. Any applicable policies enabled

Install in VS Code

For quick installation, use one of the one-click install buttons above. Once you complete that flow, toggle Agent mode (located by the Copilot Chat text input) and the server will start. Make sure you're using VS Code 1.101 or later for remote MCP and OAuth support. Alternatively, to manually configure VS Code, choose the appropriate JSON block from the examples below and add it to your host configuration:

Install in other MCP hosts

• Copilot CLI - Installation guide for GitHub Copilot CLI
• GitHub Copilot in other IDEs - Installation for JetBrains, Visual Studio, Eclipse, and Xcode with GitHub Copilot
• Claude Applications - Installation guide for Claude Desktop and Claude Code CLI
• Codex - Installation guide for OpenAI Codex
• Cursor - Installation guide for Cursor IDE
• Windsurf - Installation guide for Windsurf IDE
• Rovo Dev CLI - Installation guide for Rovo Dev CLI

Note: Each MCP host application needs to configure a GitHub App or OAuth App to support remote access via OAuth. Any host application that supports remote MCP servers should support the remote GitHub server with PAT authentication. Configuration details and support levels vary by host. Make sure to refer to the host application's documentation for more info. Use the upstream README for full manual configuration examples and advanced host-specific setup.

Prerequisites

1. To run the server in a container, you will need to have Docker installed.
2. Once Docker is installed, you will also need to ensure Docker is running. The Docker image is available at ghcr.io/github/github-mcp-server. The image is public; if you get errors on pull, you may have an expired token and need to docker logout ghcr.io.
3. Lastly you will need to Create a GitHub Personal Access Token.

The MCP server can use many of the GitHub APIs, so enable the permissions that you feel comfortable granting your AI tools (to learn more about access tokens, please check out the documentation). > Use the upstream README for PAT handling guidance, host-specific configs, and advanced local install options.