GitHub MCP Server | Andrew Borden-Chisholm

Install

Claude Code (remote, GitHub-hosted)

claude mcp add-json github '{"type":"http","url":"https://api.githubcopilot.com/mcp","headers":{"Authorization":"Bearer YOUR_GITHUB_PAT"}}'

For Claude Code 2.1.1 and newer. For read-only tools, use https://api.githubcopilot.com/mcp/readonly instead.

Claude Code (local, Docker)

claude mcp add github -e GITHUB_OAUTH_CALLBACK_PORT=8085 -- docker run -i --rm -p 127.0.0.1:8085:8085 -e GITHUB_OAUTH_CALLBACK_PORT ghcr.io/github/github-mcp-server

Signs in with OAuth in the browser on first use and keeps the token in memory.

GitHub’s own MCP server. It gives an agent the GitHub API as tools: browse and search code, open and review pull requests, triage issues, read Actions logs and look at Dependabot and code-scanning alerts. GitHub hosts one version for you, and you can also run it locally in Docker or as a binary.

When to use it

You want an agent to open a PR, answer review comments, or work out why a CI run failed.
You triage issues across several repos and want them summarized or labeled.
You want code search across repos you can access, not only the one that’s checked out.

Before you install

The server can do anything your token can do. Use a fine-grained token scoped to the repos you need, or the /readonly URL (there’s one for each toolset).
Enable only the toolsets you need (--toolsets locally, /x/<toolset> URLs remotely). Fewer tools means less context used and fewer ways to go wrong.
Issue and PR text from public repos can contain prompt injection. --lockdown-mode hides content from authors without push access. GitHub says it is a best-effort filter, not a security boundary.