GitHub MCP Server

What it does

• Full repo operations: get_file_contents, create_or_update_file, push_files, create_branch, create_repository
• Issue + PR workflow: list / create / update / close issues, list / create / merge pull requests with reviews
• Code search across the org with the search_code / search_issues / search_pull_requests tools
• Actions: list workflow runs, get workflow logs, trigger workflows by name
• GitHub-aware security: secret scanning, Dependabot alerts, code-scanning alerts retrievable via dedicated tools

When to use it

Best for Claude Code workflows that touch a real repo — automated PR review, dependency upgrade PRs, label-driven triage, draft release notes from the merged PR list. The canonical choice when the project lives on GitHub; for self-hosted Gitea / GitLab pair with a different MCP server.

Getting started

Add to .mcp.json under mcpServers.github:

{
  "command": "docker",
  "args": ["run", "-i", "--rm", "-e", "GITHUB_PERSONAL_ACCESS_TOKEN", "ghcr.io/github/github-mcp-server"]
}

Set GITHUB_PERSONAL_ACCESS_TOKEN in the env (fine-grained token recommended; scope to the repos you actually need).

Things to know

The default token scope is everything in the user's account — narrow it down to only the repos you want Claude to touch. Some write operations (create_or_update_file, push_files) can overwrite history; pin the token to read + targeted write scopes and audit PRs Claude opens before merging.