GitHub MCP is GitHub's official server. It lets the agent read and write repos, issues, pull requests, reviews and Actions logs, in your repo or anyone's.
GitHub hosts a remote version at
api.githubcopilot.com/mcp, and you can also run it locally with Docker or a binary. Tools come in toolsets, like repos, issues, pull_requests and actions, so you can load only what you need and keep context small.A real run
We asked it to find the most-discussed recent issues in Playwright MCP. The repo had none: issues had moved to the main Playwright repo. The agent noticed, searched there instead, grouped the issues into three themes and picked the one to fix first, with the exact function to change.
Watch out
- The agent gets whatever your token allows. Give it a fine-grained token, or use the read-only URL.
- Loading every toolset takes a lot of context. Pick the toolsets you need.
- Issues and PR text from other people can carry prompt injections. Keep tool approval on for writes.
Install
Terminal
Loading editor...
claude mcp add --transport http github https://api.githubcopilot.com/mcp \ --header "Authorization: Bearer YOUR_GITHUB_TOKEN"
Create a personal access token with only the permissions you want the agent to have. VS Code, Cursor and Claude Desktop can also sign in with OAuth. For read-only access, use
https://api.githubcopilot.com/mcp/readonly.More in Top MCP servers for development.
