Skip to content
← Tools / Skills
ToolGitHub/10 trustVerified
GitHub MCP Server logo

GitHub MCP Server

GitHub's official MCP server — give AI agents natural-language access to repos, issues, PRs, and workflows.

Visit official site →

About

github/github-mcp-server (33.5k stars, MIT) is GitHub's official MCP server, connecting AI tools directly to the GitHub platform: reading repos and code, managing issues and PRs, and automating workflows — all through natural language.

It runs as a Docker container (ghcr.io/github/github-mcp-server) with OAuth or personal-access-token auth, and supports a --toolsets flag to enable only the API groups you need (which also shrinks LLM context). A remotely hosted version exists for VS Code and other hosts. 59 releases in the last 12 months; pushed Oct 2026.

What it can do

  • Natural-language access to repositories, code search, issues, PRs, and Actions
  • Dockerized distribution plus a remotely hosted option — no local build needed
  • Toolsets flag for least-privilege: enable only the GitHub API groups you need
  • OAuth and PAT auth paths documented in the README
  • Official support from GitHub with 59 releases in the last year

Setup

  1. Install Docker and make sure it is running.
  2. Pull ghcr.io/github/github-mcp-server (public image).
  3. Authenticate: OAuth flow via the docs, or set GITHUB_PERSONAL_ACCESS_TOKEN (takes precedence).
  4. Add the server to your MCP client — e.g. claude mcp add github -e GITHUB_PERSONAL_ACCESS_TOKEN=... or the one-click VS Code installer.
  5. Restrict with --toolsets to only the capability groups your agent needs.

Prerequisites

Docker; a GitHub account; OAuth or a fine-grained personal access token.

Use cases

mcpmcp-serverscodeautomationdevops

Works with

Claude CodeCursorCopilotWindsurfclineAny agent (.md)

Trust score — 9/10

/10 trustVerified

Scored 9/10 (verified tier). Official GitHub project, 33.5k stars, MIT, very actively maintained, with genuinely good least-privilege tooling (the --toolsets flag). Docked one point: the token you hand it can touch many GitHub APIs — the README itself tells you to grant only permissions you're comfortable giving your AI tools, and that advice should be taken literally.

★ 33,557 GitHub stars

How the trust score is built

Full methodology →
Adoption · stars/downloads, log-scaled vs peers
8.4/10
Maintenance · recency, releases, issue load
9.6/10
Openness · license + docs
10.0/10
Manual review · sanity read + red-flag check
9.0/10
  • · 33,557 GitHub stars (log-scaled vs catalog peers)
  • · last push 0d ago; 59 releases/12mo; 353 open issues
  • · manual review: official GitHub server (33.5k stars), OAuth+PAT, --toolsets least-privilege flag; token scopes are powerful — grant narrowly

Sources

Every fact above was checked against these sources. Where a claim comes from the provider and couldn't be independently verified, the text says so.