GitHub MCP Server (Official Anthropic)

Name: GitHub MCP Server
Author: Anthropic

How to install the GitHub MCP server

Add this to your Claude Desktop MCP configuration:

{
  "mcpServers": {
    "github": {
      "command": "npx",
      "args": [
        "-y",
        "@modelcontextprotocol/server-github"
      ]
    }
  }
}

Add this to your Claude Code MCP configuration:

npx -y @modelcontextprotocol/server-github

Add this to your Cursor MCP configuration:

{
  "mcpServers": {
    "github": {
      "command": "npx",
      "args": [
        "-y",
        "@modelcontextprotocol/server-github"
      ]
    }
  }
}

Add this to your Windsurf MCP configuration:

{
  "mcpServers": {
    "github": {
      "command": "npx",
      "args": [
        "-y",
        "@modelcontextprotocol/server-github"
      ]
    }
  }
}

Add this to your Cline MCP configuration:

{
  "mcpServers": {
    "github": {
      "command": "npx",
      "args": [
        "-y",
        "@modelcontextprotocol/server-github"
      ]
    }
  }
}

Add this to your VS Code (Continue) MCP configuration:

{
  "mcpServers": {
    "github": {
      "command": "npx",
      "args": [
        "-y",
        "@modelcontextprotocol/server-github"
      ]
    }
  }
}

Add this to your Zed MCP configuration:

{
  "mcpServers": {
    "github": {
      "command": "npx",
      "args": [
        "-y",
        "@modelcontextprotocol/server-github"
      ]
    }
  }
}

The GitHub MCP server is the most popular installation in the entire MCP ecosystem. It gives Claude full read and (optionally) write access to your GitHub repositories: code search, issue management, PR review, branch operations, and everything in between.

If you only install one MCP server, this is the one. The combination of GitHub’s central role in dev workflows and the depth of the integration makes it the highest-value first install for engineers and technical founders.

Why use it

GitHub is where most engineering work lives. Adding it as an MCP server collapses dozens of tab-switches per day into single prompts. “Show me the PRs that touched our auth middleware in the last week” goes from a manual GitHub UI tour to a one-line answer.

For solo founders running Claude Code, the GitHub server is what makes “fix this issue” workflows feel native. Claude reads the issue, searches the relevant code, opens a PR, and links them together without leaving the conversation.

What it actually does

A wide surface: search code across repos, list and filter issues, create issues with labels and assignees, read and comment on PRs, manage branches, fetch raw file contents, browse releases, and inspect workflows.

Practical patterns:

“Find all open PRs in our org that have been waiting for review for more than three days.”
“Open an issue in repo X titled ‘fix sitemap lastmod bug’, label it ‘bug’ and assign to @david.”
“Search every repo I own for usages of the deprecated useEffectAsync hook.”

Gotchas

Scope your token narrowly. A token with delete permissions can do a lot of damage if Claude misinterprets a prompt. Default to read-only and grant write only when you need it. Personal access tokens are the safer default; OAuth apps are easier to revoke.

Rate limits apply. GitHub’s API caps at 5,000 requests per hour per token. Heavy queries (e.g. searching across hundreds of repos) can chew through this quickly. If you hit the limit, the server will return clear errors but Claude may not always interpret them gracefully.

Combine with Sentry for an end-to-end debug flow: error in production → Sentry pulls the stack trace → GitHub finds the introducing PR → Claude drafts a fix.

Example prompts for the GitHub MCP server

Show me open PRs in modelcontextprotocol/servers from this week.

Search my repos for usages of the deprecated useEffectAsync hook.

Open an issue in contextbolt/landing titled 'fix sitemap lastmod'.

MCP servers related to GitHub

All in Dev Tools →

GitHub MCP server: FAQs

What permissions does the GitHub MCP server need?

A personal access token (classic or fine-grained). Scope it as narrowly as possible. For read-only browsing, use repo:read. For issue and PR creation, add repo:write. Never give it admin or delete scopes unless you specifically need them.

Can it write to my repos?

Yes. With write scopes it can open issues, comment on PRs, create branches, and push commits. Claude will ask before each write operation in Claude Desktop. In Claude Code with auto-approve enabled, be careful.

Does it support GitHub Enterprise?

Yes. Set the GITHUB_HOST environment variable to your enterprise URL when starting the server. The same token semantics apply.

How is it different from gh CLI in Claude Code?

gh CLI runs as a shell command and Claude has to parse text output. The MCP server returns structured JSON, which Claude reasons about more reliably. For complex multi-step queries (e.g. 'find PRs that touched file X across these three repos'), the MCP server wins.

Can multiple users share one server?

Each user should run their own instance with their own token. The server uses whatever token is in the environment, so sharing a process means sharing identity.

Back to all MCP servers

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