GitHub MCP Server is a Model Context Protocol server, written in Go, that connects AI tools to GitHub. Through it an agent reads repositories and files, searches code, creates and updates issues and pull requests, inspects GitHub Actions runs and build failures, reviews code scanning, secret scanning, and Dependabot alerts, and reaches discussions, notifications, gists, and projects.
It ships in two forms. The remote server is hosted by GitHub and reached over HTTP from any MCP host with remote-server support (VS Code, Claude Desktop, Cursor, Windsurf, and others), with an insiders variant for early-access tools. The local server runs as a Docker container or a built binary over stdio, authenticates with browser OAuth on first use or a personal access token, and also targets GitHub Enterprise Cloud with data residency and GitHub Enterprise Server. Installation guides cover GitHub Copilot in VS Code, JetBrains, Visual Studio, Eclipse, and Xcode, Copilot CLI, Claude Code and Claude Desktop, Codex, Cursor, Gemini CLI, Windsurf, and Zed.
Tools are grouped into toolsets that you enable with an allow-list, so the model sees only the GitHub capabilities a task needs and the context stays small. The default set is context, repos, issues, pull_requests, and users. Individual tools can be added on top, and all turns every toolset on. A read-only mode drops every mutating tool. Lockdown mode is a content filter against prompt injection from public repositories: items whose author lacks push access to the repository are withheld or return an error, and content from a small set of trusted bot accounts always passes through. It is not an authorization boundary, since the credential itself can still read the same content elsewhere.
Tool descriptions, and the server name and title, can be overridden from a JSON config file, which supports localization and running several instances side by side (one for github.com, one for an Enterprise Server). Repository, issue, and Actions tools return output schemas and typed structured content to clients on a recent MCP protocol version. The remote server adds Copilot tools, such as handing a task to the Copilot coding agent as a pull request, Copilot Spaces, and GitHub support docs search. The Go module is importable as a library, with an API marked unstable.
Features
- Toolsets: context, actions, code_quality, code_security, copilot, copilot_issue_intents, dependabot, discussions, gists, git, governance, issues, labels, notifications, orgs, projects, pull_requests, repos, secret_protection, security_advisories, stargazers, and users
- Default toolset: context, repos, issues, pull_requests, and users, with other toolsets or individual tools added on an allow-list and all for everything
- Remote server: hosted by GitHub over HTTP for VS Code, Claude Desktop, Cursor, Windsurf, and other remote-capable MCP hosts, with an insiders variant for early-access tools
- Local server: a Docker image or built binary over stdio, authenticated by browser OAuth on first use or a personal access token
- GitHub Enterprise: targets GitHub Enterprise Cloud with data residency and GitHub Enterprise Server in both remote and local form
- Read-only mode: offers only read tools so the server cannot modify repositories, issues, or pull requests
- Lockdown mode: withholds or filters public-repository content from authors without push access to reduce prompt injection, while trusted bot accounts pass through
- Structured output: repository, issue, and Actions tools return output schemas and typed structured content on recent MCP protocol versions
- Description overrides: tool descriptions and the server name and title can be replaced from a JSON config file, for localization or several instances side by side
- Copilot tools (remote): hand a task to the Copilot coding agent as a pull request, read Copilot Spaces, and search GitHub support docs
- Go library: the module exposes its packages for embedding, with an API currently marked unstable
