MCP GitHub Repository Server

An MCP (Model Context Protocol) server that provides access to GitHub repository contents. This server allows AI assistants to browse and read files from specified GitHub repositories.

Demo

demo

Features

Resources

Access any file in a GitHub repository via URI
List repository contents and navigate directories
Support for branch-specific file access
File contents are served as plain text

Resource URIs

Base URL format: https://api.github.com/repos/{owner}/{repo}/contents/{path}
Supports both files and directories
Files are served with text/plain MIME type
Directories are served with application/x-directory MIME type

Configuration

The server requires the following environment variables:

GITHUB_PERSONAL_ACCESS_TOKEN=your_github_token
GITHUB_OWNER=repository_owner
GITHUB_REPO=repository_name
GITHUB_BRANCH=branch_name  # Optional

Development

Install dependencies:

npm install

Build the server:

npm run build

For development with auto-rebuild:

npm run watch

Installation

To use with Claude Desktop, add the server configuration:

Config Location

MacOS: ~/Library/Application Support/Claude/claude_desktop_config.json
Windows: %APPDATA%/Claude/claude_desktop_config.json

{
  "mcpServers": {
    "mcp-server-github-repo": {
      "command": "/path/to/mcp-server-github-repo/build/index.js"
    }
  }
}

API Implementation

The server implements three main MCP endpoints:

ListResources - Lists files and directories in the repository
ReadResource - Retrieves contents of a specific file

Authentication

The server uses GitHub Personal Access Token for authentication. Make sure your token has appropriate permissions to access the repository contents.

Error Handling

The server includes error handling for:

Missing environment variables
GitHub API errors
Invalid paths (e.g., trying to read a directory as a file)
Authentication failures

Debugging

Since MCP servers communicate over stdio, debugging can be challenging. Use the MCP Inspector for debugging:

npm run inspector

This will provide a URL to access debugging tools in your browser.

Security Notes

Keep your GitHub Personal Access Token secure
Consider using tokens with minimal required permissions
Be aware of repository size limitations when accessing large repositories

License

MIT

This server cannot be installed

security - not tested

license - permissive license

quality - not tested

remote-capable server

The server can be hosted and run remotely because it primarily relies on remote services or has no dependency on the local environment.

A server that allows AI assistants to browse and read files from specified GitHub repositories, providing access to repository contents via the Model Context Protocol.

Related Resources

Reddit Discussion about this server

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