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GitHub MCP Server

GitHub MCP Server

πŸš€ GitHub MCP Server

A production-ready Model Context Protocol (MCP) Server built with Python that enables AI assistants and MCP clients to interact with GitHub repositories through the GitHub REST API.

This project demonstrates how to build a custom MCP server capable of performing GitHub operations such as listing repositories, retrieving repository information, managing issues, and extending to pull requests, workflows, and code management.


πŸ“Œ Features

Repository Management

  • List all repositories for the authenticated user

  • Retrieve repository details

  • Access repository metadata

Issue Management

  • List repository issues

  • Create new issues

  • Close existing issues (future enhancement)

MCP Integration

  • Built using the official MCP Python SDK

  • Compatible with MCP Inspector

  • JSON-RPC based communication

  • Local STDIO transport support


Related MCP server: GitBridge

πŸ—οΈ Architecture

β”Œβ”€β”€β”€β”€β”€β”€β”€β”€β”€β”€β”€β”€β”€β”€β”€β”€β”€β”€β”€β”€β”€β”
β”‚   MCP Client        β”‚
β”‚ (Inspector / AI)    β”‚
β””β”€β”€β”€β”€β”€β”€β”€β”€β”€β”€β”¬β”€β”€β”€β”€β”€β”€β”€β”€β”€β”€β”˜
           β”‚
           β–Ό
β”Œβ”€β”€β”€β”€β”€β”€β”€β”€β”€β”€β”€β”€β”€β”€β”€β”€β”€β”€β”€β”€β”€β”
β”‚   GitHub MCP Server β”‚
β”‚      (Python)       β”‚
β””β”€β”€β”€β”€β”€β”€β”€β”€β”€β”€β”¬β”€β”€β”€β”€β”€β”€β”€β”€β”€β”€β”˜
           β”‚
           β–Ό
β”Œβ”€β”€β”€β”€β”€β”€β”€β”€β”€β”€β”€β”€β”€β”€β”€β”€β”€β”€β”€β”€β”€β”
β”‚   GitHub REST API   β”‚
β””β”€β”€β”€β”€β”€β”€β”€β”€β”€β”€β”¬β”€β”€β”€β”€β”€β”€β”€β”€β”€β”€β”˜
           β”‚
           β–Ό
β”Œβ”€β”€β”€β”€β”€β”€β”€β”€β”€β”€β”€β”€β”€β”€β”€β”€β”€β”€β”€β”€β”€β”
β”‚   GitHub Account    β”‚
β””β”€β”€β”€β”€β”€β”€β”€β”€β”€β”€β”€β”€β”€β”€β”€β”€β”€β”€β”€β”€β”€β”˜

πŸ“‚ Project Structure

github-mcp/
β”‚
β”œβ”€β”€ server.py
β”œβ”€β”€ .env
β”œβ”€β”€ pyproject.toml
β”œβ”€β”€ uv.lock
β”œβ”€β”€ .gitignore
└── README.md

βš™οΈ Prerequisites

  • Python 3.10+

  • UV Package Manager

  • GitHub Account

  • GitHub Personal Access Token (PAT)

  • Node.js (for MCP Inspector)


πŸ”‘ GitHub Token Setup

Generate a Personal Access Token from:

https://github.com/settings/tokens

Recommended permissions:

Repository Access
Issues: Read & Write
Contents: Read
Pull Requests: Read & Write

Create a .env file:

GITHUB_TOKEN=your_github_token_here

πŸ“¦ Installation

Clone the repository:

git clone <repository-url>
cd github-mcp

Initialize project:

uv init

Install dependencies:

uv add mcp requests python-dotenv

▢️ Running the Server

Start the MCP server:

uv run server.py

The server will wait for MCP client connections.


πŸ” Using MCP Inspector

Start MCP Inspector:

npx @modelcontextprotocol/inspector

Open:

http://localhost:6274

Connection Settings:

Transport : STDIO

Command:
uv

Arguments:
run server.py

Click Connect.


πŸ› οΈ Available Tools

list_repositories

Returns all repositories accessible by the authenticated user.

Example

{}

Response

[
  {
    "name": "github-mcp",
    "full_name": "username/github-mcp",
    "private": false
  }
]

get_repository

Returns details for a specific repository.

Input

{
  "owner": "username",
  "repo": "github-mcp"
}

Response

{
  "name": "github-mcp",
  "description": "GitHub MCP Server",
  "stars": 10,
  "forks": 2
}

πŸ”„ MCP Request Flow

User
 β”‚
 β–Ό
MCP Client
 β”‚
 β–Ό
Tool Call
 β”‚
 β–Ό
GitHub MCP Server
 β”‚
 β–Ό
GitHub REST API
 β”‚
 β–Ό
Response Returned

🚧 Planned Enhancements

  • Create GitHub Issues

  • Close Issues

  • Pull Request Management

  • Branch Management

  • File Operations

  • GitHub Actions Integration

  • Repository Search

  • Code Search

  • OAuth Authentication

  • Remote MCP Deployment


🧠 Learning Outcomes

This project demonstrates:

  • Model Context Protocol (MCP)

  • MCP Tools

  • JSON-RPC Communication

  • GitHub REST API Integration

  • Authentication using PAT

  • MCP Inspector Usage

  • Production MCP Architecture

  • Local MCP Server Development


πŸ“„ License

MIT License


πŸ‘¨β€πŸ’» Author

Built as a learning and production-ready MCP project for understanding MCP architecture, GitHub integrations, and AI tooling ecosystems.

Test commit for pull request

Available Tools

2 tools
get_repositoryD

Get details of a repository.

Inputs: owner (required), repo (required).

list_repositoriesA

List all repositories of the authenticated user.

Inputs: no named parameters.

Tool Schema Changelog

Recent tool additions, removals, and schema changes observed during successful MCP inspections.

Loading tool schema changelog…

    TDQS

    C2.5/5.0

    Scored across 2 tools

    Disambiguation5/5

    The two tools are clearly distinct: one retrieves details of a specific repository, the other lists all repositories. No overlap in purpose.

    Naming Consistency5/5

    Both tools follow a consistent verb_noun pattern ('get_repository', 'list_repositories'), with appropriate singular/plural usage.

    Tool Count1/5

    With only 2 tools, the server is extremely limited for a GitHub-related service. Typical functionality requires many more tools (issues, PRs, etc.).

    Completeness1/5

    The tool surface is severely incomplete; it lacks any operations related to issues, pull requests, commits, content, or repository management beyond basic retrieval.

    Maintenance

    ActivityNo data
    ResponsivenessOutdated data

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