github-mcp

Self-hosted GitHub MCP server. Personal-access-token auth, stdio transport, transport-agnostic so it works with Claude Code (any account), Codex CLI, Cursor, or any MCP-compliant client. No claude.ai OAuth dependency.

Written in Python on top of FastMCP. Slots into the same install pattern as other community Python MCP servers.

Why this exists

The official github/github-mcp-server (Go, 60+ tools) is excellent if you want a kitchen-sink server tied to a single agent platform's auth flow. This one is scoped for operators who:

• Switch between multiple Claude accounts, Codex CLI, Cursor, or other MCP clients and want the same GitHub auth across all of them.

• Prefer a small, audited tool surface scoped to PR + repo file + Dependabot operations.

• Want a Python install that lives alongside their other MCP servers.

If neither applies, run github/github-mcp-server instead — that's the right call.

Tool surface (v0.1.0)

Future versions expand: workflows, releases, issues, rulesets, secret-scan alerts, branch protection, repo settings.

Install

git clone https://github.com/adelaidasofia/github-mcp ~/.claude/github-mcp
cd ~/.claude/github-mcp
uv tool install --editable .

Or as a one-off without persistent install:

cd ~/.claude/github-mcp
uv run github-mcp

Auth

The server reads the GitHub PAT from environment, in this precedence:

1. GITHUB_TOKEN

2. GH_TOKEN

Fine-grained tokens recommended. Minimum scopes for the v0.1 tool surface: repo, workflow. For Dependabot alert reads on private repos, also grant security_events.

Optional: GITHUB_API_BASE for GitHub Enterprise Server. Defaults to https://api.github.com.

Wire into an MCP client

Claude Code

Add to ~/.claude/.mcp.json (or any .mcp.json in the project root):

{
  "mcpServers": {
    "github": {
      "command": "uv",
      "args": ["run", "--project", "/Users/<you>/.claude/github-mcp", "github-mcp"],
      "env": {
        "GITHUB_TOKEN": "${GITHUB_TOKEN}"
      }
    }
  }
}

Codex CLI

Add to ~/.codex/config.toml:

[mcp_servers.github]
command = "uv"
args = ["run", "--project", "/Users/<you>/.claude/github-mcp", "github-mcp"]

[mcp_servers.github.env]
GITHUB_TOKEN = "${GITHUB_TOKEN}"

Cursor

~/.cursor/mcp.json follows the Claude Code shape. Same env block.

Any other MCP-compliant client

Configure it to spawn the github-mcp command and pipe stdio. The server speaks standard MCP over stdio.

Verify

GITHUB_TOKEN=ghp_yourpat uv run github-mcp

The server will wait on stdin for MCP traffic. In another shell, exercise health_check via your client.

Test

uv pip install -e ".[dev]"
uv run pytest tests/ -v

License

MIT.