GitHub MCP Server

Custom MCP (Model Context Protocol) server, written in TypeScript, that connects GitHub to the GitHub REST API.

What it does

It exposes 6 tools that Claude can call:

Related MCP server: remote-mcp-oauth-github

1. Generate a GitHub Personal Access Token

1. Go to GitHub → Settings → Developer settings → Personal access tokens → Fine-grained tokens

2. Create a token with the minimum required permissions:

   • Contents: Read (for get_file_content)

   • Issues: Read and write (for list_issues/create_issue)

   • Metadata: Read (always required)

3. Copy the generated token (it starts with github_pat_...)

Security tip: never commit the token to the repository. Use an environment variable.

2. Install and build

npm install
npm run build

This generates build/index.js, which is the server executable (it communicates via stdio, the standard MCP protocol).

3. Test locally (optional, without Claude)

export GITHUB_PERSONAL_ACCESS_TOKEN="seu_token_aqui"
npm start

If GitHub MCP server rodando via stdio. appears in stderr, it is working. To test the tools interactively, use the MCP Inspector:

npx @modelcontextprotocol/inspector node build/index.js

4. Connect to Claude Desktop

Edit the Claude Desktop configuration file:

• macOS: ~/Library/Application Support/Claude/claude_desktop_config.json

• Windows: %APPDATA%\Claude\claude_desktop_config.json

Add:

{
  "mcpServers": {
    "github": {
      "command": "node",
      "args": ["/caminho/absoluto/para/github-mcp-server/build/index.js"],
      "env": {
        "GITHUB_PERSONAL_ACCESS_TOKEN": "seu_token_aqui"
      }
    }
  }
}

Restart Claude Desktop. The GitHub tools should appear in the conversation's tools icon (🔨).

5. Next steps (ideas to expand and boost your portfolio)

• Add authoring tools: create_pull_request, merge_pull_request, create_branch

• Add real (cursor-based) pagination instead of just per_page

• Rate limiting and caching (GitHub limits authenticated requests to 5000 req/h)

• Automated tests with Vitest/Jest

• CI with GitHub Actions running lint + tests + build on every push

• Publish as a npm package (npx github-mcp-server)

• Dockerize the server (good hook to connect with your other DevOps projects)

Project structure

github-mcp-server/
├── src/
│   └── index.ts      # lógica do servidor e definição das tools
├── build/             # gerado pelo `npm run build`
├── package.json
├── tsconfig.json
└── README.md