create-or-update-file

Create or update files in GitHub repositories using the GitHub Enterprise MCP Server to manage repository content through direct file operations.

Instructions

Create or update a single file in a GitHub repository

Input Schema

TableJSON Schema

Name	Required	Description
`branch`	Yes	Branch to create/update the file in
`content`	Yes	Content of the file
`message`	Yes	Commit message
`owner`	Yes	Repository owner (username or organization)
`path`	Yes	Path where to create/update the file
`repo`	Yes	Repository name
`sha`	No	SHA of the file being replaced (required when updating existing files)

Implementation Reference

src/tools/files.ts:13-52 (handler)

The core handler function for the 'create-or-update-file' tool. Validates input with Zod schema, ensures the branch exists, and uses the GitHub API to create or update the file content.

export async function createOrUpdateFile(args: unknown): Promise<any> {
  const { owner, repo, path, content, message, branch, sha } = CreateOrUpdateFileSchema.parse(args);
  const github = getGitHubApi();

  return tryCatchAsync(async () => {
    // Check if branch exists, create it if it doesn't
    const branchExists = await github.branchExists(owner, repo, branch);
    if (!branchExists) {
      await github.createBranch(owner, repo, branch);
    }

    // Create or update the file
    const { data } = await github.getOctokit().repos.createOrUpdateFileContents({
      owner,
      repo,
      path,
      message,
      content: utf8ToBase64(content),
      branch,
      sha,
    });

    return {
      content: {
        name: data.content?.name,
        path: data.content?.path,
        sha: data.content?.sha,
        size: data.content?.size,
        url: data.content?.html_url,
      },
      commit: {
        sha: data.commit.sha,
        url: data.commit.html_url,
        message: data.commit.message,
        author: data.commit.author,
        committer: data.commit.committer,
      },
    };
  }, 'Failed to create or update file');
}

src/utils/validation.ts:15-21 (schema)

Zod schema used for input validation in the createOrUpdateFile handler, extending OwnerRepoSchema.

export const CreateOrUpdateFileSchema = OwnerRepoSchema.extend({
  path: z.string().min(1, 'File path is required'),
  content: z.string().min(1, 'File content is required'),
  message: z.string().min(1, 'Commit message is required'),
  branch: z.string().min(1, 'Branch name is required'),
  sha: z.string().optional(),
});

src/server.ts:388-425 (registration)

Registration of the 'create-or-update-file' tool in the server's ListToolsRequestHandler, including the MCP input schema definition.

{
  name: 'create-or-update-file',
  description: 'Create or update a single file in a GitHub repository',
  inputSchema: {
    type: 'object',
    properties: {
      owner: {
        type: 'string',
        description: 'Repository owner (username or organization)',
      },
      repo: {
        type: 'string',
        description: 'Repository name',
      },
      path: {
        type: 'string',
        description: 'Path where to create/update the file',
      },
      content: {
        type: 'string',
        description: 'Content of the file',
      },
      message: {
        type: 'string',
        description: 'Commit message',
      },
      branch: {
        type: 'string',
        description: 'Branch to create/update the file in',
      },
      sha: {
        type: 'string',
        description: 'SHA of the file being replaced (required when updating existing files)',
      },
    },
    required: ['owner', 'repo', 'path', 'content', 'message', 'branch'],
    additionalProperties: false,
  },

src/server.ts:1192-1194 (registration)
Dispatch to the createOrUpdateFile handler in the CallToolRequestHandler switch statement.
```
case 'create-or-update-file':
  result = await createOrUpdateFile(parsedArgs);
  break;
```

GitHub Enterprise MCP Server