GitHub Context Server

An MCP (Model Context Protocol) server that gives Claude access to one or more GitHub repositories — including private ones — directly from Claude Desktop or Claude Code.

Repositories are managed dynamically at runtime: just tell Claude to add or remove a repo and it's persisted immediately, with no config file editing required.

Prerequisites

• Node.js 18 or later
• A GitHub Personal Access Token

Installation

npm install
npm run build

GitHub Token Setup

1. Go to GitHub → Settings → Developer settings → Personal access tokens → Tokens (classic)
2. Click Generate new token (classic)
3. Give it a name (e.g. claude-mcp)
4. Select the repo scope (covers both public and private repositories)
5. Click Generate token and copy it

If you only need public repos, the public_repo scope is sufficient.

Claude Desktop Configuration

Edit the config file at:

• Windows: %APPDATA%\Claude\claude_desktop_config.json
• macOS: ~/Library/Application Support/Claude/claude_desktop_config.json

Add this block inside "mcpServers":

{
  "mcpServers": {
    "github-context": {
      "command": "node",
      "args": ["path_to_repo/dist/index.js"],
      "env": {
        "GITHUB_TOKEN": "ghp_your_token_here"
      }
    }
  }
}

That's it — no repo list needed here. Restart Claude Desktop after saving.

Managing repositories

Repos are managed through Claude itself at runtime. The list is stored in dist/repos.json and persists across sessions.

Add a repo

"Add the repo myorg/backend to GitHub context"

Claude calls add_repo → verifies the repo is accessible with your token → saves it to repos.json.

Remove a repo

"Remove myorg/old-project from GitHub context"

Claude calls remove_repo → updates repos.json.

List current repos

"What repos do you have access to?"

Claude calls list_repos → shows everything currently saved.

---

Changes take effect immediately — no restart needed.

Available Tools

Repo management

Tool	Description
list_repos	Show all saved repositories
add_repo	Add a repo (verifies access before saving)
remove_repo	Remove a repo from the list

Data access

Tool	Description
get_repo_info	Metadata: description, language, stars, default branch, visibility
list_files	Browse files and directories at any path
get_file	Read the full content of any file
search_code	Search code across a repo (GitHub search API)
get_commits	Recent commit history, optionally filtered by branch or file path
get_branches	List all branches (protected branches are marked)
get_pull_requests	List open, closed, or all pull requests
get_issues	List open, closed, or all issues

Common parameters

• repo — "owner/repo" format, must be in the saved list
• branch — branch name, tag, or commit SHA (defaults to the repo's default branch)
• path — file or directory path inside the repo
• max_results — how many items to return
• state — "open", "closed", or "all" (for PRs and issues)

Example prompts

Add the repo myorg/backend to GitHub context.

List all the files in the src/ directory of myorg/backend.

Read the file src/auth/middleware.ts from myorg/backend.

Search for "function authenticate" in myorg/backend.

Show me the last 10 commits on the main branch of myorg/frontend.

What open issues are there in myorg/backend?

Remove myorg/old-project from GitHub context.

Repos file location

By default repos are stored at dist/repos.json next to the built script. To use a custom path, set the REPOS_FILE env var in your Claude Desktop config:

"env": {
  "GITHUB_TOKEN": "ghp_your_token_here",
  "REPOS_FILE": "localpath/.config/github-mcp/repos.json"
}

This is useful if you want the repo list to survive rebuilds or to share it across multiple projects.

Development

Run without building (useful for local testing):

GITHUB_TOKEN=ghp_... npm run dev

Recompile after making source changes:

npm run build

Then restart Claude Desktop.

Project structure

├── src/
│   └── index.ts          # MCP server — all tools, repo persistence logic
├── dist/                 # Compiled output (generated by npm run build)
│   ├── index.js
│   └── repos.json        # Persisted repo list (auto-created on first add_repo)
├── package.json
├── tsconfig.json
├── .env.example
└── claude-desktop-config.example.json

Security notes

• Your GitHub token is passed via environment variable and never logged or sent to Claude.
• Only repos explicitly added via add_repo are accessible — Claude cannot reach other repos even if your token has broader access.
• add_repo verifies the repo exists and is accessible with your token before saving it.
• File content is truncated at 100,000 characters to prevent context overflow.