GitHub MCP Server — Live Test

A working MCP server that connects to the real GitHub API. This is the same pattern Claude Desktop uses to access your GitHub.

Quick Start (3 commands)

# 1. Install
npm install

# 2. Run with your token
GITHUB_TOKEN=ghp_yourtoken node client.js

# Windows (PowerShell):
$env:GITHUB_TOKEN="ghp_yourtoken"; node client.js

# Windows (CMD):
set GITHUB_TOKEN=ghp_yourtoken && node client.js

What Gets Tested

The client runs 12+ tests across these real GitHub operations:

Step	Tool	What It Does
1	(connect)	MCP handshake with server
2	(discover)	Find all 8 tools + 2 resources
3	get_user	Get YOUR GitHub profile
4	list_repos	List your recent repos
5	search_repos	Search GitHub for "mcp server"
6	get_repo	Get details on your first repo
7	list_issues	Check issues on your repo
8	list_pull_requests	Check PRs on your repo
9	get_file_contents	Read README.md from your repo
10	list_commits	Show recent commits
11	(resources)	Read profile + repos resources

Get a GitHub Token

1. Go to https://github.com/settings/tokens
2. Click "Generate new token (classic)"
3. Name it "MCP Test"
4. Select scopes: repo, read:org, read:user
5. Click Generate → Copy the ghp_... token

Use with Claude Desktop

After testing, add this to your Claude Desktop config:

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

{
  "mcpServers": {
    "github": {
      "command": "node",
      "args": ["/full/path/to/mcp-github-demo/server.js"],
      "env": {
        "GITHUB_TOKEN": "ghp_yourtoken"
      }
    }
  }
}

Then restart Claude Desktop. You'll see the hammer icon 🔨. Try asking: "Show me my recent GitHub repos" or "What are the open issues on my project?"

How It Works

You ask Claude: "What are my open issues?"
         │
         ▼
┌──────────────────┐
│ Claude Desktop   │  ← Host (contains MCP client)
│ sees "github"    │
│ tools available  │
│ calls list_issues│
└────────┬─────────┘
         │ MCP protocol (JSON-RPC over stdio)
         ▼
┌──────────────────┐
│ server.js        │  ← MCP Server (this file!)
│ receives request │
│ calls GitHub API │
└────────┬─────────┘
         │ HTTPS
         ▼
┌──────────────────┐
│ api.github.com   │  ← External Data Source
│ returns issues   │
└──────────────────┘
         │
         ▼
   Data flows back: GitHub → server.js → Claude → You