GitHub MCP Server

MCP (Model Context Protocol) server exposing GitHub repository data as tools, a resource, and a prompt. Backed by GitHub's REST API via httpx.

Setup

1. Install deps:

   uv sync

2. Copy env template and fill in your token:

   cp .env.example .env

   Generate a token at https://github.com/settings/tokens (needs repo scope for private repos, no scope needed for public read-only).

Run

Start the MCP server (stdio transport):

uv run python server.py

Run the sample client (spawns the server and calls a tool):

uv run python client.py

Tools

Tool	Description
get_repository(owner, repo)	Repo summary — stars, forks, open issues, language
search_issues(owner, repo, state="open")	List issues (excludes PRs)
list_pull_requests(owner, repo, state="open")	List pull requests
search_repository_issues(owner, repo, keyword)	Keyword search over repo issues

Resource

github://repo/{owner}/{repo} — repository details as text.

Prompt

review_repository(owner, repo) — generates a prompt to analyze repo health (issues, PRs, activity, risks).

Project layout

• server.py — MCP server, all tools/resource/prompt
• client.py — sample MCP client exercising the server over stdio
• github_service.py, test_github.py — early prototype scratch, superseded by server.py (kept commented for reference)

Giving this to a colleague

No manual clone needed — uv fetches and runs the server directly from the git repo. Each person still runs their own local copy with their own token; nothing is centrally hosted.

1. Register the server with Claude Code (one command, no clone/install step):

   claude mcp add github-assistant --scope local -- uvx --from git+https://github.com/ritesh31/github-mcp github-mcp

   Replace the URL with this repo's actual location once pushed. uv caches the repo behind the scenes on first run — no visible clone step. --scope local keeps it private to their machine.
2. Provide GITHUB_TOKEN. Since there's no local clone, there's no .env file to edit — pass the token as an environment variable on the claude mcp add command instead:

   claude mcp add github-assistant --scope local -e GITHUB_TOKEN=ghp_yourColleaguesOwnTokenHere -- uvx --from git+https://github.com/ritesh31/github-mcp github-mcp

   Each person uses their own token (generate at https://github.com/settings/tokens — read-only, fine-grained, scoped to needed repos).
3. Verify:

   claude mcp list

   Should show github-assistant as Connected. Open a Claude Code session and run /mcp to confirm all 4 tools, the resource, and the prompt are discovered.
4. Test: ask Claude something like "what's the star count on <owner>/<repo>?" — it should pick the get_repository tool on its own.