Add the GitHub MCP Server for Repository Automation

The GitHub MCP server turns Claude Code into a GitHub power user — reading issues, creating pull requests, checking CI status, and more, all without leaving your terminal.

// .claude/settings.json
{
  "mcpServers": {
    "github": {
      "command": "npx",
      "args": ["-y", "@modelcontextprotocol/server-github"],
      "env": {
        "GITHUB_PERSONAL_ACCESS_TOKEN": "ghp_your_token_here"
      }
    }
  }
}

Once connected, you can work with your repositories conversationally:

"Summarise the open issues on this repo and group them by severity"

"Create a PR for the current branch with a description of what changed"

"Which CI check is failing on PR #47 and what does the error say?"

"Close all issues labelled 'wontfix' with a brief explanation comment"

You can combine it with git worktrees so Claude can make changes on a branch, then open a PR for its own work automatically. It's particularly powerful in agentic workflows where you want Claude to complete a full cycle from code to review-ready PR.

Generate a fine-grained personal access token scoped to just the repos you want Claude to access — don't hand it a token with write access to everything.

The GitHub MCP server collapses your dev workflow into a single conversation.