Skip to main content

Set up the GitHub MCP server

The GitHub MCP server gives AI agents access to GitHub repositories, issues, pull requests, Actions workflows, code security findings, and more. This guide walks through creating a GitHub App, copying credentials, and connecting the server to MintMCP as a remote MCP.

GitHub MCP server repository on GitHub showing description and README

Prerequisites​

  • A MintMCP admin account
  • A GitHub account with permission to create GitHub Apps

Create a GitHub App​

  1. Go to github.com/organizations/YOUR-ORG/settings/apps/new (replace YOUR-ORG with your organization name). If you're registering under a personal account instead, go to github.com/settings/apps/new.

  2. Enter the app name and homepage URL:

    FieldValue
    GitHub App nameMintMCP Org OAuth (or any name your team will recognize)
    Homepage URLhttps://app.mintmcp.com
    Create GitHub App form showing the app name and homepage URL fields

  3. Set the Callback URL to https://app.mintmcp.com/oauth/callback.

  4. Enable user authorization so members sign in with their own GitHub identity:

    • Check Expire user authorization tokens to issue refresh tokens.
    • Check Request user authorization (OAuth) during installation so GitHub runs the OAuth flow when a user installs the app.
    Callback URL field with expire user authorization tokens and request user authorization (OAuth) during installation both enabled

  5. Set the app's permissions to read-only access for the resources agents need:

    PermissionAccess
    AdministrationRead-only
    ContentsRead-only
    GitHub App permissions section listing repository, organization, and account permissions Administration permission set to read-only access Contents permission set to read-only access

  6. Under Where can this GitHub App be installed?, select Only on this account, then click Create GitHub App.

    Installation scope set to only on this account with the Create GitHub App button

Copy the client ID and client secret​

  1. On the app's settings page, copy the Client ID.

    GitHub App settings page showing the App ID, Client ID, and the Generate a new client secret button

  2. Click Generate a new client secret (highlighted above), then copy the secret immediately — you can't view it again after leaving this page.

    Newly generated client secret with a reminder to copy it before leaving the page

Install the app​

Installing the app on your organization grants it access to the repositories agents will work with.

  1. In the app's left sidebar, click Install App.

    GitHub App settings sidebar with Install App selected

  2. Next to your organization, click Install.

    Install screen prompting you to choose an account to install the app on

  3. Choose which repositories the app can access, then click Install & Authorize:

    • All repositories — the app can read every current and future repository in the organization.
    • Only select repositories — the app is limited to the repositories you pick.

    This is your decision: pick the scope that matches your organization's access policy. Most teams limit the app to only the repositories agents need.

    Install and authorize screen with All repositories and Only select repositories options and read-only repository permissions

Add GitHub to MintMCP​

  1. In MintMCP, go to MCP store > Manage store.
  2. Click + Add an MCP to your registry → Connect to an MCP by URL.
  3. Enter the server URL: https://api.githubcopilot.com/mcp/
  4. Set Connection type to Per-user credentials.
  5. Set Authorization method to OAuth.
  6. Open OAuth Client Advanced Settings and paste the Client ID and Client Secret from your GitHub App.
  7. Click Create.

Each team member authorizes with their own GitHub account on first use, so tool calls are tied to their individual GitHub identity and permissions.

Limit toolsets (optional)​

By default, the server enables five toolsets: context, repos, issues, pull_requests, and users. To enable additional toolsets or restrict to a subset, append the toolset path to the server URL:

GoalURL
Default toolsetshttps://api.githubcopilot.com/mcp/
Enable all toolsetshttps://api.githubcopilot.com/mcp/x/all
Specific toolsetshttps://api.githubcopilot.com/mcp/x/repos,issues,actions
Read-only modehttps://api.githubcopilot.com/mcp/readonly

Available additional toolsets: actions, code_security, discussions, gists, notifications, projects, secret_protection.

GitHub Enterprise​

For GitHub Enterprise Cloud with data residency (ghe.com), use a different server URL when adding the remote MCP:

https://copilot-api.{subdomain}.ghe.com/mcp

Replace {subdomain} with your organization's subdomain (for example, octocorp for octocorp.ghe.com).

GitHub Enterprise Server does not support the remote MCP server — use the Hosted Connector deployment with the Docker image ghcr.io/github/github-mcp-server and a service account PAT instead.

Security considerations​

  • The OAuth client secret authorizes MintMCP to initiate GitHub's OAuth flow on your behalf — keep it secure and regenerate it if compromised.
  • Each user authenticates with their own GitHub account, so tool calls are scoped to that user's repository access and permissions.
  • Read-only mode prevents the server from making any write operations — use the /readonly URL suffix when agents should only query data.
  • For shared service accounts or GitHub Enterprise Server, use a fine-grained PAT with minimum required scopes (repo, read:org) instead of OAuth.

Next steps​