# Connect Claude Code to GitHub with MCP

> Add GitHub's hosted MCP server at api.githubcopilot.com with a bearer token — the old @modelcontextprotocol/server-github package has been archived.

- Canonical: https://guides-ai.pages.dev/guides/connect-claude-code-to-github/
- Plate 05.02 · Topic: MCP (https://guides-ai.pages.dev/topics/mcp/)
- Published: 10 Jun 2026 · Updated: 06 Sept 2026 · 3 min read
- Source site: guides-ai — https://guides-ai.pages.dev/

Connect through **GitHub's hosted MCP server at `https://api.githubcopilot.com/mcp/`**. This is
the important change: the old `@modelcontextprotocol/server-github` npm package has been moved
to the `servers-archived` repository and is no longer maintained. Anthropic's own MCP docs use
the hosted endpoint.

## 1. Create a fine-grained token

Go to **github.com/settings/personal-access-tokens** and generate a **fine-grained** token with
access to only the repositories you need. Grant the permissions you're actually comfortable
handing an AI tool — read-only on contents and issues covers most of what people want.

## 2. Add the server

```bash
claude mcp add --transport http github https://api.githubcopilot.com/mcp/ \
  --header "Authorization: Bearer YOUR_GITHUB_PAT"
```

What it does: registers the hosted server over HTTP and sends your token on every request.
`--transport http` is what tells Claude Code this is a URL, not a command to launch.

## 3. Pick the scope

```bash
claude mcp add --transport http github --scope user https://api.githubcopilot.com/mcp/ \
  --header "Authorization: Bearer YOUR_GITHUB_PAT"
```

What it does: makes it available in every project instead of just this one. `local` (the
default) is you in this project; `project` writes a shared `.mcp.json` you commit — never put a
token in that one. Details in
[installing any MCP server](/guides/install-mcp-server-claude-code/).

Prefer to self-host? GitHub also ships the same server as a container image,
`ghcr.io/github/github-mcp-server`, run over stdio with a `GITHUB_PERSONAL_ACCESS_TOKEN`
environment variable.

## 4. Confirm it connected

```text
/mcp
```

What it does: shows the server's health. You want `✔ Connected`. Then try it:

```text
Summarize the open issues labeled "bug" in this repo.
```

What it does: exercises a real tool call, which is the only proof the token has the access you
think it has.

## If it fails

`! Needs authentication` or a 401 means the token is wrong, expired, or lacks permission for
that repo. `✘ Failed to connect` on a corporate network usually means an outbound proxy. MCP
servers load at session start, so a config change needs a new session, not a reload command.

Treat the token like a password. An [MCP server](/glossary/#mcp-server) acts with the access you
give it, and issue text it returns enters your prompt — so never let a fetched issue body talk
Claude into running something. Related:
[the best MCP servers to start with](/guides/best-mcp-servers-to-start/) and
[Claude Code with GitHub Actions](/guides/claude-code-github-actions/), which is the CI-side
integration rather than the local one.

Source: [Claude Code MCP documentation](https://code.claude.com/docs/en/mcp).