Setting up the GitHub MCP Server

About the GitHub MCP server

The GitHub MCP server is a Model Context Protocol (MCP) server provided and maintained by GitHub. MCP allows you to integrate AI capabilities with other tools and services, enhancing your development experience by providing context-aware AI assistance.

For a full introduction to the GitHub MCP server and an overview of MCP, see About Model Context Protocol (MCP).

Prerequisites

• Access to Copilot. See What is GitHub Copilot?.
• Visual Studio version 17.14 or later. For more information on installing Visual Studio, see the Visual Studio downloads page.
• Sign in to GitHub from Visual Studio.
• If you are a member of an organization or enterprise with a Copilot Business or Copilot Enterprise plan, the "MCP servers in Copilot" policy must be enabled in order to use MCP with Copilot.

Setting up the GitHub MCP server in Visual Studio

The instructions below guide you through setting up the GitHub MCP server in Visual Studio. Other MCP-compatible editors may have similar steps, but the exact process may vary.

The remote GitHub MCP server uses one-click OAuth authentication by default, but you can also manually configure it to use a personal access token (PAT) for authentication. If you use OAuth, the MCP server can only access the scopes you approve during sign-in. In organization-owned contexts, access may also be limited by admin policies that control which scopes and apps are permitted. If you use a PAT, the MCP server will have access to the scopes granted by the PAT, which is also subject to any PAT restrictions configured by the organization.

For information on setting up the GitHub MCP server locally, see the GitHub MCP server documentation.

Remote MCP server configuration with OAuth

You do not need to create a PAT or install any additional software to use the remote GitHub MCP server with OAuth. You can set it up directly in Visual Studio.

1. In the Visual Studio menu bar, click View, then click GitHub Copilot Chat.

2. At the bottom of the chat panel, select Agent from the mode dropdown.

3. In the Copilot Chat window, click the tools icon, then click the plus icon in the tool picker window.

4. In the "Configure MCP server" pop-up window, fill out the fields.

   1. For "Server ID", type github.
   2. For "Type", select "HTTP/SSE" from the dropdown.
   3. For "URL", type https://api.githubcopilot.com/mcp/.

5. Click Save. The configuration in the mcp.json file should look like this:

   JSON

    { "servers": { "github": { "url": "https://api.githubcopilot.com/mcp/" } } } 

6. In the mcp.json file, click Auth from the CodeLens above the server to authenticate to the server. A pop-up will come up allowing you to authenticate with your GitHub account.

Remote MCP server configuration with PAT

To configure the remote GitHub MCP server with a PAT, ensure you have created a PAT with the necessary scopes for the access you want to grant to the MCP server. For more information, see Managing your personal access tokens.

1. In the Visual Studio menu bar, click View, then click GitHub Copilot Chat.

2. At the bottom of the chat panel, select Agent from the mode dropdown.

3. In the Copilot Chat window, click the tools icon, then click the plus icon in the tool picker window.

4. In the "Configure MCP server" pop-up window, fill out the fields.

   1. For "Server ID", type github.
   2. For "Type", select "HTTP/SSE" from the dropdown.
   3. For "URL", type https://api.githubcopilot.com/mcp/.
   4. Add a new header under "Headers", called "Authorization" and set to the value Bearer YOUR_GITHUB_PAT, replacing "YOUR_GITHUB_PAT" with your PAT.

5. Click Save. The configuration in the mcp.json file should look like this:

   JSON

    { "servers": { "github": { "url": "https://api.githubcopilot.com/mcp/", "requestInit": { "headers": { "Authorization": "Bearer YOUR_GITHUB_PAT" } } } } } 

For more information on configuring MCP servers in Visual Studio, see Use MCP servers in Visual Studio (Preview) in the Visual Studio documentation.

 { "servers": { "github": { "url": "https://api.githubcopilot.com/mcp/", "requestInit": { "headers": { "Authorization": "Bearer YOUR_GITHUB_PAT" } } } } } 

 { "servers": { "github": { "url": "https://api.githubcopilot.com/mcp/", "requestInit": { "headers": { "Authorization": "Bearer YOUR_GITHUB_PAT" } } } } } 

 { "servers": { "github": { "url": "https://api.githubcopilot.com/mcp/", "requestInit": { "headers": { "Authorization": "Bearer YOUR_GITHUB_PAT" } } } } } 

 { "servers": { "github": { "url": "https://api.githubcopilot.com/mcp/", "requestInit": { "headers": { "Authorization": "Bearer YOUR_GITHUB_PAT" } } } } } 

 { "servers": { "github": { "url": "https://api.githubcopilot.com/mcp/", "requestInit": { "headers": { "Authorization": "Bearer YOUR_GITHUB_PAT" } } } } } 

 { "servers": { "github": { "url": "https://api.githubcopilot.com/mcp/", "requestInit": { "headers": { "Authorization": "Bearer YOUR_GITHUB_PAT" } } } } }