Give Your AI Assistant Direct Access to Any GitHub Repository

Stop copying and pasting code snippets into your AI conversations. The GitHub Repo MCP server connects your AI assistant directly to GitHub's API, letting it browse repositories, explore directory structures, and read file contents on demand.

The Problem with Current Workflows

You're probably familiar with this dance: find an interesting repository, manually browse through files, copy relevant code into your chat, explain the context, then ask your question. When you need to reference another file, repeat the process. It's tedious and breaks your flow.

Your AI assistant is capable of understanding entire codebases, but it's stuck waiting for you to feed it information piece by piece.

What GitHub Repo MCP Delivers

This MCP server gives your AI assistant three powerful capabilities:

• Repository browsing: Instantly see the complete structure of any public GitHub repository
• Directory exploration: Navigate through folders and subfolders to understand project organization
• File reading: Access the actual content of source files, documentation, configs, and more

The result? Your AI can independently explore codebases and provide context-aware answers without you manually feeding it information.

Real-World Use Cases

Code Analysis and Learning Ask your AI: "Analyze the architecture of https://github.com/facebook/react and explain how the reconciliation algorithm works." It can browse the source, read relevant files, and provide detailed explanations based on the actual implementation.

Project Setup and Configuration "Look at this Next.js project's setup and help me configure something similar." Your AI examines the package.json, config files, and project structure to give you precise setup instructions.

Debugging and Problem Solving
"This repository has a similar feature to what I'm building. Show me how they implemented user authentication." Your AI can explore the codebase, find relevant files, and walk you through the implementation.

Documentation and Examples "Find examples of how this library is used in real projects." Point your AI to repositories using the library, and it can extract actual usage patterns from working code.

Quick Setup

Works with Cursor, Windsurf, Claude Desktop, and other MCP-compatible clients.

Install via NPX:

npx github-repo-mcp

Or install via Smithery for Claude Desktop:

npx -y @smithery/cli install @Ryan0204/github-repo-mcp --client claude

Optional GitHub Token Setup: While it works without authentication, adding a GitHub token increases your rate limit from 60 to 5,000 requests per hour and enables access to private repositories you have permission to read.

Add your token to the MCP configuration:

{
  "mcpServers": {
    "github-repo-mcp": {
      "command": "npx",
      "args": ["github-repo-mcp"],
      "env": {
        "GITHUB_TOKEN": "your_github_token_here"
      }
    }
  }
}

Integration with Your Workflow

Once configured, using it is natural. Instead of manually browsing GitHub and copying code, you simply reference repositories in your conversations:

• "Show me the file structure of https://github.com/owner/repo"
• "What's in the src directory of that project?"
• "Read the README.md and explain the main features"

Your AI assistant handles the repository exploration automatically, giving you more time to focus on actually building things.

The GitHub Repo MCP server eliminates the friction between you, your AI assistant, and the vast knowledge contained in GitHub repositories. It's a simple addition to your toolkit that fundamentally changes how you interact with code.