Mode: Cognitive/Prompt-Driven — No standalone utility script; use via agent context.

GitHub Skill

Overview

This skill provides access to the official GitHub MCP server with progressive disclosure for optimal context usage.

Context Savings: ~95% reduction

• MCP Mode: ~50,000 tokens always loaded (80+ tools)
• Skill Mode: ~500 tokens metadata + on-demand loading

Requirements

• Docker installed and running
• GITHUBPERSONALACCESS_TOKEN environment variable set

Toolsets

The server provides 80+ tools across 19 toolsets:

Quick Reference

Use the gh CLI for GitHub operations:

# Get repository info
gh repo view anthropics/claude-code

# List issues
gh issue list --repo anthropics/claude-code

# Search code
gh search code "language:python MCP"

# Create issue
gh issue create --repo me/myrepo --title "Bug" --body "Description"

# List pull requests
gh pr list --repo anthropics/claude-code

Common Tools (Default Toolsets: 40 tools)

Repository Operations

• search_repositories - Search for repositories
• create_repository - Create a new repository
• fork_repository - Fork a repository
• list_commits - List repository commits
• get_commit - Get commit details
• getfilecontents - Get file contents from a repository
• createorupdate_file - Create or update a file
• delete_file - Delete a file
• push_files - Push multiple files
• search_code - Search for code across GitHub
• list_branches - List repository branches
• create_branch - Create a new branch
• list_tags - List repository tags
• get_tag - Get tag details
• list_releases - List releases
• getlatestrelease - Get latest release
• getreleaseby_tag - Get release by tag

Issue Operations

• list_issues - List repository issues
• issue_read - Read issue details
• issue_write - Create/update issues
• addissuecomment - Add a comment to an issue
• search_issues - Search for issues
• listissuetypes - List issue types (for organizations)
• get_label - Get label details
• subissuewrite - Manage sub-issues
• assigncopilotto_issue - Assign Copilot to an issue

Pull Request Operations

• listpullrequests - List repository pull requests
• pullrequestread - Read PR details
• createpullrequest - Create a new PR
• updatepullrequest - Update a PR
• updatepullrequest_branch - Update PR branch
• mergepullrequest - Merge a PR
• searchpullrequests - Search for pull requests
• pullrequestreview_write - Create/submit PR reviews
• addcommenttopendingreview - Add comments to pending review
• requestcopilotreview - Request Copilot review

User & Team Operations

• get_me - Get current authenticated user
• search_users - Search for users
• get_teams - Get organization teams
• getteammembers - Get team members

Configuration

The skill uses Docker to run the official GitHub MCP server:

• Image: ghcr.io/github/github-mcp-server
• Auth: GITHUBPERSONALACCESS_TOKEN environment variable

Environment Variables

Limiting Toolsets

When using MCP, configure toolsets via environment variables:

# Only repos and issues
GITHUB_TOOLSETS=repos,issues

# Only pull requests and code security
GITHUB_TOOLSETS=pull_requests,code_security

Error Handling

If operations fail:

1. Verify Docker is running: docker ps
2. Check GitHub token is set: echo $GITHUBPERSONALACCESS_TOKEN
3. Ensure token has required permissions for the operation
4. Use gh auth status to verify authentication

Related

• Official GitHub MCP Server: <https://github.com/github/github-mcp-server>;
• GitHub API Documentation: <https://docs.github.com/en/rest>;

Memory Protocol (MANDATORY)

Before starting: Read .claude/context/memory/learnings.md

After completing:

• New pattern -> .claude/context/memory/learnings.md
• Issue found -> .claude/context/memory/issues.md
• Decision made -> .claude/context/memory/decisions.md

ASSUME INTERRUPTION: If it's not in memory, it didn't happen.