Install GitHub MCP Server in Roo Code

Roo Code is an AI coding assistant that runs in VS Code-compatible editors (VS Code, Cursor, Windsurf, etc.). For general setup information (prerequisites, Docker installation, security best practices), see the Installation Guides README.

Remote Server

Step-by-step setup

1. Click the Roo Code icon in your editor's sidebar to open the Roo Code pane
2. Click the gear icon (⚙️) in the top navigation of the Roo Code pane, then click on "MCP Servers" icon on the left.
3. Scroll to the bottom and click "Edit Global MCP" (for all projects) or "Edit Project MCP" (for the current project only)
4. Add the configuration below to the opened file (mcp_settings.json or .roo/mcp.json)
5. Replace YOUR_GITHUB_PAT with your GitHub Personal Access Token
6. Save the file — the server should connect automatically

{
  "mcpServers": {
    "github": {
      "type": "streamable-http",
      "url": "https://api.githubcopilot.com/mcp/",
      "headers": {
        "Authorization": "Bearer YOUR_GITHUB_PAT"
      }
    }
  }
}

Important: The type must be "streamable-http" (with hyphen). Using "http" or omitting the type will fail.

To customize toolsets, add server-side headers like X-MCP-Toolsets or X-MCP-Readonly to the headers object — see Server Configuration Guide.

Local Server (Docker)

Log in with OAuth instead of a token. On github.com the official image already includes the app credentials, so you provide none yourself — the server opens a browser login on first use and keeps the token in memory only. In Docker, publish a fixed callback port to loopback:

{
  "mcpServers": {
    "github": {
      "command": "docker",
      "args": [
        "run", "-i", "--rm",
        "-p", "127.0.0.1:8085:8085",
        "-e", "GITHUB_OAUTH_CALLBACK_PORT",
        "ghcr.io/github/github-mcp-server"
      ],
      "env": {
        "GITHUB_OAUTH_CALLBACK_PORT": "8085"
      }
    }
  }
}

See Local Server OAuth Login for the native-binary flow (no fixed port), headless/device-code fallback, GitHub Enterprise, and bringing your own OAuth or GitHub App.

To authenticate with a Personal Access Token instead (replace YOUR_GITHUB_PAT; it takes precedence over OAuth):

{
  "mcpServers": {
    "github": {
      "command": "docker",
      "args": [
        "run", "-i", "--rm",
        "-e", "GITHUB_PERSONAL_ACCESS_TOKEN",
        "ghcr.io/github/github-mcp-server"
      ],
      "env": {
        "GITHUB_PERSONAL_ACCESS_TOKEN": "YOUR_GITHUB_PAT"
      }
    }
  }
}

Troubleshooting

• Connection failures: Ensure type is streamable-http, not http
• Authentication failures: Verify PAT is prefixed with Bearer in the Authorization header
• Docker issues: Ensure Docker Desktop is running