Authentication

The GitHub MCP Server uses githubauthlib for secure authentication.

How Authentication Works

• Tokens are stored in the system keychain
• No manual token management required
• Tokens are encrypted and never stored in plaintext

Setup Steps

1. Ensure you are logged into GitHub on your system
2. The server will automatically retrieve tokens from the keychain
3. If prompted, grant keychain access

Authentication Flow

sequenceDiagram
    participant User
    participant Keychain
    participant MCPServer
    participant GitHub
    User->>MCPServer: Start server
    MCPServer->>Keychain: Request GitHub token
    Keychain-->>MCPServer: Return token
    MCPServer->>GitHub: Authenticate API requests
    GitHub-->>MCPServer: API responses
    MCPServer-->>User: Tool results

Troubleshooting

• Ensure keychain access is enabled
• Check GitHub account status
• See Security for more info