Skip to content

Commit 275d315

Browse files
committed
docs: add required GitHub token permissions per action (#128)
1 parent 01aefd3 commit 275d315

File tree

1 file changed

+61
-18
lines changed

1 file changed

+61
-18
lines changed

README.md

Lines changed: 61 additions & 18 deletions
Original file line numberDiff line numberDiff line change
@@ -15,11 +15,67 @@ automation and interaction capabilities for developers and tools.
1515
## Prerequisites
1616

1717
1. To run the server in a container, you will need to have [Docker](https://www.docker.com/) installed.
18-
2. Once Docker is installed, you will also need to ensure Docker is running.
19-
3. Lastly you will need to [Create a GitHub Personal Access Token](https://github.com/settings/personal-access-tokens/new).
20-
The MCP server can use many of the GitHub APIs, so enable the permissions that you feel comfortable granting your AI tools (to learn more about access tokens, please check out the [documentation](https://docs.github.com/en/authentication/keeping-your-account-and-data-secure/managing-your-personal-access-tokens)).
18+
2. [Create a GitHub Personal Access Token](https://github.com/settings/personal-access-tokens/new).
19+
Each tool requires specific permissions to function. See the [Required Token Permissions](#required-token-permissions) section below for details.
2120

21+
## Required Token Permissions
2222

23+
Each tool requires specific GitHub Personal Access Token permissions to function. Below are the required permissions for each tool category:
24+
25+
### Users
26+
- **get_me**
27+
- Required permissions:
28+
- `read:user` - Read access to profile info
29+
30+
### Issues
31+
- **get_issue**, **get_issue_comments**, **list_issues**
32+
- Required permissions:
33+
- `repo` - Full control of private repositories (for private repos)
34+
- `public_repo` - Access public repositories (for public repos)
35+
36+
- **create_issue**, **add_issue_comment**, **update_issue**
37+
- Required permissions:
38+
- `repo` - Full control of private repositories (for private repos)
39+
- `public_repo` - Access public repositories (for public repos)
40+
- `write:discussion` - Write access to repository discussions (if using discussions)
41+
42+
### Pull Requests
43+
- **get_pull_request**, **list_pull_requests**, **get_pull_request_files**, **get_pull_request_status**
44+
- Required permissions:
45+
- `repo` - Full control of private repositories (for private repos)
46+
- `public_repo` - Access public repositories (for public repos)
47+
48+
- **merge_pull_request**, **update_pull_request_branch**, **create_pull_request**, **update_pull_request**
49+
- Required permissions:
50+
- `repo` - Full control of private repositories (for private repos)
51+
- `public_repo` - Access public repositories (for public repos)
52+
- `write:discussion` - Write access to repository discussions (if using discussions)
53+
54+
### Repositories
55+
- **get_file_contents**, **search_repositories**, **list_commits**
56+
- Required permissions:
57+
- `repo` - Full control of private repositories (for private repos)
58+
- `public_repo` - Access public repositories (for public repos)
59+
60+
- **create_or_update_file**, **push_files**, **create_repository**, **fork_repository**, **create_branch**
61+
- Required permissions:
62+
- `repo` - Full control of private repositories (for private repos)
63+
- `public_repo` - Access public repositories (for public repos)
64+
- `delete_repo` - Delete repositories (if needed)
65+
66+
### Search
67+
- **search_code**, **search_users**
68+
- Required permissions:
69+
- No special permissions required for public data
70+
- `repo` - Required for searching private repositories
71+
72+
### Code Scanning
73+
- **get_code_scanning_alert**, **list_code_scanning_alerts**
74+
- Required permissions:
75+
- `security_events` - Read and write security events
76+
- `repo` - Full control of private repositories (for private repos)
77+
78+
Note: For organization repositories, additional organization-specific permissions may be required.
2379

2480
## Installation
2581

@@ -311,13 +367,6 @@ export GITHUB_MCP_TOOL_ADD_ISSUE_COMMENT_DESCRIPTION="an alternative description
311367
- `branch`: Branch name (string, optional)
312368
- `sha`: File SHA if updating (string, optional)
313369

314-
- **list_branches** - List branches in a GitHub repository
315-
316-
- `owner`: Repository owner (string, required)
317-
- `repo`: Repository name (string, required)
318-
- `page`: Page number (number, optional)
319-
- `perPage`: Results per page (number, optional)
320-
321370
- **push_files** - Push multiple files in a single commit
322371

323372
- `owner`: Repository owner (string, required)
@@ -361,21 +410,14 @@ export GITHUB_MCP_TOOL_ADD_ISSUE_COMMENT_DESCRIPTION="an alternative description
361410
- `branch`: New branch name (string, required)
362411
- `sha`: SHA to create branch from (string, required)
363412

364-
- **list_commits** - Get a list of commits of a branch in a repository
413+
- **list_commits** - Gets commits of a branch in a repository
365414
- `owner`: Repository owner (string, required)
366415
- `repo`: Repository name (string, required)
367416
- `sha`: Branch name, tag, or commit SHA (string, optional)
368417
- `path`: Only commits containing this file path (string, optional)
369418
- `page`: Page number (number, optional)
370419
- `perPage`: Results per page (number, optional)
371420

372-
- **get_commit** - Get details for a commit from a repository
373-
- `owner`: Repository owner (string, required)
374-
- `repo`: Repository name (string, required)
375-
- `sha`: Commit SHA, branch name, or tag name (string, required)
376-
- `page`: Page number, for files in the commit (number, optional)
377-
- `perPage`: Results per page, for files in the commit (number, optional)
378-
379421
### Search
380422

381423
- **search_code** - Search for code across GitHub repositories
@@ -468,3 +510,4 @@ The exported Go API of this module should currently be considered unstable, and
468510
## License
469511

470512
This project is licensed under the terms of the MIT open source license. Please refer to [MIT](./LICENSE) for the full terms.
513+

0 commit comments

Comments
 (0)