diff --git a/src/VCS/Adapter/Git/GitHub.php b/src/VCS/Adapter/Git/GitHub.php
index 1af30388..f1a58307 100644
--- a/src/VCS/Adapter/Git/GitHub.php
+++ b/src/VCS/Adapter/Git/GitHub.php
@@ -636,8 +636,9 @@ protected function generateAccessToken(string $privateKey, ?string $appId): void
         $this->jwtToken = $token;
         $response = $this->call(self::METHOD_POST, '/app/installations/' . $this->installationId . '/access_tokens', ['Authorization' => 'Bearer ' . $token]);
         $responseBody = $response['body'] ?? [];
+        $statusCode = $response['headers']['status-code'] ?? 0;
         if (!array_key_exists('token', $responseBody)) {
-            throw new Exception('Failed to retrieve access token from GitHub API.');
+            throw new Exception('Failed to retrieve access token from GitHub API. Status: ' . $statusCode . '. Response: ' . \json_encode($responseBody));
         }
         $this->accessToken = $responseBody['token'] ?? '';
     }
@@ -742,32 +743,72 @@ public function getPullRequestFromBranch(string $owner, string $repositoryName,
     }
 
     /**
-     * Lists branches for a given repository
+     * Lists branches using GitHub GraphQL with cursor pagination and optional substring search.
      *
-     * @param  string  $owner Owner name of the repository
-     * @param  string  $repositoryName Name of the GitHub repository
-     * @param  int  $perPage Number of branches to fetch per page
-     * @param  int  $page Page number to start fetching from
-     * @return array<string> List of branch names as array
+     * Uses refs(query:) for substring search — 'auth' matches 'feature/auth' and 'fix-auth'.
+     * Returns items, totalCount and nextCursor for proper infinite scroll support.
+     *
+     * @param  string  $owner
+     * @param  string  $repositoryName
+     * @param  int  $perPage Clamped to [1, 100]
+     * @param  string|null  $cursor Opaque cursor from previous nextCursor to resume pagination
+     * @param  string  $search Substring filter; empty returns all branches
+     * @return array{items: array<string>, total: int, nextCursor: string|null}
      */
-    public function listBranches(string $owner, string $repositoryName, int $perPage = 100, int $page = 1): array
+    public function listBranches(string $owner, string $repositoryName, int $perPage = 100, string|null $cursor = null, string $search = ''): array
     {
-        $url = "/repos/$owner/$repositoryName/branches";
         $perPage = min(max($perPage, 1), 100);
 
-        $response = $this->call(self::METHOD_GET, $url, ['Authorization' => "Bearer $this->accessToken"], [
-            'page' => $page,
-            'per_page' => $perPage,
+        $gql = <<<'GRAPHQL'
+query ListBranches($owner: String!, $name: String!, $first: Int!, $after: String, $query: String) {
+  repository(owner: $owner, name: $name) {
+    refs(refPrefix: "refs/heads/", first: $first, after: $after, orderBy: {field: ALPHABETICAL, direction: ASC}, query: $query) {
+      totalCount
+      pageInfo {
+        hasNextPage
+        endCursor
+      }
+      nodes {
+        name
+      }
+    }
+  }
+}
+GRAPHQL;
+
+        $response = $this->call(self::METHOD_POST, '/graphql', ['Authorization' => "Bearer $this->accessToken"], [
+            'query' => $gql,
+            'variables' => [
+                'owner' => $owner,
+                'name' => $repositoryName,
+                'first' => $perPage,
+                'after' => $cursor,
+                'query' => $search !== '' ? $search : null,
+            ],
         ]);
 
         $statusCode = $response['headers']['status-code'] ?? 0;
         $responseBody = $response['body'] ?? [];
 
-        if ($statusCode < 200 || $statusCode >= 300 || !is_array($responseBody)) {
-            return [];
+        if ($statusCode < 200 || $statusCode >= 300 || !is_array($responseBody) || array_key_exists('errors', $responseBody)) {
+            return ['items' => [], 'total' => 0, 'nextCursor' => null];
+        }
+
+        $repository = $responseBody['data']['repository'] ?? null;
+        $refs = is_array($repository) ? ($repository['refs'] ?? null) : null;
+
+        if (!is_array($refs)) {
+            return ['items' => [], 'total' => 0, 'nextCursor' => null];
         }
 
-        return array_values(array_map(fn ($branch) => $branch['name'] ?? '', $responseBody));
+        $pageInfo = $refs['pageInfo'] ?? [];
+        $hasNextPage = (bool) ($pageInfo['hasNextPage'] ?? false);
+
+        return [
+            'items' => array_map(fn ($node) => $node['name'] ?? '', $refs['nodes'] ?? []),
+            'total' => (int) ($refs['totalCount'] ?? 0),
+            'nextCursor' => $hasNextPage ? ($pageInfo['endCursor'] ?? null) : null,
+        ];
     }
 
     /**
diff --git a/tests/VCS/Adapter/GitHubTest.php b/tests/VCS/Adapter/GitHubTest.php
index f1c4b2fc..2863af18 100644
--- a/tests/VCS/Adapter/GitHubTest.php
+++ b/tests/VCS/Adapter/GitHubTest.php
@@ -473,11 +473,12 @@ public function testListBranches(): void
         try {
             $this->vcsAdapter->createFile(static::$owner, $repositoryName, 'README.md', '# Test');
 
-            $branches = $this->vcsAdapter->listBranches(static::$owner, $repositoryName);
+            $result = $this->vcsAdapter->listBranches(static::$owner, $repositoryName);
 
-            $this->assertIsArray($branches);
-            $this->assertNotEmpty($branches);
-            $this->assertContains(static::$defaultBranch, $branches);
+            $this->assertIsArray($result['items']);
+            $this->assertNotEmpty($result['items']);
+            $this->assertContains(static::$defaultBranch, $result['items']);
+            $this->assertGreaterThan(0, $result['total']);
         } finally {
             $this->vcsAdapter->deleteRepository(static::$owner, $repositoryName);
         }
@@ -540,14 +541,30 @@ public function testListBranchesPagination(): void
             /** @var GitHub $adapter */
             $adapter = $this->vcsAdapter;
 
-            $page1 = $adapter->listBranches(static::$owner, $repositoryName, 1, 1);
-            $this->assertSame(['branch-a'], $page1);
-
-            $page2 = $adapter->listBranches(static::$owner, $repositoryName, 1, 2);
-            $this->assertSame(['branch-b'], $page2);
-
-            $all = $adapter->listBranches(static::$owner, $repositoryName, 100, 1);
-            $this->assertEqualsCanonicalizing([static::$defaultBranch, 'branch-a', 'branch-b'], $all);
+            // Page 1: first branch alphabetically
+            $page1 = $adapter->listBranches(static::$owner, $repositoryName, 1);
+            $this->assertSame(['branch-a'], $page1['items']);
+            $this->assertSame(3, $page1['total']);
+            $this->assertNotNull($page1['nextCursor']);
+
+            // Page 2: use cursor from page 1
+            $page2 = $adapter->listBranches(static::$owner, $repositoryName, 1, $page1['nextCursor']);
+            $this->assertSame(['branch-b'], $page2['items']);
+            $this->assertNotNull($page2['nextCursor']);
+
+            // All branches
+            $all = $adapter->listBranches(static::$owner, $repositoryName, 100);
+            $this->assertEqualsCanonicalizing([static::$defaultBranch, 'branch-a', 'branch-b'], $all['items']);
+            $this->assertSame(3, $all['total']);
+            $this->assertNull($all['nextCursor']);
+
+            // Search: substring matching
+            $searchResults = $adapter->listBranches(static::$owner, $repositoryName, 100, null, 'branch');
+            $this->assertEqualsCanonicalizing(['branch-a', 'branch-b'], $searchResults['items']);
+
+            // GitHub refs(query:) does substring matching, so 'ranch' matches 'branch-a' and 'branch-b'
+            $substringSearch = $adapter->listBranches(static::$owner, $repositoryName, 100, null, 'ranch');
+            $this->assertEqualsCanonicalizing(['branch-a', 'branch-b'], $substringSearch['items']);
         } finally {
             $this->vcsAdapter->deleteRepository(static::$owner, $repositoryName);
         }
@@ -559,10 +576,11 @@ public function testListBranchesEmptyRepository(): void
         $this->vcsAdapter->createRepository(static::$owner, $repositoryName, false);
 
         try {
-            $branches = $this->vcsAdapter->listBranches(static::$owner, $repositoryName);
+            $result = $this->vcsAdapter->listBranches(static::$owner, $repositoryName);
 
-            $this->assertIsArray($branches);
-            $this->assertEmpty($branches);
+            $this->assertEmpty($result['items']);
+            $this->assertSame(0, $result['total']);
+            $this->assertNull($result['nextCursor']);
         } finally {
             $this->vcsAdapter->deleteRepository(static::$owner, $repositoryName);
         }
@@ -570,10 +588,11 @@ public function testListBranchesEmptyRepository(): void
 
     public function testListBranchesNonExistingRepository(): void
     {
-        $branches = $this->vcsAdapter->listBranches(static::$owner, 'non-existing-repo-' . \uniqid());
+        $result = $this->vcsAdapter->listBranches(static::$owner, 'non-existing-repo-' . \uniqid());
 
-        $this->assertIsArray($branches);
-        $this->assertEmpty($branches);
+        $this->assertEmpty($result['items']);
+        $this->assertSame(0, $result['total']);
+        $this->assertNull($result['nextCursor']);
     }
 
     public function testGetLatestCommit(): void