GitHub MCP Remote Server Tools Report - 2025-10-19

[dsyme]

GitHub MCP Remote Server Tools Report

Generated: 2025-10-19
MCP Mode: Remote
Toolsets: All
Previous Report: 2025-10-17

Executive Summary

• Total Tools Discovered: 49
• Toolset Categories: 18 defined, 5 active
• Report Date: 2025-10-19
• Changes Since Last Report:
  • New Tools: 0
  • Removed Tools: 0
  • Unchanged Tools: 49
  • Tools Moved Between Toolsets: 0

Inconsistency Detection

Toolset Integrity Checks

After systematically exploring all 18 defined toolsets, the following findings were identified:

✅ No Critical Inconsistencies Found:

• No duplicate tools across toolsets
• All tools are properly categorized with consistent naming patterns
• Tool names follow the action_subject convention (e.g., create_issue, list_branches)
• No orphaned tools detected

⚠️ Observations:

• 13 of 18 toolsets have zero tools: The following toolsets are defined but currently have no available tools:

  • context - GitHub Actions context and environment
  • actions - GitHub Actions workflows
  • code_security - Code scanning alerts
  • dependabot - Dependabot alerts
  • discussions - GitHub Discussions
  • experiments - Experimental features
  • gists - Gist operations
  • notifications - Notification management
  • orgs - Organization operations
  • projects - GitHub Projects
  • secret_protection - Secret scanning
  • security_advisories - Security advisories
  • stargazers - Repository stars

• Recommendation: These inactive toolsets should either:

  1. Be populated with tools if functionality is planned
  2. Be documented as "coming soon" or "experimental"
  3. Be removed from the available toolsets list if not planned for implementation

Changes Since Last Report

Previous Report Date: 2025-10-17
Current Report Date: 2025-10-19

Summary

No tools were added, removed, or moved between toolsets since the last report. All 49 tools remain unchanged across the 5 active toolsets.

New Tools Added ✨

None.

Removed Tools 🗑️

None.

Tools Moved Between Toolsets 🔄

None.

Tools by Toolset

The GitHub MCP Remote Server currently provides 49 tools organized across 5 active toolsets.

Pull Requests Toolset (13 tools)

Complete pull request workflow management including creation, review, and merging.

Tool Name	Purpose	Key Parameters
add_comment_to_pending_review	Add review comment to pending PR review	owner, repo, pullNumber, path, body, line, side
create_and_submit_pull_request_review	Create and submit PR review without comments	owner, repo, pullNumber, body, event, commitID
create_pending_pull_request_review	Create pending PR review before adding comments	owner, repo, pullNumber, commitID
create_pull_request	Create a new pull request	owner, repo, title, head, base, body, draft
delete_pending_pull_request_review	Delete pending PR review	owner, repo, pullNumber
list_pull_requests	List pull requests in a repository	owner, repo, state, head, base, sort, direction
merge_pull_request	Merge a pull request	owner, repo, pullNumber, merge_method, commit_title
pull_request_read	Get PR information (details, diff, status, files, reviews)	method, owner, repo, pullNumber, page, perPage
request_copilot_review	Request GitHub Copilot code review for a PR	owner, repo, pullNumber
search_pull_requests	Search for pull requests using search syntax	query, owner, repo, sort, order, page, perPage
submit_pending_pull_request_review	Submit pending PR review	owner, repo, pullNumber, event, body
update_pull_request	Update an existing pull request	owner, repo, pullNumber, title, body, state, base, draft
update_pull_request_branch	Update PR branch with base branch changes	owner, repo, pullNumber, expectedHeadSha

Issues Toolset (13 tools)

Comprehensive issue management including sub-issues and Copilot integration.

Tool Name	Purpose	Key Parameters
add_issue_comment	Add a comment to an issue	owner, repo, issue_number, body
add_sub_issue	Add a sub-issue to a parent issue	owner, repo, issue_number, sub_issue_id, replace_parent
assign_copilot_to_issue	Assign Copilot to create a PR resolving the issue	owner, repo, issueNumber
create_issue	Create a new issue	owner, repo, title, body, assignees, labels, type
get_issue	Get details of a specific issue	owner, repo, issue_number
get_issue_comments	Get comments for an issue	owner, repo, issue_number, page, perPage
list_issue_types	List supported issue types for organization	owner
list_issues	List issues with filtering and pagination	owner, repo, state, labels, since, orderBy, direction, after, perPage
list_sub_issues	List sub-issues for a specific issue	owner, repo, issue_number, page, per_page
remove_sub_issue	Remove a sub-issue from a parent issue	owner, repo, issue_number, sub_issue_id
reprioritize_sub_issue	Reprioritize a sub-issue position	owner, repo, issue_number, sub_issue_id, before_id, after_id
search_issues	Search for issues using search syntax	query, owner, repo, sort, order, page, perPage
update_issue	Update an existing issue	owner, repo, issue_number, title, body, state, state_reason, duplicate_of, assignees, labels

Repos Toolset (17 tools)

Core repository operations including file management, branches, commits, releases, and search.

Tool Name	Purpose	Key Parameters
create_branch	Create a new branch	owner, repo, branch, from_branch
create_or_update_file	Create or update a file remotely	owner, repo, path, content, message, branch, sha
create_repository	Create a new repository	name, organization, description, private, autoInit
delete_file	Delete a file from repository	owner, repo, path, message, branch
fork_repository	Fork a repository	owner, repo, organization
get_commit	Get commit details	owner, repo, sha, include_diff, page, perPage
get_file_contents	Get file or directory contents	owner, repo, path, ref, sha
get_latest_release	Get the latest release	owner, repo
get_release_by_tag	Get release by tag name	owner, repo, tag
get_tag	Get git tag details	owner, repo, tag
list_branches	List branches	owner, repo, page, perPage
list_commits	List commits	owner, repo, sha, author, page, perPage
list_releases	List releases	owner, repo, page, perPage
list_tags	List git tags	owner, repo, page, perPage
push_files	Push multiple files in single commit	owner, repo, branch, files, message
search_code	Search code across GitHub	query, sort, order, page, perPage
search_repositories	Search for repositories	query, sort, order, page, perPage, minimal_output

Users Toolset (4 tools)

User authentication, team membership, and user search operations.

Tool Name	Purpose	Key Parameters
get_me	Get authenticated user details	(no parameters)
get_team_members	Get team member usernames	org, team_slug
get_teams	Get teams user is member of	user
search_users	Search for users	query, sort, order, page, perPage

Labels Toolset (2 tools)

Label management for repositories and issues.

Tool Name	Purpose	Key Parameters
get_label	Get a specific label from a repository	owner, repo, name
list_label	List labels from repository or issue	owner, repo, issue_number

Usage Examples

Example 1: Creating and Reviewing a Pull Request

tools:
  github:
    mode: "remote"
    toolset: [repos, pull_requests, users]

Workflow:

1. Create a branch with create_branch
2. Push files with push_files
3. Create PR with create_pull_request
4. Request Copilot review with request_copilot_review
5. Add review comments with create_pending_pull_request_review + add_comment_to_pending_review
6. Submit review with submit_pending_pull_request_review

Example 2: Managing Issues with Sub-Issues

tools:
  github:
    mode: "remote"
    toolset: [issues, users]

Workflow:

1. Create parent issue with create_issue
2. Create sub-issues with create_issue
3. Link sub-issues with add_sub_issue
4. Add comments with add_issue_comment
5. Assign Copilot to work on issues with assign_copilot_to_issue

Example 3: Repository Code Search and Analysis

tools:
  github:
    mode: "remote"
    read-only: true
    toolset: [repos]

Workflow:

1. Search code with search_code
2. Get file contents with get_file_contents
3. Get commit details with get_commit
4. List branches with list_branches

Recommended Default Toolsets

Based on analysis of the 49 available tools across active toolsets, the following are recommended as defaults when no toolset is specified:

Recommended Defaults: repos, issues, pull_requests, users

Rationale

1. repos (17 tools - 35% of total):

   • Essential for repository operations including file management (CRUD)
   • Branch and commit operations
   • Release and tag management
   • Code and repository search
   • Foundation for most repository interactions

2. issues (13 tools - 27% of total):

   • Core issue management functionality
   • CRUD operations, comments, and sub-issues
   • Issue search and filtering
   • Copilot integration for automated issue resolution
   • Critical for issue tracking workflows

3. pull_requests (13 tools - 27% of total):

   • Complete PR workflow support
   • PR creation, review management, and merging
   • Copilot code review integration
   • Essential for code review and collaboration

4. users (4 tools - 8% of total):

   • User authentication checking (get_me)
   • Team membership operations
   • User search
   • Useful for permission validation and collaboration features

Changes from Previous Defaults

Removed: context toolset

• Reason: Currently has no available tools
• Impact: No functional impact as no tools were being provided

Specialized Toolsets (Enable Explicitly)

• labels (2 tools): Limited functionality for label management. Enable when label operations are specifically needed.
• Inactive toolsets: 13 toolsets (actions, code_security, dependabot, discussions, etc.) currently have no tools and should only be specified if they become active in the future.

Toolset Configuration Reference

When configuring the GitHub MCP server in agentic workflows, you can enable specific toolsets:

tools:
  github:
    mode: "remote"  # or "local"
    toolset: [repos, issues, pull_requests, users]  # or [all]
    read-only: false  # optional
    github-token: "${{ secrets.CUSTOM_GITHUB_PAT }}"  # optional

Available Toolset Options

Active Toolsets (with tools)

• repos (17 tools) - Repository operations
• issues (13 tools) - Issue management
• pull_requests (13 tools) - Pull request operations
• users (4 tools) - User information
• labels (2 tools) - Label management

Inactive Toolsets (no tools currently available)

• context - GitHub Actions context and environment
• actions - GitHub Actions workflows
• code_security - Code scanning alerts
• dependabot - Dependabot alerts
• discussions - GitHub Discussions
• experiments - Experimental features
• gists - Gist operations
• notifications - Notification management
• orgs - Organization operations
• projects - GitHub Projects
• secret_protection - Secret scanning
• security_advisories - Security advisories
• stargazers - Repository stars

Special Values

• [all] - Enable all available toolsets (currently activates the 5 active toolsets)

Notes and Observations

Key Findings

1. Stable Tool Set: No changes in the 49 available tools between the October 17 and October 19 reports, indicating a stable API surface.

2. Limited Toolset Coverage: Only 5 of 18 defined toolsets (28%) have available tools. This suggests:

   • The other 13 toolsets may be planned for future implementation
   • Some toolsets may be deprecated or experimental
   • Documentation should clarify the status of inactive toolsets

3. Well-Organized Tool Categories: The 5 active toolsets provide comprehensive coverage of core GitHub operations:

   • Repository management (35%)
   • Issue tracking (27%)
   • Pull request workflow (27%)
   • User operations (8%)
   • Label management (3%)

4. Copilot Integration: Both issues and pull_requests toolsets include Copilot integration tools (assign_copilot_to_issue and request_copilot_review), showing emphasis on AI-assisted development workflows.

5. Sub-Issue Support: The issues toolset has rich sub-issue management capabilities (add, remove, list, reprioritize), enabling hierarchical issue organization.

6. Search Capabilities: Three specialized search tools are available:

   • search_code - Code search across all repositories
   • search_repositories - Repository discovery
   • search_issues and search_pull_requests - Issue and PR search

Recommendations

1. Document Toolset Status: Clarify which of the 13 inactive toolsets are:

   • Planned for future implementation
   • Experimental or in development
   • Deprecated or not planned

2. Update Default Configuration: The recommendation to remove context from default toolsets has been implemented in:

   • .github/instructions/github-mcp-server.instructions.md
   • .github/instructions/github-agentic-workflows.instructions.md
   • pkg/cli/templates/instructions.md

3. Consider Consolidation: With only 2 tools, the labels toolset could potentially be merged into the repos toolset for simplicity, though the current separation is logical.

4. Monitor Toolset Growth: Track when inactive toolsets become active and update default recommendations accordingly.

Methodology

• Discovery Method: Self-inspection of available MCP GitHub tools provided to the agent
• MCP Configuration: Remote mode with all toolsets enabled
• Categorization: Based on tool prefixes, functionality, and GitHub API domains
• Documentation: Derived from tool descriptions, parameters, and actual tool signatures
• Comparison: Tools compared with previous report (2025-10-17) to identify changes
• Validation: Each of the 18 defined toolsets was systematically checked for available tools

Additional Documentation

For comprehensive information about the GitHub MCP server, including detailed tool documentation, configuration options, authentication details, and usage examples, see:

.github/instructions/github-mcp-server.instructions.md

This reference document has been updated with:

• Complete tool listings with parameters
• Configuration examples for remote and local modes
• Authentication details (Bearer token, X-MCP-Readonly header)
• Recommended default toolsets with rationale
• Best practices for toolset selection
• Troubleshooting guide
• Performance tips

AI generated by GitHub MCP Remote Server Tools Report Generator

[pelikhan]

/q remove "usage examples" section

[github-actions[bot]]

Agentic Q triggered by this discussion comment.

[dsyme]

✅ Done! I've created a pull request to remove the "Usage Examples" section from the GitHub MCP server documentation.

What was changed:

1. .github/instructions/github-mcp-server.instructions.md - Removed the "Usage Examples" section and updated the file description
2. .github/workflows/github-mcp-tools-report.md - Updated the workflow to not generate usage examples in future reports

All references to "usage examples" have been removed from both files. The changes are minimal and surgical, affecting only documentation content.

The PR is ready for review! 🚀

AI generated by Q for discussion #1971

[github-actions[bot]]

This discussion was automatically closed because it was created by an agentic workflow more than 1 month ago.