GitHub MCP Remote Server Tools Report - 2025-10-20

[dsyme]

GitHub MCP Remote Server Tools Report

Generated: 2025-10-20
MCP Mode: Remote
Toolsets: All
Previous Report: 2025-10-19

Executive Summary

• Total Tools Discovered: 49
• Toolset Categories: 5
• Report Date: 2025-10-20
• Changes Since Last Report: No changes detected
  • New Tools: 0
  • Removed Tools: 0
  • Unchanged Tools: 49

Inconsistency Detection

Toolset Integrity Checks

After systematic exploration of all available tools across the expected 18 toolsets, the following findings were identified:

Tool Organization: ✅ All tools are properly categorized with no detected inconsistencies.

• No Duplicate Tools: No tools appear in multiple toolsets
• Proper Categorization: All tools are logically grouped according to their functionality
• Naming Consistency: Tools follow consistent naming patterns (action_entity pattern)
• No Orphaned Tools: All tools have clear toolset assignments

Notable Observation: ⚠️ Only 5 of the 18 expected toolsets have tools available in remote mode:

Toolsets with Tools (5):

• repos - 17 tools
• issues - 13 tools
• pull_requests - 13 tools
• users - 4 tools
• labels - 2 tools

Toolsets with No Exposed Tools (13):

• context - No tools available in remote mode
• actions - No tools available in remote mode
• code_security - No tools available in remote mode
• dependabot - No tools available in remote mode
• discussions - No tools available in remote mode
• experiments - No tools available in remote mode
• gists - No tools available in remote mode
• notifications - No tools available in remote mode
• orgs - No tools available in remote mode
• projects - No tools available in remote mode
• secret_protection - No tools available in remote mode
• security_advisories - No tools available in remote mode
• stargazers - No tools available in remote mode

These toolsets may be available in local mode or may be added in future versions of the GitHub MCP server.

Changes Since Last Report

Comparing the current tools inventory (2025-10-20) with the previous report (2025-10-19):

No tools were added, removed, or moved since the last report.

The tool inventory remains stable at 49 tools across 5 toolsets with identical categorization.

Tools by Toolset

repos Toolset (17 tools)

Core repository operations including file management, commits, branches, tags, and releases. Required for most GitHub operations.

Tool Name	Purpose	Key Parameters
create_branch	Create a new branch in a GitHub repository	owner, repo, branch, from_branch
create_or_update_file	Create or update a single file in a GitHub repository remotely	owner, repo, path, content, message, branch, sha
create_repository	Create a new GitHub repository in your account or specified organization	name, description, private, organization, autoInit
delete_file	Delete a file from a GitHub repository	owner, repo, path, message, branch
fork_repository	Fork a GitHub repository to your account or specified organization	owner, repo, organization
get_commit	Get details for a commit from a GitHub repository	owner, repo, sha, include_diff, page, perPage
get_file_contents	Get the contents of a file or directory from a GitHub repository	owner, repo, path, ref, sha
get_latest_release	Get the latest release in a GitHub repository	owner, repo
get_release_by_tag	Get a specific release by its tag name in a GitHub repository	owner, repo, tag
get_tag	Get details about a specific git tag in a GitHub repository	owner, repo, tag
list_branches	List branches in a GitHub repository	owner, repo, page, perPage
list_commits	Get list of commits of a branch in a GitHub repository	owner, repo, sha, author, page, perPage
list_releases	List releases in a GitHub repository	owner, repo, page, perPage
list_tags	List git tags in a GitHub repository	owner, repo, page, perPage
push_files	Push multiple files to a GitHub repository in a single commit	owner, repo, branch, files, message
search_code	Fast and precise code search across ALL GitHub repositories using GitHub's native search engine	query, sort, order, page, perPage
search_repositories	Find GitHub repositories by name, description, readme, topics, or other metadata	query, sort, order, page, perPage, minimal_output

Example Use Cases:

• Reading and modifying repository files
• Creating branches for feature development
• Searching code across GitHub
• Managing releases and tags
• Forking repositories for contributions

issues Toolset (13 tools)

Comprehensive issue management including creation, updates, comments, sub-issues, and search. Critical for issue tracking workflows.

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

Example Use Cases:

• Creating and tracking bugs and feature requests
• Managing sub-issues for complex tasks
• Adding comments for collaboration
• Searching issues across repositories
• Assigning Copilot to automatically resolve issues

pull_requests Toolset (13 tools)

Complete pull request workflow including creation, review, merging, and management. Essential for code review workflows.

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

Example Use Cases:

• Creating pull requests for code changes
• Conducting code reviews with line-specific comments
• Merging approved changes
• Requesting automated Copilot reviews
• Searching for pull requests by criteria

users Toolset (4 tools)

User and team information for authentication context and collaboration. Useful for understanding who the agent is working as.

Tool Name	Purpose	Key Parameters
get_me	Get details of the authenticated GitHub user	(none)
get_team_members	Get member usernames of a specific team in an organization	org, team_slug
get_teams	Get details of the teams the user is a member of	user
search_users	Find GitHub users by username, real name, or other profile information	query, sort, order, page, perPage

Example Use Cases:

• Determining authentication context
• Finding team members for collaboration
• Searching for users to assign to issues/PRs
• Understanding team structure

labels Toolset (2 tools)

Label management for organizing issues and pull requests. Small toolset with practical value.

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

Example Use Cases:

• Retrieving label information for categorization
• Listing available labels for issues/PRs
• Organizing issues by label

Recommended Default Toolsets

Based on the analysis of available tools and their usage patterns, the following toolsets are recommended as defaults when no toolset is specified:

Recommended Defaults: repos, issues, pull_requests, users, labels

Rationale:

• repos: Essential core functionality with 17 tools for repository operations including file management, commits, branches, tags, and releases. Required for most GitHub operations. This is the foundation toolset.
• issues: Critical for issue tracking and management with 13 tools covering issue creation, updates, comments, sub-issues, and search capabilities. Most workflows involve issue management.
• pull_requests: Comprehensive PR functionality with 13 tools for creating, reviewing, merging, and managing pull requests. Essential for code review workflows and collaboration.
• users: Useful context tools with 4 tools for authentication details, team information, and user search. Helps agents understand who they're working as and enables collaboration features.
• labels: Small but useful toolset with 2 tools for label management. Minimal overhead with practical value for issue/PR organization. Only 2 tools, so negligible performance impact.

Changes from Current Defaults:

• Removed context: This toolset has no tools available in remote mode, making it ineffective as a default. Including it only creates confusion.
• Added labels: Small toolset (only 2 tools) that provides useful label management functionality without significant overhead. Commonly used for organizing issues and PRs.

Specialized Toolsets (enable explicitly when needed):

• The following toolsets currently have no exposed tools in remote mode but may be available in local mode or future versions: actions, code_security, dependabot, discussions, experiments, gists, notifications, orgs, projects, secret_protection, security_advisories, stargazers
• Enable these toolsets explicitly in your configuration when their specific functionality becomes available

Toolset Configuration Reference

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

YAML Configuration:

tools:
  github:
    mode: "remote"  # or "local"
    toolset: [repos, issues, pull_requests, users, labels]

Using All Toolsets:

tools:
  github:
    mode: "remote"
    toolset: [all]

Custom Toolset Selection:

tools:
  github:
    mode: "remote"
    toolset: [repos, issues]  # Only enable repos and issues

Available toolset options:

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

Note: The following toolsets are documented but have no tools in remote mode: context, actions, code_security, dependabot, discussions, experiments, gists, notifications, orgs, projects, secret_protection, security_advisories, stargazers

Notes and Observations

Key Findings

1. Stable Tool Inventory: The tool inventory has remained stable since the last report (2025-10-19) with no additions, removals, or changes. This indicates a mature, stable API.

2. Limited Toolset Availability: Only 5 of 18 expected toolsets have tools available in remote mode. This represents approximately 28% of the documented toolsets. The remaining 13 toolsets may be:

   • Available only in local mode
   • Planned for future releases
   • Deprecated or removed from remote mode for security reasons

3. Toolset Size Distribution:

   • Large toolsets (13-17 tools): repos, issues, pull_requests
   • Small toolsets (2-4 tools): users, labels
   • Empty toolsets (0 tools): 13 toolsets

4. Comprehensive Coverage: Despite only 5 active toolsets, the 49 available tools provide comprehensive coverage of core GitHub operations:

   • Repository management and file operations
   • Issue tracking and management
   • Pull request workflows
   • User and team collaboration
   • Basic organization with labels

5. Default Toolsets Optimization: By removing the non-functional context toolset and adding the small labels toolset, we improve the default configuration to only include functional tools while maintaining comprehensive coverage.

Best Practices

1. Start with Defaults: The recommended default toolsets (repos, issues, pull_requests, users, labels) provide excellent coverage for most workflows.

2. Explicit Toolset Selection: For specialized workflows, explicitly specify only the toolsets you need to minimize initialization overhead.

3. Monitor for Updates: As the GitHub MCP server evolves, additional toolsets may become available. Check for updates regularly.

4. Security Considerations: Consider using read-only mode when agents only need to fetch information, not modify resources.

Future Recommendations

1. Monitor Additional Toolsets: Watch for tools being added to currently empty toolsets like actions, discussions, gists, notifications, orgs, and projects.

2. Documentation Updates: As new toolsets become available, update the default toolsets if they provide commonly needed functionality.

3. Performance Testing: Conduct performance testing to understand the overhead of enabling additional toolsets when they become available.

Methodology

• Discovery Method: Self-inspection of available tools in the GitHub MCP remote server by analyzing the MCP tool descriptions provided in the agent environment
• **MCP
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AI generated by GitHub MCP Remote Server Tools Report Generator

[pelikhan]

/q remove "Notes and Observations" section.

[github-actions[bot]]

Agentic Q triggered by this discussion comment.

[github-actions[bot]]

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