How to Connect GitHub

🔧 Tools · MCP

The Remote GitHub MCP Server at https://api.githubcopilot.com/mcp/ exposes repositories, issues, pull requests, Actions, code scanning, and more. The example below enables the X-MCP-Readonly: true header to keep the agent read-only; drop the header to let it write.

1. Create a GitHub OAuth App

1. Go to OAuth Apps → New OAuth App under your account's Developer settings, or your org's (e.g. https://github.com/organizations/<your-org>/settings/applications) to own the app at the org level.
2. Fill in:
   • Application name — Zeta Alpha MCP.
   • Homepage URL — https://zeta-alpha.com.
   • Authorization callback URL — https://api.zeta-alpha.com/v0/service/mcp/oauth/callback.
3. Register, then Generate a new client secret and copy it immediately — GitHub only shows it once.

2. Add the Server to the Agent

In Platform Admin, open the agent's Configuration and add this entry to mcp_tools_provider_configuration.servers (see Connecting MCP Servers):

{
  "transport": "streamable-http",
  "transport_config": {
    "streamable_http": {
      "url": "https://api.githubcopilot.com/mcp/",
      "name": "github",
      "headers": {
        "X-MCP-Readonly": "true"
      },
      "timeout": 30,
      "oauth_client": {
        "server_url": "https://api.githubcopilot.com/mcp/",
        "client_id": "<GitHub Client ID>",
        "client_secret": "<GitHub Client secret>",
        "client_metadata": {
          "client_name": "Zeta Alpha MCP",
          "grant_types": ["authorization_code", "refresh_token"],
          "response_types": ["code"],
          "token_endpoint_auth_method": "client_secret_post",
          "redirect_uris": [
            "https://api.zeta-alpha.com/v0/service/mcp/oauth/callback"
          ]
        }
      },
      "terminate_on_close": true
    }
  }
}

To narrow the toolset use the URL path variants documented in GitHub's remote-server docs (e.g. https://api.githubcopilot.com/mcp/x/repos).

3. Connect from the Navigator

Open a new chat, select the agent, and ask it for something that needs GitHub (e.g. "Show me the README of the platform repo"). Follow the Connect prompt — see Connecting from the Navigator for the full walkthrough.

If the organization enforces OAuth App access restrictions, an owner must approve the app under Organization settings → Third-party access → OAuth app policy before private-repo tools will work.

Troubleshooting

Symptom	Cause
Redirect URI mismatch	Authorization callback URL on the GitHub app differs from redirect_uris.
Tools work for public repos but fail on private ones	The user's grant isn't approved for the org. An owner must approve the app, or the user must request access from the consent screen.
Writes return 403	Either X-MCP-Readonly: true is set, or the user didn't grant write scopes.