GitHub Actions MCP Server

This page documents GitHub's official MCP server, github/github-mcp-server, configured with its actions toolset. The server is distributed as the container image ghcr.io/github/github-mcp-server and as the remote endpoint https://api.githubcopilot.com/mcp/.

The actions toolset is not part of the default toolsets, so it must be enabled explicitly.

What it Does

• Workflow and run inspection: List workflows, workflow runs, jobs, and artifacts
• Run details: Get details for a workflow, run, job, or artifact
• Run control: Trigger workflow runs and perform run actions
• Job debugging: Retrieve logs for a job or for all failed jobs in a run

Installation

# Docker (stdio) with the actions toolset
docker run -i --rm \
  -e GITHUB_PERSONAL_ACCESS_TOKEN \
  -e GITHUB_TOOLSETS=actions \
  ghcr.io/github/github-mcp-server

The remote server is available at https://api.githubcopilot.com/mcp/ for hosts that support remote MCP servers.

Configuration

{
  "mcpServers": {
    "github-actions": {
      "command": "docker",
      "args": [
        "run",
        "-i",
        "--rm",
        "-e",
        "GITHUB_PERSONAL_ACCESS_TOKEN",
        "-e",
        "GITHUB_TOOLSETS=actions",
        "ghcr.io/github/github-mcp-server"
      ],
      "env": {
        "GITHUB_PERSONAL_ACCESS_TOKEN": "YOUR_TOKEN"
      }
    }
  }
}

GITHUB_TOOLSETS selects the toolsets to enable. Set it to actions to expose only the GitHub Actions tools; combine with --tools for individual tools.

Available Tools

The full tool list and parameters are in the upstream README.

Common Workflows

Debugging a Failed CI Run

1. Use actions_list to find the failed run
2. Use actions_get to inspect the run
3. Use actions_list to find the failed job
4. Use get_job_logs to retrieve the failed job logs
5. Ask "Summarize what caused this failure based on the logs"

Triggering a Deployment Workflow

1. Use actions_list to confirm the workflow ID or file name
2. Use actions_run_trigger to run the workflow on the target ref
3. Pass workflow inputs when the workflow accepts them
4. Use actions_list to monitor the run
5. Use actions_get to inspect the run and its jobs

Auditing Workflow Activity

1. Use actions_list to list the repository's workflows
2. Use actions_list to query recent runs
3. Use actions_get to inspect runs of interest
4. Use get_job_logs on failed runs to find patterns
5. Generate a workflow health report

Example Prompts

• "Show me the latest workflow runs for the main branch"
• "Why did the CI workflow fail?"
• "Trigger the deployment workflow for staging"
• "Show logs from the test job"
• "List all workflows in this repository"
• "Find all failed workflows in the last week"

Troubleshooting

Required Permissions

• repo - OAuth challenge scope used by the actions_list, actions_get, actions_run_trigger, and get_job_logs tools
• Repository access to the workflows, runs, jobs, and artifacts being queried

Sources

• https://github.com/github/github-mcp-server