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GitHub MCP — Auth Setup

GitHub uses personal access tokens to authenticate API requests on your behalf.

1. Get your credentials

  1. Open the GitHub tokens page (opens GitHub — we never see your token)
  2. Click Generate new token (classic) or use a fine-grained token for narrower permissions
  3. Select the scopes your workflow needs (e.g., repo, read:org) and click Generate token
  4. Copy the token — it will not be shown again after you leave the page

2. Set environment variables

macOS / Linux — add to ~/.zshrc or ~/.bashrc:

export GITHUB_PERSONAL_ACCESS_TOKEN=YOUR_TOKEN_HERE

Then run source ~/.zshrc (or open a new terminal).

Windows — run in Command Prompt (then restart):

setx GITHUB_PERSONAL_ACCESS_TOKEN "YOUR_TOKEN_HERE"

3. Verify

npx claude-skills doctor

You should see ✅ next to the GitHub MCP entry. If you see ❌, confirm the token is set: echo $GITHUB_PERSONAL_ACCESS_TOKEN.

4. Restart Claude Code

Quit and reopen Claude Code (or run /mcp list inside Claude Code to confirm the GitHub MCP appears).