GitHub Actions
An MCP server that enables AI assistants to manage GitHub Actions workflows by providing tools for listing, viewing, triggering, canceling, and rerunning workflows through the GitHub API.
What is GitHub Actions?
GitHub Actions is a Model Context Protocol (MCP) server that allows AI assistants like Claude, Cursor, and VS Code to mcp server that enables ai assistants to manage github actions workflows by providing tools for listing, viewing, triggering, canceling, and rerunning workflows through the github api.
An MCP server that enables AI assistants to manage GitHub Actions workflows by providing tools for listing, viewing, triggering, canceling, and rerunning workflows through the GitHub API.
This server falls under the Version Control category on MCPgee, the world's largest MCP server directory with 33,000+ servers.
Features
- An MCP server that enables AI assistants to manage GitHub Ac
Use Cases
Maintainer
Works with
Installation
Manual Installation
npx github-actions-mcp-serverConfiguration
Configuration Details
claude_desktop_config.json
Performance
Response Metrics
Resource Usage
How to Set Up and Use GitHub Actions
GitHub Actions MCP Server enables AI assistants to manage GitHub Actions CI/CD workflows through the GitHub API, exposing nine tools for listing, viewing, triggering, canceling, and rerunning workflows and their runs. Instead of navigating the GitHub web UI or writing curl commands, developers can ask their AI assistant to check workflow status, trigger deployments, inspect failed job logs, and rerun pipelines directly in their conversation. It is particularly useful for DevOps engineers who want to monitor build status and manage CI/CD pipelines without context-switching out of their AI coding environment.
Prerequisites
- A GitHub account with repositories that have Actions workflows
- A GitHub Personal Access Token (PAT) with 'workflow' scope for triggering and managing workflows, or 'actions:read' scope for read-only access
- Node.js 18 or newer and npm installed
- Claude Desktop, Cursor, Windsurf, or another MCP-compatible client
Clone and build the server
Clone the repository and build the TypeScript source.
git clone https://github.com/ko1ynnky/github-actions-mcp-server.git
cd github-actions-mcp-server
npm install
npm run buildCreate a GitHub Personal Access Token
Go to github.com > Settings > Developer Settings > Personal Access Tokens > Tokens (classic). Create a new token with the 'workflow' scope (required to trigger and cancel runs) and 'repo' scope (required to read private repo workflows).
Configure Claude Desktop
Add the server to your Claude Desktop config file, providing the absolute path to the built server and your GitHub token.
{
"mcpServers": {
"github-actions": {
"command": "node",
"args": ["/Users/yourname/github-actions-mcp-server/build/index.js"],
"env": {
"GITHUB_PERSONAL_ACCESS_TOKEN": "ghp_your_token_here"
}
}
}
}Configure Windsurf or Cursor (alternative)
For Windsurf, add the same configuration to ~/.codeium/windsurf/mcp_config.json. The config format is identical.
{
"mcpServers": {
"github-actions": {
"command": "node",
"args": ["/Users/yourname/github-actions-mcp-server/build/index.js"],
"env": {
"GITHUB_PERSONAL_ACCESS_TOKEN": "ghp_your_token_here"
}
}
}
}Restart your MCP client and test
Restart Claude Desktop to load the server. Ask it to list workflows in one of your repositories to confirm the connection is working.
GitHub Actions Examples
Client configuration
Claude Desktop configuration for the GitHub Actions MCP Server using a built local binary.
{
"mcpServers": {
"github-actions": {
"command": "node",
"args": ["/Users/yourname/github-actions-mcp-server/build/index.js"],
"env": {
"GITHUB_PERSONAL_ACCESS_TOKEN": "ghp_your_token_here"
}
}
}
}Prompts to try
Natural language prompts for managing GitHub Actions workflows through the MCP server.
- "List all workflows in my-org/my-repo"
- "Show me the last 5 workflow runs for the CI workflow in my-org/my-repo"
- "Trigger the deploy.yml workflow on the main branch of my-org/my-repo"
- "Cancel the currently running workflow run #12345 in my-org/my-repo"
- "Rerun the failed workflow run #12344 in my-org/my-repo"
- "Show me the jobs and their status for workflow run #12345"Troubleshooting GitHub Actions
403 Forbidden when triggering or canceling workflows
Your GitHub Personal Access Token must have the 'workflow' scope to trigger, cancel, or rerun workflows. Generate a new token at github.com > Settings > Developer Settings > Personal Access Tokens with the 'workflow' scope selected.
Workflows are listed but triggering returns 'workflow not found' or 422 errors
Workflow dispatch triggers only work on workflows that have 'on: workflow_dispatch' in their YAML definition. Check that the target workflow supports manual triggering. Also verify that you are using the correct workflowId — use the filename (e.g. 'ci.yml') or the numeric workflow ID.
npm run build fails on Windows
Use the Windows-specific build command: npm run build:win — or use the provided batch file run-server.bat which handles both building and running. Ensure you have a compatible Node.js version (18+) installed.
Frequently Asked Questions about GitHub Actions
What is GitHub Actions?
GitHub Actions is a Model Context Protocol (MCP) server that mcp server that enables ai assistants to manage github actions workflows by providing tools for listing, viewing, triggering, canceling, and rerunning workflows through the github api. It connects AI assistants to external tools and data sources through a standardized interface.
How do I install GitHub Actions?
Follow the installation instructions on the GitHub Actions GitHub repository. Clone the repo, install dependencies, and add the server config to your AI client.
Which AI clients work with GitHub Actions?
GitHub Actions works with all major MCP-compatible AI clients including Claude Desktop, Claude Code, Cursor, VS Code (GitHub Copilot), Windsurf, and Cline.
Is GitHub Actions free to use?
Yes, GitHub Actions is open source and available under the MIT License license. You can use it freely in both personal and commercial projects.
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