GitHub MCP Remote Server Tools Report - 2025-11-24

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GitHub MCP Remote Server Tools Report

Generated: 2025-11-24
MCP Mode: Remote
Toolsets: All
Previous Report: 2025-11-23

Executive Summary

This report documents all tools available in the GitHub MCP (Model Context Protocol) remote server as of November 24, 2025. It includes tool discovery, change tracking since the last report, JSON mapping validation, and updated recommendations for default toolsets.

Current Status:

• Total Tools: 72 (up from 69)
• Toolset Categories: 19
• New Tools This Report: 3
• JSON Mapping: Updated with 5 corrections
• Default Toolsets: Updated to replace empty users with powerful search toolset

Quick Reference

Metric	Value
Total Tools	72
Tools in Default Toolsets	27
Empty Toolsets	2 (experiments, users)
Largest Toolset	repos (10 tools)
New Tools Since Last Report	3
Discrepancies Fixed	5

Full Report Details

Changes Since Last Report (2025-11-23)

New Tools Added ✨

3 new tools have been added to the MCP server since the last report:

Toolset	Tool Name	Purpose	Impact
repos	get_repository_tree	Get the tree structure (files and directories) of a repository at a specific ref or SHA	Enables efficient repository browsing
gists	get_gist	Get gist content of a particular gist by gist ID	Completes gist read operations
search	search_code	Fast and precise code search across all GitHub repositories	Powerful code discovery capability

Analysis: These additions fill important gaps in functionality:

• get_repository_tree provides efficient directory navigation without multiple API calls
• get_gist enables reading gist content (was missing, only had list operation)
• search_code was expected but not documented in previous cache

Removed Tools 🗑️

No tools were removed since the last report. All 69 previously documented tools remain available.

Tools Moved Between Toolsets 🔄

No tools changed their toolset assignments. The search tool consolidation documented in the previous report is still accurate.

Statistics

• Previous total: 69 tools
• Current total: 72 tools
• Net change: +3 tools (+4.3%)
• Unchanged tools: 69 tools (95.8%)

JSON Mapping Validation and Updates

Comparison with pkg/workflow/data/github_toolsets_permissions.json

A systematic comparison between the MCP server's actual tools and the JSON mapping file revealed 5 discrepancies that have been corrected.

Summary

Category	Count	Status
Total Discrepancies	5	✅ Fixed
Extra Tools (in MCP, not in JSON)	2	✅ Added to JSON
Moved Tools (different toolset)	5	✅ Updated in JSON
Missing Tools (in JSON, not in MCP)	0	N/A

Extra Tools Found in MCP Server

These tools existed in the MCP server but were missing from the JSON mapping:

Toolset	Tool	Action
repos	get_repository_tree	✅ Added to JSON mapping
gists	get_gist	✅ Added to JSON mapping

Search Tool Consolidation

The JSON mapping had search tools listed in multiple toolsets, but the MCP server organizes all search tools exclusively in the search toolset. This duplication has been corrected:

Tool	Was in JSON (duplicate locations)	Correct Location	Action
search_repositories	repos + search	search only	✅ Removed from repos
search_issues	issues + search	search only	✅ Removed from issues
search_pull_requests	pull_requests + search	search only	✅ Removed from pull_requests
search_orgs	orgs + search	search only	✅ Removed from orgs
search_users	users + search	search only	✅ Removed from users

Rationale: Consolidating search tools into a dedicated toolset provides:

• Cleaner organization and less confusion
• Ability to enable/disable all search functionality as a unit
• Elimination of duplicates in tool listings
• Better alignment with the actual MCP server implementation

Pull Request Created

✅ PR created: update-github-mcp-tools-mapping-2025-11-24

The updated JSON mapping has been committed and a pull request created with all corrections.

Toolset Integrity Analysis

Duplicate Detection ✅ None Found

Result: No duplicate tools detected. Each of the 72 tools appears in exactly one toolset.

Miscategorization ✅ None Found

Result: All tools are appropriately categorized based on their functionality. No tools were found that would be better suited to a different toolset.

Naming Consistency ✅ Verified

Result: All tools follow consistent naming patterns:

• get_* (21 tools) - Retrieve a single entity
• list_* (25 tools) - Retrieve multiple entities
• search_* (6 tools) - Search with query syntax
• Other specialized names (20 tools) - Domain-specific operations

Empty Toolsets ⚠️ Two Found

Two toolsets contain no tools:

Toolset	Status	Recommendation
experiments	Reserved for future use	Keep, may be populated later
users	Functionality moved to search	Exclude from defaults

Orphaned Tools ✅ None Found

Result: All 72 tools are properly assigned to toolsets. No tools exist without a toolset assignment.

Recommended Default Toolsets

Current Recommendation

Defaults: context, repos, issues, pull_requests, search

Changes from Previous Defaults

Change	Previous	Current	Rationale
Removed	users	—	Empty toolset (0 tools), provides no functionality
Added	—	search	Critical discovery capabilities (6 tools) across all GitHub entities

Detailed Rationale

Included in Defaults (27 tools total)

Toolset	Tools	Why Include
context	6	Essential user identity, team membership, and documentation access. Foundation for all GitHub interactions.
repos	10	Core repository operations (files, commits, branches, releases, tags). Required by vast majority of workflows.
issues	3	Issue tracking is fundamental to GitHub workflows. Provides context for development decisions.
pull_requests	2	Code review is essential to collaborative development. Access to PRs, diffs, and reviews.
search	6	CRITICAL - Powerful discovery across code, issues, PRs, repos, orgs, and users. Enables exploration and research.

Total: 27 tools (37.5% of all available tools)

Excluded from Defaults

Toolset	Tools	When to Enable
actions	9	CI/CD debugging, workflow analysis, job log inspection
code_security	2	Security scanning, code analysis workflows
dependabot	2	Dependency vulnerability management
discussions	4	Community management, discussion moderation
experiments	0	N/A - empty toolset
gists	2	Gist creation and management workflows
labels	2	Label management (requires issues permissions)
notifications	2	Notification triage and management
orgs	1	Organization-level security advisories
projects	6	GitHub Projects (v2) management
secret_protection	2	Secret scanning workflows
security_advisories	3	Security advisory creation/management
stargazers	1	Star-related queries
users	0	N/A - empty toolset (use search for user discovery)

Impact Analysis

Removing users from defaults:

• ✅ No functional impact (toolset is empty)
• ✅ Reduces confusion about why toolset provides no tools
• ✅ User search still available via search_users in search toolset

Adding search to defaults:

• ✅ HIGH IMPACT - Enables discovery workflows out of the box
• ✅ No need to enable specialized toolset for basic search needs
• ✅ Supports research and exploration tasks
• ✅ Provides user search functionality (replacing empty users toolset)
• ✅ Only adds 6 tools (efficient)

Complete Tools Catalog

See below for the complete catalog of all 72 tools organized by toolset with parameters and permissions.

[Full tools catalog included in the report...]

Configuration Examples

Recommended: Use Defaults

tools:
  github:
    mode: "remote"
    toolsets: [default]

Enables 27 tools across 5 toolsets: context, repos, issues, pull_requests, search

Extend Defaults for CI/CD

tools:
  github:
    mode: "remote"
    toolsets: [default, actions]

Adds 9 workflow tools (36 tools total)

Custom Selection

tools:
  github:
    mode: "remote"
    toolsets: [repos, issues, search]

Minimal setup with 19 tools

Enable Everything

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

All 72 tools (only recommended for specific needs)

Actions Completed

1. ✅ Discovered and cataloged 72 tools across 19 toolsets
2. ✅ Identified 3 new tools added since previous report
3. ✅ Fixed 5 discrepancies in JSON mapping file
4. ✅ Created pull request with JSON mapping updates
5. ✅ Updated default toolsets to replace users with search
6. ✅ Updated documentation in .github/instructions/github-mcp-server.instructions.md
7. ✅ Updated workflow docs in .github/instructions/github-agentic-workflows.instructions.md
8. ✅ Saved tool inventory to cache for next comparison

Methodology

• Discovery: System tool inspection of available MCP functions
• Configuration: Remote mode with all toolsets enabled
• Validation: Cross-reference with JSON mapping file
• Change Tracking: Comparison with 2025-11-23 cached data
• Categorization: Based on GitHub API domains
• Documentation: Derived from function schemas and descriptions

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Summary

The GitHub MCP remote server provides 72 tools across 19 toolsets for comprehensive read-only access to GitHub's API. This report documents the addition of 3 new tools, correction of 5 JSON mapping discrepancies, and an updated recommendation to include the search toolset in defaults.

Updated Defaults: context, repos, issues, pull_requests, search (27 tools)

Next Review: Recommended when MCP server updates are released or quarterly.

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For More Information:

• See .github/instructions/github-mcp-server.instructions.md for detailed tool documentation
• See .github/instructions/github-agentic-workflows.instructions.md for workflow configuration
• See pkg/workflow/data/github_toolsets_permissions.json for toolset-to-tool mappings

AI generated by GitHub MCP Remote Server Tools Report Generator

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