Environment Variables¶

Configure GitHub to MCP using environment variables.

Required Variables¶

None! All environment variables are optional, but some are highly recommended.

Recommended Variables¶

GITHUB_TOKEN¶

GitHub personal access token for API authentication.

export GITHUB_TOKEN=ghp_xxxxxxxxxxxxx

Creating a Token:

1. Go to GitHub Settings → Developer Settings → Personal Access Tokens
2. Generate new token (classic)
3. Select scopes: repo (private) or public_repo (public only)
4. Copy the token

Optional Variables¶

LOG_LEVEL¶

Control logging verbosity.

export LOG_LEVEL=debug

OPENAI_API_KEY¶

OpenAI API key for enhanced extraction (experimental).

export OPENAI_API_KEY=sk-xxxxxxxxxxxxx

Used for: - Improved tool descriptions - Better README parsing - Code understanding

GITHUB_API_URL¶

Custom GitHub API URL for GitHub Enterprise.

export GITHUB_API_URL=https://github.mycompany.com/api/v3

Default: https://api.github.com

HTTP_PROXY / HTTPS_PROXY¶

Proxy server for HTTP requests.

export HTTP_PROXY=http://proxy.example.com:8080
export HTTPS_PROXY=http://proxy.example.com:8080

NO_COLOR¶

Disable colored output.

export NO_COLOR=1

Setting Environment Variables¶

Temporary (Current Session)¶

export GITHUB_TOKEN=ghp_xxxxx

$env:GITHUB_TOKEN="ghp_xxxxx"

set GITHUB_TOKEN=ghp_xxxxx

Permanent¶

export GITHUB_TOKEN=ghp_xxxxx
export LOG_LEVEL=info

Per-Project¶

Create a .env file:

GITHUB_TOKEN=ghp_xxxxx
LOG_LEVEL=debug

Using with Claude Desktop¶

Pass environment variables to MCP servers:

{
  "mcpServers": {
    "my-repo": {
      "command": "node",
      "args": ["/path/to/server.mjs"],
      "env": {
        "GITHUB_TOKEN": "ghp_xxxxx",
        "LOG_LEVEL": "debug"
      }
    }
  }
}

Variable Precedence¶

1. CLI flags (highest priority)
2. Environment variables
3. Config file
4. Defaults (lowest priority)

# CLI flag overrides environment variable
export LOG_LEVEL=error
github-to-mcp <url> --verbose  # Uses verbose, not error

See Also¶

• Configuration Options - All options
• Private Repos - Token setup
• CLI Reference - Command-line usage