GitHub Repository Intelligence MCP Server
A hosted Model Context Protocol server that gives AI coding agents structured intelligence about any GitHub repository — overview, recent PRs, contributors, hot files, CI status, and dependencies — through a single MCP endpoint.
No local setup. No git clone. No Octokit boilerplate. Plug your agent into the MCP URL and start asking questions.
Why this exists
Local GitHub MCP servers exist, but they require every user to set up Node/Python, install the server, manage tokens, and keep it patched. This Actor runs on Apify's platform and is reachable as a hosted streamable-HTTP MCP endpoint — your agent just needs the URL.
It's useful when you want an LLM to reason about a codebase without giving it filesystem or shell access: think code-review bots, repo-onboarding helpers, dependency-audit agents, refactor planners.
Hosted vs local — when this saves you time
| This Actor | Local MCP server | |
|---|---|---|
| Setup | Paste URL + token into client config | git clone, install deps, manage Node/Python versions |
| Distribution | Same URL works for every teammate | Each teammate sets up their own |
| Updates | Always latest server build | You patch + redeploy |
| Auth surface | One Apify token + optional GitHub PAT in tool args | GitHub PAT lives on every machine |
| Cost when idle | $0 (Standby mode, billed per call) | Whatever your laptop/server costs |
| When local wins | Air-gapped repos, on-prem GitHub Enterprise | — |
Three workflows it shortens
- Repo onboarding — drop the URL into Claude Code, ask "give me a one-page brief on
kubernetes/kubernetes: maintainers, top 10 hot files, current PR pipeline, CI health." One conversation, six tool calls, no clones. - PR-review prep — before reviewing a stranger's PR, run
get_contributors+list_recent_prs+get_hot_fileson the target repo to know who you're dealing with and where the churn actually lives. - Dependency / supply-chain audit —
get_dependenciesacross a list of repos in a loop, no shell access required, no risk of maliciousnpm installrunning on your machine.
Tools exposed
| Tool | What it returns | Typical use |
|---|---|---|
get_repo_overview | Stars, forks, language, license, topics, last push | "Is this repo still maintained?" |
list_recent_prs | Recent PRs with author, state, merge dates | "Show me the last 20 merged PRs by user X" |
get_contributors | Top contributors by commit count | "Who maintains this project?" |
get_hot_files | Most-modified files over the last N commits | "Where's the churn?" |
get_ci_status | Check runs and conclusions for a ref | "Is the default branch green?" |
get_dependencies | Parses package.json, requirements.txt, go.mod, Cargo.toml, pyproject.toml | "What does this project depend on?" |
Every tool accepts an optional github_token parameter. With no token you get GitHub's 60-req/hour limit on public repos. Provide a fine-grained PAT and you get 5,000 req/hour and can access private repos.
Pricing
$0.005 per tool call. First 100 calls free per user.
Pay-per-event model — you only pay when a tool actually executes. No subscription, no minimums. The server runs in Apify Standby mode, so you're not billed for idle time.
Usage
From an MCP-aware client (Claude Desktop, Cursor, Continue, etc.)
The Actor exposes a Streamable-HTTP MCP transport at:
https://cg-nguyen--github-repo-intel-mcp.apify.actor/mcp
Authentication uses your Apify token via the Authorization: Bearer <APIFY_TOKEN> header — most MCP clients let you configure this in their server config.
Example tool call (raw JSON-RPC)
curl -X POST https://cg-nguyen--github-repo-intel-mcp.apify.actor/mcp \
-H "Authorization: Bearer <APIFY_TOKEN>" \
-H "Content-Type: application/json" \
-H "Accept: application/json, text/event-stream" \
-d '{
"jsonrpc": "2.0",
"id": 1,
"method": "tools/call",
"params": {
"name": "get_repo_overview",
"arguments": {"owner": "facebook", "repo": "react"}
}
}'
From Claude Desktop config
{
"mcpServers": {
"github-repo-intel": {
"url": "https://cg-nguyen--github-repo-intel-mcp.apify.actor/mcp",
"headers": {
"Authorization": "Bearer <APIFY_TOKEN>"
}
}
}
}
Limits and caveats
- Free tier on Apify gets you $5/month of usage credits — enough for ~1,000 free tool calls before the per-event price kicks in.
- The
get_hot_filestool scans up to 200 commits and makes one API call per commit, so it eats GitHub rate limit the fastest. Pass agithub_tokenif you call it often. get_ci_statusreads the GitHub Checks API — it surfaces GitHub Actions, CodeQL, and any third-party check that posts back via the Checks API. Repos that run their CI entirely on external systems (Prow, Buildkite, CircleCI without GitHub integration) may show 0 check runs even when the build is green. The response includes anotefield flagging this case.- This is a read-only server. It cannot create PRs, comment on issues, or modify any repository state.
- All data comes straight from the GitHub REST API — no caching layer, so freshness equals what the GitHub API returns.
Source & roadmap
Author: luongnp. Open to feature requests — file an issue on the Actor page if you want a tool added (issues board, releases, dependency vulnerabilities via Dependabot API, etc.).