GitHub Operations Skill

Learn how to work with GitHub via MCP tools for the Drift project.

How to Determine Repository Information

Before using any GitHub MCP tools, determine the actual repository owner and name from git:

git remote get-url origin

Parse the output to extract owner and repository name:

Example outputs:

https://github.com/jarosser06/drift.git → owner: jarosser06, repo: drift
git@github.com:jarosser06/drift.git → owner: jarosser06, repo: drift

Check git first before any GitHub operations to get accurate repository information.

How to Use GitHub MCP Tools

Issue Operations

Get issue details:

mcp__github__get_issue(
    owner="jarosser06",
    repo="drift",
    issue_number=42
)

Returns full issue details including title, body, labels, assignees, state, comments.

List issues with filters:

mcp__github__list_issues(
    owner="jarosser06",
    repo="drift",
    state="open",              # open, closed, all
    assignee="username",       # filter by assignee
    labels=["bug"],            # filter by labels
    sort="created",            # created, updated, comments
    direction="desc"           # asc or desc
)

Create new issue:

mcp__github__create_issue(
    owner="jarosser06",
    repo="drift",
    title="Add support for custom validators",
    body="## Problem\nUsers need to define custom validators...",
    labels=["enhancement"],
    assignees=["username"]
)

Update existing issue:

mcp__github__update_issue(
    owner="jarosser06",
    repo="drift",
    issue_number=42,
    title="Updated title",
    body="Updated description",
    state="closed",            # open or closed
    labels=["bug", "priority:high"],
    assignees=["username"]
)

Add comment to issue:

mcp__github__add_issue_comment(
    owner="jarosser06",
    repo="drift",
    issue_number=42,
    body="Fixed in PR #50"
)

Pull Request Operations

Create pull request:

mcp__github__create_pull_request(
    owner="jarosser06",
    repo="drift",
    title="Issue #42: Add custom validator support",
    head="issue-42-custom-validators",    # branch with changes
    base="main",                          # target branch
    body="## Summary\n- Adds CustomValidator class\n- Updates config schema",
    draft=False
)

Get PR details:

mcp__github__get_pull_request(
    owner="jarosser06",
    repo="drift",
    pull_number=50
)

Returns PR metadata, description, status, review state, mergability.

List pull requests:

mcp__github__list_pull_requests(
    owner="jarosser06",
    repo="drift",
    state="open",              # open, closed, all
    head="user:branch-name",   # filter by source branch
    base="main",               # filter by target branch
    sort="created",            # created, updated, popularity, long-running
    direction="desc"           # asc or desc
)

Review pull request:

mcp__github__create_pull_request_review(
    owner="jarosser06",
    repo="drift",
    pull_number=50,
    body="Overall looks good. Please address inline comments.",
    event="REQUEST_CHANGES",   # APPROVE, REQUEST_CHANGES, COMMENT
    comments=[{
        "path": "src/drift/validators.py",
        "line": 45,
        "body": "Add type hint for return value"
    }, {
        "path": "tests/test_validators.py",
        "line": 23,
        "body": "Add test for edge case with empty input"
    }]
)

Merge pull request:

mcp__github__merge_pull_request(
    owner="jarosser06",
    repo="drift",
    pull_number=50,
    merge_method="squash",     # merge, squash, rebase
    commit_title="Add custom validator support",
    commit_message="Implements CustomValidator class with config schema updates"
)

Get files changed in PR:

mcp__github__get_pull_request_files(
    owner="jarosser06",
    repo="drift",
    pull_number=50
)

Returns list of files with additions, deletions, changes, patch data.

Get PR CI status:

mcp__github__get_pull_request_status(
    owner="jarosser06",
    repo="drift",
    pull_number=50
)

Returns combined status of all CI checks (tests, linting, etc.).

Branch Operations

Create new branch:

mcp__github__create_branch(
    owner="jarosser06",
    repo="drift",
    branch="issue-42-custom-validators",
    from_branch="main"         # optional, defaults to default branch
)

Creates branch on GitHub. You'll still need to fetch and checkout locally:

git fetch origin
git checkout issue-42-custom-validators

Repository Operations

Get file contents:

mcp__github__get_file_contents(
    owner="jarosser06",
    repo="drift",
    path="src/drift/config.py",
    branch="main"              # optional, defaults to default branch
)

Returns file content, SHA, and metadata.

Create or update single file:

mcp__github__create_or_update_file(
    owner="jarosser06",
    repo="drift",
    path="src/drift/new_module.py",
    content="# New module\n\ndef new_function():\n    pass",
    message="Add new module for custom validators",
    branch="issue-42-custom-validators",
    sha="abc123..."            # required for updates, get from get_file_contents
)

Push multiple files in single commit:

mcp__github__push_files(
    owner="jarosser06",
    repo="drift",
    branch="issue-42-custom-validators",
    files=[
        {
            "path": "src/drift/validators.py",
            "content": "# Updated validator code..."
        },
        {
            "path": "tests/test_validators.py",
            "content": "# New tests..."
        }
    ],
    message="Add custom validator with tests"
)

Use this for multi-file changes in a single commit.

Search Operations

Search repositories:

mcp__github__search_repositories(
    query="drift language:python stars:>10",
    page=1,
    perPage=30
)

Search code across GitHub:

mcp__github__search_code(
    q="parse_conversation language:python",
    per_page=30,
    page=1
)

Search issues and PRs:

mcp__github__search_issues(
    q="is:open label:bug repo:jarosser06/drift",
    sort="created",
    order="desc"
)

Search syntax supports many filters: is:issue, is:pr, label:bug, author:username, etc.

How to Follow Git Workflows

See Git Workflows for detailed guides on:

• Standard development workflow (5 steps)
• Assigning issues to yourself
• Closing issues with comments
• Requesting PR changes
• Approving and merging PRs

How to Organize with Labels

Common Label Patterns

Issue type labels:

• bug - Something isn't working correctly
• enhancement - New feature or improvement request
• documentation - Documentation improvements or fixes
• refactoring - Code restructuring without behavior change

Priority labels:

• priority:high - Needs immediate attention
• priority:medium - Important but not urgent
• priority:low - Nice to have, can wait

Status labels:

• good first issue - Good for newcomers to the project
• help wanted - Extra attention needed
• in progress - Currently being worked on
• blocked - Blocked by dependencies or decisions

How to Apply Labels

When creating issue:

mcp__github__create_issue(
    owner="jarosser06",
    repo="drift",
    title="Add support for custom validators",
    body="...",
    labels=["enhancement", "priority:high"]
)

Update labels on existing issue:

mcp__github__update_issue(
    owner="jarosser06",
    repo="drift",
    issue_number=42,
    labels=["enhancement", "priority:high", "in progress"]
)

Filter issues by labels:

mcp__github__list_issues(
    owner="jarosser06",
    repo="drift",
    state="open",
    labels=["bug", "priority:high"]
)

How to Search by Labels

Use GitHub search syntax:

mcp__github__search_issues(
    q="is:open label:bug label:priority:high repo:jarosser06/drift",
    sort="created",
    order="desc"
)

Supports complex queries:

• is:issue or is:pr - Filter by type
• label:bug - Has label
• no:label - No labels
• author:username - Created by user
• assignee:username - Assigned to user
• is:open or is:closed - Filter by state

Example Workflows

See Workflows for common GitHub workflows:

• Working on new feature (end-to-end)
• Reviewing PR
• Bulk issue management

Resources

📖 Workflows

Common GitHub workflows using MCP tools.

Use when: Need examples for standard GitHub operations via MCP.

📖 Git Workflows

Standard git development workflows with MCP integration.

Use when: Following standard development workflow or managing PRs and issues.