Deployment¶

Deployment Options¶

github-agent supports local stdio, a loopback-only development listener, a least-privilege stdio container, and a remote authenticated HTTPS boundary. Provider endpoint, credential, selector, identity, and trust material are supplied at runtime through AgentConfig; none is stored in this repository.

Installed stdio process¶

{
  "mcpServers": {
    "github": {
      "command": "github-mcp",
      "args": [],
      "env": {"MCP_TOOL_MODE": "intent"}
    }
  }
}

Loopback development listener¶

github-mcp --transport streamable-http --host 127.0.0.1 --port 8000

Do not expose this listener beyond loopback. Network deployments require direct TLS or an explicitly trusted TLS-terminating ingress, configured authentication, exact MCP_ALLOWED_HOSTS, and an exact trusted-proxy CIDR policy.

Least-privilege local container¶

docker run -i --rm \
  --read-only \
  --cap-drop=ALL \
  --security-opt=no-new-privileges \
  --pids-limit=256 \
  --tmpfs /tmp:rw,noexec,nosuid,nodev,size=64m \
  -e TRANSPORT=stdio \
  registry.example.invalid/github-agent@sha256:<digest> github-mcp

The operator projects the selected AgentConfig profile into the process at runtime; the image remains immutable and contains no environment connection profile.

Remote authenticated HTTPS endpoint¶

{
  "mcpServers": {
    "github": {"url": "https://service.example.invalid/mcp"}
  }
}

Store the real remote URL, outbound identity reference, and TLS-profile reference in AgentConfig, not in MCP client JSON or documentation.

This page covers running github-agent as a long-lived service: the transports, a Docker Compose stack, the optional A2A agent server, putting it behind a Caddy reverse proxy, and giving it a DNS name with Technitium.

github-agent ships two console scripts: an MCP server (github-mcp) — a typed, deterministic tool surface a policy router / agent calls — and an A2A agent server (github-agent) that delegates GitHub work to specialized child agents. Deploy the MCP server alone, or both together.

Run the MCP server¶

The transport is selected with --transport (or the TRANSPORT env var):

stdio (default)streamable-httpsse

github-mcp

For IDE / desktop MCP clients that launch the server as a subprocess.

github-mcp --transport streamable-http --host 0.0.0.0 --port 8000

A network server with a /health endpoint and /mcp route.

github-mcp --transport sse --host 0.0.0.0 --port 8000

Health check (HTTP transports):

curl -s http://localhost:8000/health        # {"status":"OK"}

Configuration (environment)¶

github-agent is configured entirely from the environment. The required set for the MCP server:

Var	Default	Meaning
`GITHUB_URL`	`https://api.github.com`	GitHub REST API base URL (set for GitHub Enterprise)
`GITHUB_TOKEN`	unset	Personal access token / GitHub App token (Bearer)
`TLS_PROFILE` / `TLS_PROFILE_REF`	(system trust)	AgentConfig private-CA/mTLS profile; verification remains mandatory
`HOST`	`0.0.0.0`	Bind address for HTTP transports
`PORT`	`8000`	Bind port for HTTP transports
`TRANSPORT`	`stdio`	`stdio`, `streamable-http`, or `sse`

Each tool domain is gated by its own switch — REPOTOOL, ISSUETOOL, PULLTOOL, CONTENTTOOL, BRANCHTOOL, COMMITTOOL, SEARCHTOOL, ORGTOOL, COLLABORATORTOOL, ACTIONTOOL, RELEASETOOL (all default True). The full set, including telemetry (ENABLE_OTEL, OTEL_EXPORTER_OTLP_*) and access governance (EUNOMIA_TYPE), is documented in .env.example. Copy it to .env and populate only what you use; an absent GITHUB_TOKEN leaves the client unauthenticated rather than raising.

Backing service¶

GitHub is a managed (SaaS) service — there is no backing system to deploy. Point GITHUB_URL at https://api.github.com for GitHub.com, or at your GitHub Enterprise Server REST endpoint (for example, https://github.example.com/api/v3), and supply a GITHUB_TOKEN. Only connection configuration is required.

Docker Compose¶

The repo ships docker/mcp.compose.yml. It reads a sibling .env and publishes the HTTP server on :8000:

services:
  github-agent-mcp:
    image: example/github-agent@sha256:<digest>
    container_name: github-agent-mcp
    hostname: github-agent-mcp
    restart: always
    env_file:
      - ../.env
    environment:
      - PYTHONUNBUFFERED=1
      - HOST=0.0.0.0
      - PORT=8000
      - TRANSPORT=streamable-http
    ports:
      - "8000:8000"
    healthcheck:
      test: ["CMD", "python3", "-c", "import urllib.request; urllib.request.urlopen('http://localhost:8000/health')"]
      interval: 30s
      timeout: 10s
      retries: 3

cp .env.example .env          # then set GITHUB_TOKEN and GITHUB_URL
docker compose -f docker/mcp.compose.yml up -d
docker compose -f docker/mcp.compose.yml logs -f

Agent server (A2A)¶

The A2A supervisor agent is published as the github-agent console script and docker/agent.compose.yml, which provisions the MCP server and the agent together. The agent reaches the MCP server over MCP_URL and publishes its own HTTP API (and optional web UI) on :9016:

services:
  github-agent-mcp:
    image: example/github-agent@sha256:<digest>
    hostname: github-agent-mcp
    env_file: [../.env]
    environment:
      - TRANSPORT=streamable-http
      - HOST=0.0.0.0
      - PORT=8000
    ports: ["8000:8000"]

  github-agent-agent:
    image: example/github-agent@sha256:<digest>
    depends_on: [github-agent-mcp]
    command: ["github-agent"]
    env_file: [../.env]
    environment:
      - HOST=0.0.0.0
      - PORT=9016
      - MCP_URL=http://github-agent-mcp:8000/mcp
      - PROVIDER=${PROVIDER:-openai}
      - MODEL_ID=${MODEL_ID:-gpt-4o}
      - ENABLE_WEB_UI=True
    ports: ["9016:9016"]

docker compose -f docker/agent.compose.yml up -d
curl -s http://localhost:9016/health        # agent health

Configure the agent's model with PROVIDER, MODEL_ID, and the matching provider API key (for example LLM_API_KEY / OPENAI_API_KEY).

Behind a Caddy reverse proxy¶

Expose the HTTP server on a hostname with automatic TLS. Add to your Caddyfile:

# Internal (self-signed) — homelab .example.invalid zone
github-agent.example.invalid {
    tls internal
    reverse_proxy github-agent-mcp:8000
}

# Public — automatic Let's Encrypt
github-agent.example.com {
    reverse_proxy github-agent-mcp:8000
}

Reload Caddy:

docker compose -f services/caddy/compose.yml exec caddy caddy reload --config /etc/caddy/Caddyfile

DNS with Technitium¶

Point the hostname at the host running Caddy. Via the Technitium API:

curl -s "http://technitium.example.invalid:5380/api/zones/records/add" \
  --data-urlencode "token=$TECHNITIUM_DNS_TOKEN" \
  --data-urlencode "domain=github-agent.example.invalid" \
  --data-urlencode "zone=arpa" \
  --data-urlencode "type=A" \
  --data-urlencode "ipAddress=192.0.2.10" \
  --data-urlencode "ttl=3600"

…or add an A record github-agent.example.invalid → <caddy-host-ip> in the Technitium web console (http://technitium.example.invalid:5380). The ecosystem technitium-dns-mcp automates this as a tool.

Register with an MCP client¶

Add to your client's mcp_config.json (multiplexer nickname gh):

{
  "mcpServers": {
    "github-agent": {
      "command": "uv",
      "args": ["run", "github-mcp"],
      "env": {
        "MCP_TOOL_MODE": "condensed",
        "GITHUB_URL": "https://api.github.com",
        "GITHUB_TOKEN": "<GITHUB_TOKEN>",
        "REPOTOOL": "True",
        "ISSUETOOL": "True",
        "PULLTOOL": "True"
      }
    }
  }
}

For a remote HTTP server, point the client at http://github-agent.example.invalid/mcp instead.