Oss Issues MCP

What oss-issues-mcp MCP server does

The oss-issues-mcp MCP server connects an MCP client to GitHub issue data and produces a normalized view for triage. Its currently available tool is get_actionable_issue, which fetches an issue, removes issue-template furniture, and returns only fields considered relevant to triage.

This is intended for workflows where raw GitHub API responses contain too much structure or template content. The server focuses on deriving a smaller issue representation instead of exposing GitHub as a general-purpose API proxy.

These include finding new open issues across a repository watch-list, determining whether an issue is already being worked on through assignees and linked pull requests, and retrieving repository contribution and issue-template guidance.

How it works

An MCP client calls get_actionable_issue with an issue request. The server obtains the issue from GitHub, applies its normalization logic, and returns triage-oriented fields.

Repository access is controlled by an allowlist. Requests for repositories that have not been explicitly permitted are refused. The server is read-only, so it does not create, edit, assign, or otherwise mutate GitHub issues. Write operations are deferred until a human-approval gate exists.

The oss-issues-mcp MCP server requires a fine-grained, read-only GITHUB_TOKEN to access GitHub. Its documented launch flow uses uv sync followed by uv run oss-issues-mcp.

Setup and configuration

Set the token in the environment before starting the server:

export GITHUB_TOKEN=github_pat_...
uv sync
uv run oss-issues-mcp

The token must be fine-grained and read-only.

Tools and capabilities

The oss-issues-mcp MCP server currently documents one available MCP tool:

• get_actionable_issue — fetches an issue and returns a cleaned, triage-focused representation without issue-template furniture.

The following names appear as planned functionality rather than current tools:

• list_new_issues for new open issues in watched repositories, excluding pull requests.
• get_claim_status for checking assignees and linked pull requests.
• get_repo_context for contribution instructions and issue-template rules.

Limitations and notes

The oss-issues-mcp MCP server is not a complete GitHub API replacement. It currently documents one available tool, and the additional issue discovery, claim-status, and repository-context tools are planned. Repository access is limited to the configured allowlist, and the server has no write tools.