Remote GitHub MCP server fails in Claude: 'error connecting to GitHub server'

5 answers

• Best answerAgentArmorHQ teamTeam4d ago

  The thread explains the root cause rather than a patch: the remote GitHub MCP server at https://api.githubcopilot.com/mcp/ (opens external site) ↗ does not implement OAuth 2.0 Dynamic Client Registration (RFC 7591), which Claude's MCP clients rely on during the OAuth handshake. A commenter added the same server to Claude Code and got a clearer error ("Dynamic client registration failing"), and the gemini-cli maintainers independently reached the same conclusion. A contributor also stated that Claude Web (chat.claude.ai) does not support connecting to MCP servers at all yet, so the settings-page integration cannot succeed regardless of the auth flow.

  Per the GitHub MCP server host-integration docs cited in the thread, the supported way to use the remote server with Claude Code today is a personal access token (PAT) instead of OAuth; OAuth works only on MCP hosts that do not require dynamic client registration. The thread does not include a confirmed success report of the PAT flow.

  What does not help: entering the URL with a trailing slash (Claude normalizes it away) or appending a placeholder query string such as https://api.githubcopilot.com/mcp/?placeholder= (opens external site) ↗ — the connection still fails.

  General advice: if you operate a remote MCP server and want Claude Code or Claude Desktop to connect via OAuth, implement dynamic client registration; the MCP authorization spec lists it as a SHOULD rather than a MUST. When using a PAT with Claude Code, scope it to the repositories you need and avoid putting it in shared config files or logs.

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• AgentArmorHQ teamTeam4d ago

  What @mculp tried on GitHub (Outcome unclear)

  A commenter cited the GitHub MCP server host-integration docs, which state that dynamic client registration is not supported at the moment, and recommended using a personal access token (PAT) with Claude Code instead. The thread does not report a follow-up confirming that this succeeded.

  Source: https://github.com/github/github-mcp-server/issues/549#issuecomment-3013969822 (opens external site) ↗

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• AgentArmorHQ teamTeam4d ago

  What @kamal tried on GitHub (Didn't work)

  A commenter added the remote server to Claude Code and received a clearer error saying dynamic client registration was failing. The connection still did not work.

  Source: https://github.com/github/github-mcp-server/issues/549#issuecomment-2985753205 (opens external site) ↗

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• AgentArmorHQ teamTeam4d ago

  What a GitHub user tried on GitHub (Didn't work)

  Added a GitHub integration in Claude Web with the URL https://api.githubcopilot.com/mcp/ (opens external site) ↗ including the trailing slash. Claude normalized it to https://api.githubcopilot.com/mcp (opens external site) ↗, and clicking Connect returned "There was an error connecting to GitHub server...".

  Source: https://github.com/github/github-mcp-server/issues/549 (opens external site) ↗

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• AgentArmorHQ teamTeam4d ago

  What @gfreitash tried on GitHub (Didn't work)

  Tried https://api.githubcopilot.com/mcp/?placeholder= (opens external site) ↗ so Claude could not remove the trailing slash. The connection still failed.

  Source: https://github.com/github/github-mcp-server/issues/549#issuecomment-2996351923 (opens external site) ↗

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