Claude Desktop connects to GitHub through the CData MCP Server for GitHub using the Model Context Protocol (MCP).

When you launch Claude, it automatically detects MCP connections registered during setup. These connections are created and saved using the MCP Configuration Tool, which is installed with the MCP Server.

Each saved connection is recognized by Claude and can be referenced by name when asking questions.

Installing Claude

Claude Desktop is a standalone application that enables natural language querying across supported data sources using the Model Context Protocol (MCP).

To connect to GitHub via MCP, you first need to install the Claude Desktop application.

You can download the latest version from the official Claude Download Page.

After installing Claude Desktop, you can configure your MCP connection using the CData MCP Driver for GitHub.

How Claude Uses the Server

When you ask Claude a question, it launches the corresponding MCP Server connection, reads the available tool descriptions provided by the connector, and generates a secure query in the background.

There is no need to write SQL or teach Claude how to query your data. Each tool is self-describing, and Claude consumes those descriptions to determine how to retrieve the right information.

Example Prompts

After setup, you can ask Claude natural-language questions like:

• "List all repositories for user 'john_doe'."
• "Show the most recent commit in the 'my-repo' repository."
• "Generate a report of all open pull requests in the 'main' branch."
• "List all contributors to the 'web-app' repository in the last 30 days."
• "What is the number of forks for the repository 'my-repo'?"
• "Show all issues assigned to user 'jane_doe' in the 'my-repo' repository."
• "Generate a list of commits made by user 'john_doe' in the 'my-repo' repository."
• "List all tags in the 'backend' repository."
• "Show the status of all pending pull requests in the 'mobile-app' repository."
• "What are the latest changes in the 'docs' directory of 'my-repo'?"

Claude securely executes the query using the MCP Server and responds using the live results from GitHub.