Git MCP Server

An MCP (Model Context Protocol) server providing tools to interact with Git repositories. Enables LLMs and AI agents to perform Git operations like clone, commit, push, pull, branch, diff, log, status, and more via the MCP standard.

Built on the cyanheads/mcp-ts-template, this server follows a modular architecture:

Developer Note: This repository includes a .clinerules file that serves as a developer cheat sheet for your LLM coding agent with quick reference for the codebase patterns, file locations, and code snippets.

Table of Contents

| Overview | Features | Installation |

| Configuration | Project Structure |

| Tools | Resources | Development | License |

Overview

Empower your AI agents and development tools with seamless Git integration!

The Git MCP Server acts as a bridge, allowing applications (MCP Clients) that understand the Model Context Protocol (MCP) – like advanced AI assistants (LLMs), IDE extensions, or custom scripts – to interact directly and safely with local Git repositories.

Instead of complex scripting or manual CLI, your tools can leverage this server to:

• Automate Git workflows: Clone repositories, create branches, stage changes, commit work, push updates, and manage tags programmatically.
• Gain repository insights: Check status, view logs, diff changes, and inspect Git objects without leaving the host application.
• Integrate Git into AI-driven development: Enable LLMs to manage version control as part of their coding or refactoring tasks.

Built on the robust mcp-ts-template, this server provides a standardized, secure, and efficient way to expose Git functionality via the MCP standard. It achieves this by securely executing the standard git command-line tool installed on the system using Node.js's child_process module, ensuring compatibility and leveraging the full power of Git.

Features

Core Utilities (from Template)

Leverages the robust utilities provided by the mcp-ts-template:

• Logging: Structured, configurable logging (file rotation, console, MCP notifications) with sensitive data redaction.
• Error Handling: Centralized error processing, standardized error types (McpError), and automatic logging.
• Configuration: Environment variable loading (dotenv).
• Input Validation/Sanitization: Uses zod for schema validation and custom sanitization logic (crucial for paths).
• Request Context: Tracking and correlation of operations via unique request IDs.
• Type Safety: Strong typing enforced by TypeScript and Zod schemas.
• HTTP Transport Option: Built-in Express server with SSE, session management, and CORS support.

Git Operations

• Direct Git CLI Execution: Interacts with Git by securely executing the standard git command-line tool via Node.js child_process, ensuring full compatibility and access to Git's features.
• Comprehensive Command Coverage: Exposes a wide range of Git commands as MCP tools (see Tools section).
• Repository Interaction: Supports status checking, branching, staging, committing, fetching, pulling, pushing, diffing, logging, resetting, tagging, and more.
• Working Directory Management: Allows setting and clearing a session-specific working directory for context persistence across multiple Git operations.
• Safety Features: Includes checks and requires explicit confirmation for potentially destructive operations like git clean and git reset --hard.
• Commit Signing: Supports GPG or SSH signing for verified commits, controlled via the GIT_SIGN_COMMITS environment variable and server-side Git configuration. Includes an optional tool parameter to fall back to unsigned commits on signing failure.

Installation

Prerequisites

• Node.js (>=18.0.0)
• npm (comes with Node.js)
• Git installed and accessible in the system PATH.

Install via npm

1. Install the package globally:

   npm install @cyanheads/git-mcp-server

Install from Source

1. Clone the repository:

   git clone https://github.com/cyanheads/git-mcp-server.git
   cd git-mcp-server

2. Install dependencies:

   npm install

3. Build the project:

   npm run build (or `npm run rebuild`)

   This compiles the TypeScript code to JavaScript in the dist/ directory and makes the entry point executable.

Configuration

Environment Variables

Configure the server using environment variables. Create a .env file in the project root (copy from .env.example) or set them in your environment.

Variable	Description	Default
MCP_TRANSPORT_TYPE	Transport mechanism: stdio or http.	stdio
MCP_HTTP_PORT	Port for the HTTP server (if MCP_TRANSPORT_TYPE=http). Retries next ports if busy.	3010
MCP_HTTP_HOST	Host address for the HTTP server (if MCP_TRANSPORT_TYPE=http).	127.0.0.1
MCP_ALLOWED_ORIGINS	Comma-separated list of allowed origins for CORS (if MCP_TRANSPORT_TYPE=http).	(none)
MCP_LOG_LEVEL	Logging level (debug, info, notice, warning, error, crit, alert, emerg). Inherited from template.	info
GIT_SIGN_COMMITS	Set to "true" to enable signing attempts for commits made by the git_commit tool. Requires server-side Git/key setup (see below).	false
MCP_AUTH_SECRET_KEY	Secret key for signing/verifying authentication tokens (required if auth is enabled in the future).	''

MCP Client Settings

Add to your MCP client settings (e.g., cline_mcp_settings.json):

{
  "mcpServers": {
    "git-mcp-server": {
      // Use a descriptive name
      "command": "node", // Use node to run the script
      "args": ["/path/to/your/git-mcp-server/dist/index.js"], // Absolute path to the built entry point
      "env": {
        // "MCP_TRANSPORT_TYPE": "http", // Optional: if using http
        // "MCP_HTTP_PORT": "3010",     // Optional: if using http and non-default port
        // "GIT_SIGN_COMMITS": "true"   // Optional: Enable commit signing attempts if server is configured
      },
      "disabled": false,
      "autoApprove": [] // Configure auto-approval rules if desired
    }
  }
}

Project Structure

The codebase follows a modular structure within the src/ directory:

src/
├── index.ts           # Entry point: Initializes and starts the server
├── config/            # Configuration loading (env vars, package info)
│   └── index.ts
├── mcp-server/        # Core MCP server logic and capability registration
│   ├── server.ts      # Server setup, capability registration
│   ├── transports/    # Transport handling (stdio, http)
│   ├── resources/     # MCP Resource implementations (currently none)
│   └── tools/         # MCP Tool implementations (subdirs per tool)
├── types-global/      # Shared TypeScript type definitions
└── utils/             # Common utility functions (logger, error handler, etc.)

For a detailed file tree, run npm run tree or see docs/tree.md.

Tools

The Git MCP Server provides a suite of tools for interacting with Git repositories, callable via the Model Context Protocol.

Tool Name	Description	Key Arguments
git_add	Stages specified files or patterns.	path?, files?
git_branch	Manages branches (list, create, delete, rename, show current).	path?, mode, branchName?, newBranchName?, startPoint?, force?, all?, remote?
git_checkout	Switches branches or restores working tree files.	path?, branchOrPath, newBranch?, force?
git_cherry_pick	Applies changes introduced by existing commits.	path?, commitRef, mainline?, strategy?, noCommit?, signoff?
git_clean	Removes untracked files. Requires force: true.	path?, force, dryRun?, directories?, ignored?
git_clear_working_dir	Clears the session-specific working directory.	(none)
git_clone	Clones a repository into a specified absolute path.	repositoryUrl, targetPath, branch?, depth?, quiet?
git_commit	Commits staged changes. Supports author override, signing control.	path?, message, author?, allowEmpty?, amend?, forceUnsignedOnFailure?
git_diff	Shows changes between commits, working tree, etc.	path?, commit1?, commit2?, staged?, file?
git_fetch	Downloads objects and refs from other repositories.	path?, remote?, prune?, tags?, all?
git_init	Initializes a new Git repository at the specified absolute path.	path, initialBranch?, bare?, quiet?
git_log	Shows commit logs.	path?, maxCount?, author?, since?, until?, branchOrFile?
git_merge	Merges the specified branch into the current branch.	path?, branch, commitMessage?, noFf?, squash?, abort?
git_pull	Fetches from and integrates with another repository or local branch.	path?, remote?, branch?, rebase?, ffOnly?
git_push	Updates remote refs using local refs.	path?, remote?, branch?, remoteBranch?, force?, forceWithLease?, setUpstream?, tags?, delete?
git_rebase	Reapplies commits on top of another base tip.	path?, mode?, upstream?, branch?, interactive?, strategy?, strategyOption?, onto?
git_remote	Manages remote repositories (list, add, remove, show).	path?, mode, name?, url?
git_reset	Resets current HEAD to a specified state. Supports soft, mixed, hard modes. USE 'hard' WITH CAUTION.	path?, mode?, commit?
git_set_working_dir	Sets the default working directory for the current session. Requires absolute path.	path, validateGitRepo?
git_show	Shows information about Git objects (commits, tags, etc.).	path?, ref, filePath?
git_stash	Manages stashed changes (list, apply, pop, drop, save).	path?, mode, stashRef?, message?
git_status	Gets repository status (branch, staged, modified, untracked files).	path?
git_tag	Manages tags (list, create annotated/lightweight, delete).	path?, mode, tagName?, message?, commitRef?, annotate?

Note: The path parameter for most tools defaults to the session's working directory if set via git_set_working_dir.

Resources

MCP Resources are not implemented in this version (v2.0.2).

This version focuses on the refactored Git tools implementation based on the latest mcp-ts-template and MCP SDK v1.11.0. Resource capabilities, previously available, have been temporarily removed during this major update.

If you require MCP Resource access (e.g., for reading file content directly via the server), please use the stable v1.2.4 release.

Future development may reintroduce resource capabilities in a subsequent release.

Note: This version (v2.0.2) focuses on refactoring and updating the core Git tools based on the latest MCP SDK. MCP Resource capabilities are not implemented in this version. For resource access, please use v1.2.4.

Development

Build and Test

# Build the project (compile TS to JS in dist/ and make executable)
npm run build

# Test the server locally using the MCP inspector tool (stdio transport)
npm run inspector

# Clean build artifacts (runs scripts/clean.ts)
npm run clean

# Generate a file tree representation for documentation (runs scripts/tree.ts)
npm run tree

# Clean build artifacts and then rebuild the project
npm run rebuild

# Start the server using stdio (default)
npm start
# Or explicitly:
npm run start:stdio

# Start the server using HTTP transport
npm run start:http

License

This project is licensed under the Apache License 2.0 - see the LICENSE file for details.

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Built with the Model Context Protocol