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github-mcp-server is now available in public preview

The official open source GitHub MCP Server

Today we’re releasing a new open source, official, local GitHub MCP Server. We’ve worked with Anthropic to rewrite their reference server in Go and improve its usability. The new server contains 100% of the old server’s functionality plus the ability to customize tool descriptions, support for code scanning and a new get_me function that improves the natural language user experience when asking the LLM things like: “Show me my private repos.”

To get started, visit the repository and learn how to set up the GitHub MCP Server, which is now supported natively in VS Code.

Model Context Protocol (MCP) is an AI tool calling standard that has been rapidly gaining adoption over the past few months. MCP tools give LLMs a standardized way to call functions, look up data, and interact with the world. Anthropic created the protocol and built the first GitHub MCP server, which grew to be one of the most popular MCP servers in the expanding ecosystem. We are excited to take ownership of the server and continue its development.

Join the discussion within GitHub Community.

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Multi-domain support and filterable changes are now in public preview on GitHub Desktop

We’re rolling out two exciting new features in the latest GitHub Desktop Beta to make your workflow even smoother:

  • Multi-domain support: Do you work across multiple GitHub instances? You can now sign into more than one domain so you can focus more on your code and less on sign-in flows.

  • Filterable changes: Do you find yourself endlessly scrolling through a long list of changed files? Now, you can filter by filename to review your changes faster. This makes it easier to locate and select exactly what you need for your next commit!

Download GitHub Desktop v3.4.19-beta1 today to try out the new features.

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Linux arm64 hosted runners now available for free in public repositories (Public Preview)

Now in public preview, Linux arm64 hosted runners are available for free in public repositories. Following the release of arm64 larger hosted runners in June, this offering now extends to the open source-community. Powered by the Cobalt 100-based processors, these 4 vCPU runners can deliver up to a 40% performance boost compared to Microsoft Azure’s previous generation of Arm-based VMs, providing a power-efficient compute layer for your workloads. Arm-native developers can now build, test and deploy entirely within the arm64 architecture without the need for virtualization on your Actions runs.

How to use the runners

To leverage the arm64 hosted runners, add the following labels in your public repository workflow runs:
– ubuntu-24.04-arm
– ubuntu-22.04-arm

Please note that these labels will not work in private repositories, and the workflow will fail if added. All runs in public repositories will adhere to our standard runners usage limits, with maximum concurrencies based on your plan type. While the arm64 runners are in public preview, you may experience longer queue times during peak usage hours.

Images

In partnership with Arm, GitHub provides the Ubuntu VM images for these runners, helping customers with a seamless start to building on Arm. To view the list of installed software, give feedback, or report issues with the image, visit the partner-runner-images repository.

Get started today!

To get started, simply add one of the new labels to theruns-on syntax in your public Actions workflow file. For more information on arm64 runners and how to use them, see our documentation and join the conversation in the community discussion.

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GitHub Skyline CLI extension now available

Bring your GitHub contributions to life with the new GitHub Skyline CLI extension – visualize, customize, and 3D print your journey in open source, all from the command line!

GitHub CLI Skyline extension in action showing a user's contributions in glorious ASCII art.

Go
@chrisreddington
@martinwoodward
@leereilly
@jasonlong

🛠️ Features

  • Binary STL generation: Turn your contribution data into 3D-printed works of art.
  • Customizable year selection: Show off a single year or flex with multi-year masterpieces.
  • Automatic authentication: Uses your GitHub credentials or specify another user.
  • ASCII art previews: See your contribution skyline before it’s immortalized IRL.

💻 Quick Start

If you already have GitHub CLI installed, installation is as easy as:

gh extension install github/gh-skyline

Generate a skyline:

gh skyline --year 2024

Generate a skyline for a specific user and year range:

gh skyline –-user chrisreddington --year 2014-2024

Start printing your GitHub journey in 3D glory. Your desk, your shelf, and your ego will thank you 😎

 

An example of a 3D Printed GitHub Skyline

 

🌟 Did you know: If you don’t have a 3D printer, you can upload STL files to GitHub and see them rendered directly in your browser:

Share your virtual | IRL skylines with #GitHubSkyline on social or in the community discussion – we can’t wait to see your creations!

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GitHub CLI renews GPG signing key for Linux packages

The GPG key used to verify GitHub CLI Debian and RedHat packages expired on Friday, September 6. If you have installed gh via our official package repositories, we ask that you update your keyring to the new key to continue verifying GitHub CLI releases.

Please refer to this documentation for instructions on how to do so with your respective package manager.

For reference, a note on this was also included in the CLI v2.56.0 release notes, published earlier this week.

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GitHub Desktop 3.4.4 – Introducing Custom Editor and Shell Integration

GitHub Desktop now allows you to open your repositories with any editor or shell, even if it’s not on the list of supported integrations. Supercharge your integrations with advanced configurations including specifying command line arguments.

Demonstrating adding a custom editor via the new integrations setting

Accessibility Improvements

  • Fixed: The “Open a Pull Request” and “About” dialog’s headings are announced via NVDA – #19107
  • Fixed: The branch selection popover in the “Open a Pull Request” dialog does not close on filter clearing – #19106
  • Fixed: The contrast ratio of icon in the diff file warnings is at least 3:1 – #19097
  • Fixed: The “Push Local Changes” confirmation dialog uses “alertdialog” role such that screen readers announce entire dialog contents – #19098
  • Fixed: Emoji’s provide descriptions for screen readers – #19101
  • Fixed: Stop improper announcement of \”dialog\” role on the autocompletion suggestions popover – #19114
  • Improved: Screen readers announces when users expand context in a diff – #19128
  • Improved: The squash dialog provides visual input labels – #19100
  • Improved: The search inputs across the app provide visual labeling in the form of a search icon – #19103

Community Contributions

  • Added: The external editor Cursor is supported on macOS – #17462. Thanks @bjorntechCarl!
  • Added: The external editor JetBrains RustRover is supported – #18802. Thanks @Radd-Sma!

Download GitHub Desktop

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GitHub Private Mirrors App – Public Beta

Today, we’re releasing a beta version of an open source GitHub App that manages private mirrors of public upstream repositories. The Private Mirrors App (PMA) enables organizations with regulatory or policy code review requirements to conduct their reviews in private, before contributing changes upstream. The app manages the lifecycle and synchronization of these private mirrors and automatically configures rulesets to manage PRs made to the mirrors.

The main benefits of working on private mirrors through PMA are:

  • Branch protection rules can enforce PR reviews by people on particular teams to ensure proper signoffs
  • If commits include code/keys/docs that should not be made public, there’s the opportunity to remove them and squash merge without leaking history
  • Initial development can happen inside an Enterprise Managed Users (EMU) organization, whose users ordinarily can’t interact with public GitHub repos. Once the app syncs a change, the public fork and upstream PR use normal github.com identities.

If this is interesting to you, check out the Private Mirrors App repo. If you’ve got questions or feedback, feel free to file an issue in the repostitory or join the conversation in the GitHub Community Discussions.

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GitHub Desktop 3.4 – Reset to Commit and Accessibility Settings

GitHub Desktop 3.4 lets you reset back to a specific commit quickly with “Reset to Commit” and improves discoverability of key application controls.

Resetting to Commit

With Reset to Commit, it takes one click to set your local history back to your latest pushed commit, with all of the reverted changes landing back into your changes list. While similar to using the undo function, Reset to Commit allows for resetting more than one commit at a time. By adding a new way to modify your history, Reset to Commit fits right along side undoing, reverting, amending, squashing, reordering, and cherry-picking features.

GitHub and the Desktop team are committed to making GitHub Desktop a tool for all developers. With GitHub Desktop 3.4, links are underlined by default and checkmarks are used in the diff to indicate whether a line is selected to be committed. These changes are aimed to enhance discoverability, be keyboard-accessible, and be semantically marked up to enable interaction with assistive technologies.

For users who want to opt out of these changes, check out the new Accessibility settings pane to customize your experience.

Automatic updates will roll out progressively, or you can download the latest GitHub Desktop here.

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dependabot-core is now open source with an MIT license

We’re excited to announce that the dependabot-core project is being relicensed under the MIT License, making it easier for the community to contribute to Dependabot.

Keeping dependencies updated is a crucial part of securing your software supply chain, and Dependabot has been helping GitHub users do this since 2019. It’s used by millions of developers each month to keep their dependencies up-to-date and free of known security vulnerabilities. We don’t charge anyone to use Dependabot, because we think everyone should be able to use open source without fear of vulnerabilities.

dependabot-core is the component of Dependabot that defines the logic to create pull requests for dependency updates across the 20+ languages and package managers it supports today. The update logic in dependabot-core is tightly integrated with the rest of GitHub’s Dependabot features, such as grouped updates and auto-triage rules, and contributions from collaborators have helped with its support of Swift and improvements to NuGet. By adopting the MIT license, we will simplify the process for members of the community to contribute to Dependabot and innovate together.

Dependabot-core was previously available under the Prosperity Public License 2.0, and has received contributions from more than 300 developers over the past few years. Now, the MIT license will make it easier than ever for members of the community to join our cause to improve the security of all the world’s software. If you’d like to learn more about contributing to dependabot-core, please check out the repository, and drop us an issue or pull request!

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Deprecation notice: v3 of the artifact actions

Starting January 30th, 2025, GitHub Actions customers will no longer be able to use v3 of actions/upload-artifact or actions/download-artifact. Customers should update workflows to begin using v4 of the artifact actions as soon as possible. While v4 of the artifact actions improves upload and download speeds by up to 98% and includes several new features, there are key differences from previous versions that may require updates to your workflows. Please see the documentation in the project repositories for guidance on how to migrate your workflows.

The deprecation of v3 will be similar to the previously announced v1 and v2 deprecation plans, which is scheduled to take place on June 30, 2024. Version tags will not be removed from the project repositories, however, attempting to use a version of the actions after the deprecation date will result in a workflow failure. Artifacts within their retention period will remain accessible from the UI or REST API regardless of the version used to upload. This deprecation will not impact any existing versions of GitHub Enterprise Server being used by customers.

This announcement will also be added to actions/upload-artifact and actions/download-artifact. Please visit the documentation to learn more about storing workflow data as artifacts in Actions.

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GitHub-hosted runner images deprecation notice: Docker Compose v1

Docker Compose v1 has been deprecated as of July 2023. All customers utilizing Compose v1 on GitHub-hosted runners are encouraged to migrate to Compose v2. Per GitHub’s support policy we will remove this tool from our GitHub managed runner images effective July 9, 2024.

To avoid breaking changes, customers will need to update their Actions workflow files from using docker-compose to docker compose. After July 9, workflows will begin to fail that are using the previous syntax. Customers are advised to review the migration instructions to ensure they are making all the changes required.

For more information on GitHub managed images, see the runner-images repository.

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Authenticate ORCID iD

We’re excited to announce that GitHub is partnering with ORCID. You can now authenticate your ORCID account with your GitHub account, and display your ORCID iD on your public GitHub profile. ORCID provides a persistent unique digital identifier (an ORCID iD) that researchers own and control, and that distinguishes them from every other researcher.

Go to https://github.com/settings/profile to authenticate your ORCID iD.

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Deprecation notice: v1 and v2 of the artifact actions

On December 14, 2023, GitHub Actions released v4 of the actions to upload and download artifacts. This version improves upload/download speeds by up to 98%, addresses long-standing customer feedback requests, and represents the future of artifacts in GitHub Actions.

With the introduction of v4, we will be deprecating v1 and v2 of actions/upload-artifact, actions/download-artifact, and related npm packages on June 30, 2024. We strongly encourage customers to update their workflows to begin using v4 of the artifact actions.

In order to prevent issues for customers using GitHub Connect, the tags for v1 through v2 will not be removed from the actions/upload-artifact and actions/download-artifact project repositories. However, attempting to use a version of the actions after the announced deprecation date will result in a workflow failure. This deprecation will not impact any existing versions of GitHub Enterprise Server being used by customers.

This announcement will also be added to actions/upload-artifact and actions/download-artifact. Please visit the documentation to learn more about storing workflow data as artifacts in Actions.

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GitHub Actions – Artifacts v4 is now Generally Available

We listened to your feedback and released new versions (v4) of actions/upload-artifact and actions/download-artifact. While this version of the artifact actions includes up to 10x performance improvements and several new features, there are also key differences from previous versions that may require updates to your workflows.

  • Artifacts will be scoped to a job rather than a workflow. This allows the artifact to become immediately available to download from the API after being uploaded, which was not possible before.
  • Artifacts v4 is not cross-compatible with previous versions. For example, an artifact uploaded using v3 cannot be used with actions/download-artifact@v4.
  • Using upload-artifact@v4 ensures artifacts are immutable, improving performance and protecting objects from corruption, which would often happen with concurrent uploads. Artifacts should be uploaded separately and then downloaded into a single directory using the two new inputs, pattern and merge-multiple, available in download-artifact@v4. These objects can then be re-uploaded as a single artifact.
  • A single job can upload a maximum of 500 artifacts.

Customers will still be able to use v1 – v3 of the artifact actions. If you wish to upgrade your workflow to use v4, please carefully consider the impact the aforementioned major version changes will have on your project and any downstream dependencies.

Artifacts v4 is only available to GitHub.com customers today but we will be extending support to GitHub Enterprise Server (GHES) customers in the future.

To learn more about what is included in v4, visit the actions/upload-artifact and actions/download-artifact repositories.

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Improvements to the homepage feed

 

We’ve released the following improvements to your homepage feed.

  1. You now have the option to include or exclude events from starred repositories, in addition to the default events from repositories you sponsor or watch.

       2. You will now see cards for when someone has forked one of your repositories.

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