How I Automated GitHub Repos, Branches & PRs Using Claude AI and Docker Desktop MCP

🚀 Introduction

In this guide, I’ll walk you through how I used Docker Desktop, the MCP Toolkit extension, and Claude Desktop to connect to GitHub and automate tasks like:

• Creating a repository
• Adding multiple branches
• Opening a pull request — all via simple prompts to Claude

We’ll set up everything step-by-step so you can follow this like a playbook and get the same results.

✅ Prerequisites

Before we begin, make sure you have the following installed:

• Docker Desktop
• Claude Desktop
• A GitHub Personal Access Token (PAT) with repo and user access
• Internet connectivity

🛠️ Step-by-Step Guide

🔹 Step 1: Open Docker Desktop and Navigate to Extensions

• Launch Docker Desktop
• Click on the "Add Extensions" tab

🔹 Step 2: Install MCP Toolkit Extension

• Search for “MCP Toolkit”
• Click Install
• Wait until installation is complete and launch the extension

🔹 Step 3: Enable GitHub as MCP Server

• Inside MCP Toolkit, Search for GitHub under MCP Servers and select the official MCP Server
• Paste your GitHub Personal Access Token If you don't have the GitHub PAT ready go to Account Settings --> Developer Settings - Create Token and paste it in the github.personal_access_token

This enables Docker to act as an MCP Server that communicates securely with GitHub.

🔹 Step 4: Launch Claude Desktop and Configure MCP Client

• Open Claude Desktop settings or config file
• Copy the MCP Client config instructions shown in Docker MCP extension
• Paste them into Claude’s config
• Restart Claude Desktop

Now Claude is linked to the GitHub MCP server and ready to take commands.

🔹 Step 5: Create a GitHub Repository Using Claude

Open Claude’s interface and type:

create a repo called yt-demo-github-mcp in my github account

✅ You’ll see a confirmation from Claude that the repository is created.

🔹 Step 6: Create Multiple Branches

Prompt:

can you create 3 branches dev, qe, prod and list all the available branches?

✅ Claude will confirm branch creation.

🔹 Step 7: Open a Pull Request

Prompt:

can you create a file called tes.py with hello worls code in Python and raise Pull request from Dev to QE, QE to Prod and Prod to main?

✅ Claude opens the PR instantly, no GitHub UI involved.

💡 What Else Can You Do?

The GitHub MCP Server supports over 48 different GitHub features — from repository settings to contributor roles, issues, PR reviews, and more.

👉 You can explore all supported features here:
📖 GitHub MCP Official Documentation

🔗 References

• 🐳 Docker Desktop
• 🔌 Docker MCP Toolkit Extension
• 📘 GitHub MCP Documentation
• 🤖 Claude Desktop
• 🔐 Create a GitHub PAT

🎯 Wrapping Up

You just saw how easy it is to:

• Set up Docker MCP and Claude Desktop
• Connect to GitHub
• Automate key GitHub tasks with natural language

This guide is part of my Docker Series, where I’ll continue sharing hands-on, real-world use cases to help you get the most out of Docker tools and extensions.