github-mcp-server: /mcp authenticate always fails on Copilot Enterprise — enterprise MCP host advertises a cross-origin resource identifier
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Since Aug 24, 2026.
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Description
Describe the bug
On a Copilot Enterprise-routed account, selecting the built-in github-mcp-server in /mcp starts an OAuth flow that can never succeed:
Authenticating: github-mcp-server
Authentication failed: MCPOAuthError: Failed to discover authorization server metadata for https://api.enterprise.githubcopilot.com/mcp/readonly
Root cause — the built-in server URL is derived from the account's Copilot API base, so for enterprise-routed accounts it becomes https://api.enterprise.githubcopilot.com/mcp/readonly. But that host advertises a protected-resource identifier on a different origin:
$ curl -si -X POST https://api.enterprise.githubcopilot.com/mcp/readonly \
-H 'Content-Type: application/json' \
-H 'Accept: application/json, text/event-stream' \
-d '{"jsonrpc":"2.0","id":1,"method":"initialize","params":{"protocolVersion":"2025-06-18","capabilities":{},"clientInfo":{"name":"t","version":"1"}}}'
HTTP/2 401
www-authenticate: Bearer error="invalid_request",
error_description="No access token was provided in this request",
resource_metadata="https://api.githubcopilot.com/.well-known/oauth-protected-resource/mcp/readonly"
^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^ different origin than the resource server
$ curl -s https://api.enterprise.githubcopilot.com/.well-known/oauth-protected-resource/mcp/readonly
{
"resource": "https://api.githubcopilot.com/mcp/readonly",
^^^^^^^^^^ declares the NON-enterprise origin
"authorization_servers": ["https://github.com/login/oauth"],
...
}
The CLI enforces RFC 9728 same-origin on the resource identifier — runtime.node contains the guard string:
Protected resource metadata declares resource…, which does not belong to…
so discovery aborts before an authorization server is ever contacted. Both requests above are unauthenticated, so this reproduces for any enterprise-routed account regardless of local credentials.
Note the AS metadata itself is fine and reachable (https://github.com/.well-known/oauth-authorization-server/login/oauth → 200) — the flow never gets that far.
This looks like the built-in first-party instance of #3100: /mcp initiates OAuth discovery on selection even when the server already has a working Authorization: Bearer header. Here the server is healthy — its tools work normally in the same session — so the OAuth attempt is both unnecessary and unsatisfiable.
Affected version
1.0.79-9 (macOS 15 / darwin-arm64). Account is enterprise-routed, so authGetCopilotApiUrl resolves to https://api.enterprise.githubcopilot.com.
Steps to reproduce the behavior
- Sign in with an account whose Copilot is provided through a GitHub Enterprise (so the Copilot API base is
api.enterprise.githubcopilot.com). - Confirm the built-in server is healthy — e.g. invoke
github-mcp-server/search_users. It succeeds. - Run
/mcpand selectgithub-mcp-serverfrom the numbered list (the only action offered is "authenticate"). - Observe
Authentication failed: MCPOAuthError: Failed to discover authorization server metadata for https://api.enterprise.githubcopilot.com/mcp/readonly.
Expected behavior
Any of:
- Skip OAuth when a bearer is already attached. The built-in server is authenticated via an injected
Authorization: Bearerheader (Starting pending GitHub MCP server "github-mcp-server" after authentication), so it should report authenticated and not offer/enter an OAuth flow at all. (Same ask as #3100.) - Honour the advertised resource identifier when the resource server explicitly points at a sibling Copilot origin, rather than rejecting it as cross-origin.
- Or fix the service side so
api.enterprise.githubcopilot.comadvertises its own origin inresource/resource_metadata.
Additional context
- Discovery is rejected purely on the URL — independent of token, scopes, keychain, or local config. Verified unauthenticated via
curlabove. GITHUB_MCP_URL_OVERRIDEappears not to be read from the process environment in 1.0.79-9: setting it to an unroutable URL (http://127.0.0.1:9/mcp/readonly) still produced a fully workinggithub-mcp-serverwith no connection attempt to that address, so it can't be used as a workaround.- Overriding the built-in by declaring a user-level
github-mcp-serverinmcp-config.jsonpointed athttps://api.githubcopilot.com/mcp/readonlydoes suppress the failure (log:User has explicitly configured github-mcp-server by name, skipping built-in setup), but it is not a viable workaround: the plain endpoint doesn't expose the Copilot-only tools, soweb_search,get_copilot_spaceandlist_copilot_spacesall disappear.
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Assessment
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