Github MCP not returning the file contents requested with get_file_contents

[hi-fox]

📦 Platform

Self hosting Docker

📦 Deploymenet mode

server db(lobe-chat-database image)

📌 Version

1.99.2

💻 Operating System

Windows

🌐 Browser

Firefox

🐛 Bug Description

I am trying to use the github MCP server (https://github.com/github/github-mcp-server) and I have got the entire thing connected and working except for when I try and call the "get_file_contents" method, it is failing as the response is that a file was downloaded:

function call:

{
"id": "call_0_44f94fb9-54aa-4fda-a988-683e314a8d69",
"type": "mcp",
"apiName": "get_file_contents",
"arguments": "{"owner": "hi-fox", "repo": "ark-sms", "path": "paths.py"}",
"identifier": "github"
}

response:

"successfully downloaded text file"

This is not expected behaviour. when you use a command like “get_file_contents” via this type of integration (or directly through the GitHub REST API), you should receive the actual text content of the file as part of the response usually either Base64-encoded (in GitHub API v3) or as a plain string, depending on the integration.

Normally, a successful response would include the file's content (or an error if something went wrong).

Is this an error on lobechat's end, or is this an error with the github MCP?

You can see I have correctly linked the MCP and attempting to get a list of the contents of the root directory does work:

{
"id": "call_ACeXV3TaEyIk8qjKfDurJ2Ks",
"type": "mcp",
"apiName": "get_file_contents",
"arguments": "{"path":"/","repo":"ark-sms","owner":"hi-fox"}",
"identifier": "github"
}

response:

[
{
"type": "file",
"size": 36,
"name": ".gitignore",
"path": ".gitignore",
"sha": "e4e1ff7cbcad60723ac1f9fb2ae600124965",
"url": "https://api.github.com/repos/hi-fox/ark-sms/contents/.gitignore?ref=main",
"git_url": "https://api.github.com/repos/hi-fox/ark-sms/git/blobs/e4e1ff7cbcad6072322ac1f9fb2ae600124965",
"html_url": "https://github.com/hi-fox/ark-sms/blob/main/.gitignore",
"download_url": "https://raw.githubusercontent.com/hi-fox/ark-sms/main/.gitignore?token=AGA5CYCGCVQEHPLIZG3IOZYG2"
},
{
"type": "file",
"size": 43037,
"name": "ARKBackup.py",
"path": "ARKBackup.py",
"sha": "491e77f97e0985b55e91597be36bc2420211f",
"url": "https://api.github.com/repos/hi-fox/ark-sms/contents/ARKBackup.py?ref=main",
"git_url": "https://api.github.com/repos/hi-fox/ark-sms/git/blobs/491e77f97e098e91597be39e6bc24920211f",
"html_url": "https://github.com/hi-fox/ark-sms/blob/main/ARKBackup.py",
"download_url": "https://raw.githubusercontent.com/hi-fox/ark-sms/main/ARKBackup.py?token=AGA5CYDI3757JEEEEBVLIOZYG2"
},

etc

But the actual file contents does not.

📷 Recurrence Steps

Add the github MCP from their official github page, and try and use the get_file_contents method to pull the contents of any file. This error is reproducible on any repo I have tried.

🚦 Expected Behavior

I expect the output of the file to be given in the JSON response. I should receive JSON including:

• The actual file content (base64-encoded)
• File size, name, sha etc.

something like:

{
"name": "file.py",
"path": "file.py",
"sha": "abc123...",
"size": 1234,
"content": "aW1wb3J0IG9zCmltcG9ydCBzeXMKLi4u",
"encoding": "base64",
"url": "...",
}

Tools/integrations should extract and decode that, returning a plain-text version for users.

📝 Additional Information

No response

[lobehubbot]

👀 @hi-fox

Thank you for raising an issue. We will investigate into the matter and get back to you as soon as possible.
Please make sure you have given us as much context as possible.
非常感谢您提交 issue。我们会尽快调查此事，并尽快回复您。 请确保您已经提供了尽可能多的背景信息。

[arvinxx]

I think it's more like the GitHub MCP Server issue. maybe you can combine this mcp server with some other MCP Server like desktop commander to download the file?