Add from GitHub

What it is

Availability update — 7 October 2026. Add from GitHub is unsupported in the unified experience. The instructions below apply to the older separate-mode interface.

Attach a GitHub repository or a specific file to a chat so Claude can read the code alongside your prompt. It sits in the + menu on the chat composer, directly under Add to project.

GitHub is a connector, and this entry only appears once you have authorised it. In the older interface, authorisation is required. In the unified experience, this entry is unsupported regardless of authorisation.

Where to find it

On desktop

Composer → + → Add from GitHub, in Chat mode. The Cowork-mode + menu doesn’t carry it.

On the web

Same entry in the same place on claude.ai, Chat mode only.

How to use it

Authorise the GitHub connector once, from Customize → Connectors.
In a chat, click + → Add from GitHub.
Pick a repository, or narrow to a file or directory.
Send. Claude reads the attached code as part of the turn.

Good to know

Claude inherits your permissions. A connector can only reach what the account you authorised it with can reach, so a private repo needs an account with access to it.
For longer code work, don’t re-attach every time. Use Claude Code, or a Project with the repo attached.
Chat mode only. Switching the composer to Cowork removes this entry, along with Add to project, Research and Web search.

What’s changed recently

2026-09-13 — Confirmed present in the Chat-mode + menu on desktop build 1.52386.3 and on claude.ai, and absent from the Cowork-mode menu on both. This entry was reported as removed on 2026-07-29; it had not been — the menu had been read in Cowork mode, where it does not appear.