Welcome to forkctl

Forking a GitHub repo is one click. Adopting it — picking fork vs template, dealing with org policy, waiting for async creation, wiring upstream sync, making the result actually runnable — is everything else. Forkctl owns the everything-else.

forkctl is an MCP server and a CLI. The same twenty-two tools are exposed through both surfaces, sharing one schema-validated, audit-logged dispatch boundary.

When to reach for forkctl

• You want to contribute back to an open-source project but skip the manual steps of forking, syncing, and configuring upstream.
• You want to derive a new product from a template and not be left with stale references in the result.
• You want to adopt a repo into your org with policy preflight, drift scanning, and a structured handoff.
• You want to maintain a fleet of forks without writing a custom GitHub bot.
• You’re a maintainer who wants to make your repo more adoptable for everyone else.

The seven layers

Layer	What it owns
Assessment	Score adoption-readiness, pick fork vs template, fix source-side blockers
Execution	Async fork or template generation with operation tracking
Bootstrap	Profile-driven aftercare so the new repo is actually runnable
Sync	Honest divergence diagnosis + PR-based fallback when fast-forward is impossible
Fleet	List, health-check, batch-sync many forks at once
Receipts	Append-only SQLite audit log + machine-readable operation receipts
Rename (new in v1.1.0)	AST-aware polyglot rename — identity, symbols, textual surfaces, lockfiles. See Rename.

Two surfaces, one product

# As a CLI
npx @mcptoolshop/forkctl assess octocat/hello-world
npx @mcptoolshop/forkctl sync myhandle/my-fork

// As an MCP server (Claude Code, Cursor, any MCP client)
{
  "mcpServers": {
    "forkctl": {
      "command": "npx",
      "args": ["-y", "@mcptoolshop/forkctl", "mcp"],
      "env": { "GITHUB_TOKEN": "ghp_..." }
    }
  }
}

Where to next

• New here? Start with Getting Started.
• Want the day-to-day patterns? Usage.
• Want every knob? Configuration.
• Want to look up a specific tool? Reference.
• Want to know how it’s wired internally? Architecture.
• Renaming a repo you just adopted? Rename — new in v1.1.0.
• Worried about secrets and force-pushes? Security explicitly states what forkctl will and won’t do.