How to use Atlassian Rovo MCP Server in headless environments like GitHub Actions?

[Pandithdurai Govindaraj]

Hello Atlassian Community,

We are working with the Atlassian Rovo MCP Server and want to integrate it with GitHub custom agents running in GitHub Actions. However, we’ve encountered a major limitation: the MCP Server requires an interactive browser-based OAuth 2.1 login, which is not supported in headless CI/CD runners.

Could you please advise if there is a recommended solution or workaround to enable OAuth authentication and MCP connectivity in fully headless environments like GitHub Actions? For example, support for non-interactive OAuth flows, token injection, or managed persistent MCP proxies.

Any guidance or guidance on best practices would be greatly appreciated.

Thank you!

[Dilip Venkatesh · Accepted solution]

We support headless auth with API tokens for MCP server

read more here - https://community.atlassian.com/forums/Atlassian-Remote-MCP-Server/Announcing-authentication-via-API-token-for-Atlassian-Rovo-MCP/ba-p/3197014#M291

[Dr Valeri Colon _Connect Centric_]

@Pandithdurai Govindaraj and @Clay Sheaff  Today, there isn’t a supported headless auth flow for the Atlassian Rovo MCP Server. The Atlassian MCP endpoint relies on an interactive OAuth browser callback, and you can’t officially “inject” a token or use a non-interactive grant in GitHub Actions yet.

Best workaround right now: don’t use the MCP server from CI. Call Atlassian’s public REST APIs directly from Actions using an OAuth app (3LO) or a scoped API token where supported, and keep MCP for interactive/dev environments. If Atlassian adds service-to-service auth for MCP, it’ll show up first in the MCP docs/EAP notes.

[Clay Sheaff]

+1. Getting this to work is essential for a Github agent that can use organization docs for informed decisions.

@Anthony Morais 

[Anthony Morais]

Hi @Pandithdurai Govindaraj 

This document can answer all your questions.


I hope this helps!