diff --git a/.changeset/tricky-months-whisper.md b/.changeset/tricky-months-whisper.md
new file mode 100644
index 000000000..e789e549a
--- /dev/null
+++ b/.changeset/tricky-months-whisper.md
@@ -0,0 +1,5 @@
+---
+"@changesets/get-github-info": patch
+---
+
+Improved the error message for a missing `GITHUB_TOKEN` to include the information about the required permissions.
diff --git a/packages/get-github-info/src/index.ts b/packages/get-github-info/src/index.ts
index ba40745c3..2378f369c 100644
--- a/packages/get-github-info/src/index.ts
+++ b/packages/get-github-info/src/index.ts
@@ -81,7 +81,7 @@ function makeQuery(repos: ReposWithCommitsAndPRsToFetch) {
 const GHDataLoader = new DataLoader(async (requests: RequestData[]) => {
   if (!process.env.GITHUB_TOKEN) {
     throw new Error(
-      "Please create a GitHub personal access token at https://github.com/settings/tokens/new and add it as the GITHUB_TOKEN environment variable"
+      "Please create a GitHub personal access token at https://github.com/settings/tokens/new with `read:user` and `repo:status` permissions and add it as the GITHUB_TOKEN environment variable"
     );
   }
   let repos: ReposWithCommitsAndPRsToFetch = {};