mcp-gitlab

mcp-gitlab

mcp-gitlab is a Model Context Protocol (MCP) server for the GitLab REST API that provides 83 tools, 7 resources, and 6 prompts for AI assistants to manage projects, merge requests, pipelines, CI/CD variables, approvals, issues, code reviews, and more. Works with Claude Desktop, Claude Code, Cursor, Windsurf, VS Code Copilot, and any MCP-compatible client.

Supports GitLab.com and self-hosted GitLab instances (CE/EE). No GitLab Duo or Premium required.

Built with FastMCP, httpx, and Pydantic.

Install: uvx mcp-gitlab | PyPI | MCP Registry | Changelog

1-Click Installation

💡 Tip: For other AI assistants (Claude Code, Windsurf, IntelliJ, Gemini CLI), visit the GitLab MCP Installation Gateway.

Manual Setup Guides (Click to expand)

Prerequisite: Install uv first (required for all uvx install flows). Install uv.

Claude Code

claude mcp add gitlab -- uvx mcp-gitlab

Windsurf & IntelliJ

Windsurf: Add to ~/.codeium/windsurf/mcp_config.json IntelliJ: Add to Settings | Tools | MCP Servers

Note: The actual server config starts at gitlab inside the mcpServers object.

{
  "mcpServers": {
    "gitlab": {
      "command": "uvx",
      "args": ["mcp-gitlab"],
      "env": {
        "GITLAB_URL": "https://gitlab.example.com",
        "GITLAB_TOKEN": "glpat-xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx"
      }
    }
  }
}

Gemini CLI

gemini mcp add -e GITLAB_URL=https://gitlab.example.com -e GITLAB_TOKEN=glpat-xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx gitlab uvx mcp-gitlab

pip / uv

uv pip install mcp-gitlab

Configuration

Variable	Required	Default	Description
GITLAB_URL	Yes	-	GitLab instance URL (e.g. https://gitlab.example.com)
GITLAB_TOKEN	Yes	-	Authentication token (see below)
GITLAB_READ_ONLY	No	false	Set to true to disable write operations
GITLAB_TIMEOUT	No	30	Request timeout in seconds
GITLAB_SSL_VERIFY	No	true	Set to false to skip SSL verification

Supported Token Types

The server checks these environment variables in order — first match wins:

• GITLAB_TOKEN
• GITLAB_PAT
• GITLAB_PERSONAL_ACCESS_TOKEN
• GITLAB_API_TOKEN

These accept any of the following token types:

Token Type	Format	Use Case
Personal access token	glpat-xxx	User-level access with api scope
OAuth2 token	oauth-xxx	OAuth app integrations
CI job token	$CI_JOB_TOKEN	GitLab CI pipeline access

Compatibility

Client	Supported	Install Method
Claude Desktop	Yes	claude_desktop_config.json
Claude Code	Yes	claude mcp add
Cursor	Yes	One-click deeplink or .cursor/mcp.json
VS Code Copilot	Yes	One-click deeplink or .vscode/mcp.json
Windsurf	Yes	~/.codeium/windsurf/mcp_config.json
Any MCP client	Yes	stdio or HTTP transport

Tools (83)

Category	Count	Tools
Projects	4	get, create, delete, update merge settings
Project Approvals	10	get/update config, CRUD approval rules (project + MR)
Groups	6	list, get, share/unshare project, share/unshare group
Branches	3	list, create, delete
Commits	4	list, get (with diff), create, compare
Merge Requests	16	list, get, create, update, merge, merge-sequence, rebase, changes, approve, unapprove, get approvals, list reviewers, list pipelines, list commits, subscribe, unsubscribe
MR Notes	6	list, add, delete, update, award emoji, remove emoji
MR Discussions	4	list, create (inline + multi-line), reply, resolve
Pipelines	5	list, get (with jobs), create, retry, cancel
Jobs	4	retry, play, cancel, get log
Tags	4	list, get, create, delete
Releases	5	list, get, create, update, delete
CI/CD Variables	8	CRUD for project variables, CRUD for group variables
Issues	5	list, get, create, update, add comment

Full tool reference (click to expand)

Projects

Tool	Description
gitlab_get_project	Get project details
gitlab_create_project	Create a new project
gitlab_delete_project	Delete a project
gitlab_update_project_merge_settings	Update merge settings

Project Approvals

Tool	Description
gitlab_get_project_approvals	Get approval config
gitlab_update_project_approvals	Update approval settings
gitlab_list_project_approval_rules	List approval rules
gitlab_create_project_approval_rule	Create approval rule
gitlab_update_project_approval_rule	Update approval rule
gitlab_delete_project_approval_rule	Delete approval rule
gitlab_list_mr_approval_rules	List MR approval rules
gitlab_create_mr_approval_rule	Create MR approval rule
gitlab_update_mr_approval_rule	Update MR approval rule
gitlab_delete_mr_approval_rule	Delete MR approval rule

Groups

Tool	Description
gitlab_list_groups	List groups
gitlab_get_group	Get group details
gitlab_share_project_with_group	Share project with group
gitlab_unshare_project_with_group	Unshare project from group
gitlab_share_group_with_group	Share group with group
gitlab_unshare_group_with_group	Unshare group from group

Branches

Tool	Description
gitlab_list_branches	List branches
gitlab_create_branch	Create a branch
gitlab_delete_branch	Delete a branch

Commits

Tool	Description
gitlab_list_commits	List commits
gitlab_get_commit	Get commit (with optional diff)
gitlab_create_commit	Create commit with file actions
gitlab_compare	Compare branches/tags/commits

Merge Requests

Tool	Description
gitlab_list_mrs	List merge requests
gitlab_get_mr	Get MR details
gitlab_create_mr	Create merge request
gitlab_update_mr	Update merge request
gitlab_merge_mr	Merge a merge request
gitlab_merge_mr_sequence	Merge multiple MRs in order
gitlab_rebase_mr	Rebase a merge request
gitlab_mr_changes	Get MR file changes
gitlab_approve_mr	Approve a merge request
gitlab_unapprove_mr	Remove approval from a merge request
gitlab_get_mr_approvals	Get MR approval state
gitlab_list_mr_pipelines	List MR pipelines
gitlab_list_mr_commits	List MR commits
gitlab_subscribe_mr	Subscribe to MR notifications
gitlab_unsubscribe_mr	Unsubscribe from MR notifications

MR Notes

Tool	Description
gitlab_list_mr_notes	List MR comments
gitlab_add_mr_note	Add comment to MR
gitlab_delete_mr_note	Delete MR comment
gitlab_update_mr_note	Update MR comment
gitlab_award_emoji	Award emoji to note
gitlab_remove_emoji	Remove emoji from note

MR Discussions

Tool	Description
gitlab_list_mr_discussions	List discussions
gitlab_create_mr_discussion	Create discussion (inline + multi-line)
gitlab_reply_to_discussion	Reply to discussion
gitlab_resolve_discussion	Resolve/unresolve discussion

Pipelines

Tool	Description
gitlab_list_pipelines	List pipelines
gitlab_get_pipeline	Get pipeline (with optional jobs)
gitlab_create_pipeline	Trigger pipeline
gitlab_retry_pipeline	Retry failed jobs
gitlab_cancel_pipeline	Cancel pipeline

Jobs

Tool	Description
gitlab_retry_job	Retry a job
gitlab_play_job	Trigger manual job
gitlab_cancel_job	Cancel a job
gitlab_get_job_log	Get job log output

Tags

Tool	Description
gitlab_list_tags	List tags
gitlab_get_tag	Get tag details
gitlab_create_tag	Create a tag
gitlab_delete_tag	Delete a tag

Releases

Tool	Description
gitlab_list_releases	List releases
gitlab_get_release	Get release details
gitlab_create_release	Create a release
gitlab_update_release	Update a release
gitlab_delete_release	Delete a release

CI/CD Variables

Tool	Description
gitlab_list_variables	List project variables
gitlab_create_variable	Create project variable
gitlab_update_variable	Update project variable
gitlab_delete_variable	Delete project variable
gitlab_list_group_variables	List group variables
gitlab_create_group_variable	Create group variable
gitlab_update_group_variable	Update group variable
gitlab_delete_group_variable	Delete group variable

Issues

Tool	Description
gitlab_list_issues	List issues
gitlab_get_issue	Get issue details
gitlab_create_issue	Create an issue
gitlab_update_issue	Update an issue
gitlab_add_issue_comment	Add comment to issue

Resources (7)

The server exposes curated workflow guides as MCP resources that clients can read on demand.

URI	Name	Description
resource://rules/gitlab-ci	GitLab CI/CD Pipeline Patterns	Stage design, job rules, caching, artifacts, needs DAG, multi-project pipelines
resource://rules/git-workflow	Git Workflow Standards	Branch naming, trunk-based flow, merge vs rebase, protected branches
resource://rules/mr-hygiene	Merge Request Best Practices	MR size, description templates, review checklists, thread resolution
resource://rules/conventional-commits	Conventional Commits Spec	Commit types, scopes, breaking changes, changelog generation
resource://guides/code-review	Code Review Standards	Review priorities, inline comments, approval workflows, nit vs blocker
resource://guides/codeowners	GitLab CODEOWNERS Reference	Syntax, section owners, approval rules, pattern matching
resource://guides/approval-workflow	Approval Workflow Guide	Approval types, project vs MR-level rules, SHA safety, merge readiness

Prompts (6)

The server provides MCP prompts — reusable multi-tool workflow templates that clients can surface as slash commands.

Prompt	Parameters	Workflow
review_mr	project_id, mr_iid	Fetch MR → check pipeline → review changes → write discussion notes
approve_mr	project_id, mr_iid	Check approvals → verify pipeline → review changes → approve or request changes
diagnose_pipeline	project_id, pipeline_id	Fetch pipeline → identify failed jobs → get logs → suggest fix
prepare_release	project_id, tag_name, ref	Compare commits since last tag → draft changelog → create tag + release
setup_branch_protection	project_id	Review settings → configure merge method → set approval rules
triage_issues	project_id, label	List open issues → categorize → prioritize → identify duplicates

Usage Examples

Projects & Branches

"Get details for project my-org/api-gateway"
→ gitlab_get_project(project_id="my-org/api-gateway")

"Create a feature branch from main"
→ gitlab_create_branch(project_id="123", branch_name="feat/login", ref="main")

"Delete all branches merged into main"
→ gitlab_list_branches(project_id="123") → filter merged → gitlab_delete_branch for each

Merge Requests & Code Review

"Open a merge request from feat/login to main"
→ gitlab_create_mr(project_id="123", source_branch="feat/login", target_branch="main", title="Add login")

"Review MR !42 — list changes and add inline comments"
→ gitlab_mr_changes(project_id="123", mr_iid=42)
→ gitlab_create_mr_discussion(project_id="123", mr_iid=42, body="nit: ...", new_path="src/auth.py", new_line=15)

"Merge MR !42 after resolving all threads"
→ gitlab_list_mr_discussions(project_id="123", mr_iid=42) → resolve unresolved
→ gitlab_merge_mr(project_id="123", mr_iid=42, squash=True)

Pipelines & CI/CD

"Show failed pipelines on main this week"
→ gitlab_list_pipelines(project_id="123", ref="main", status="failed")

"Retry a failed pipeline"
→ gitlab_retry_pipeline(project_id="123", pipeline_id=456)

"Get the build log for job 789"
→ gitlab_get_job_log(project_id="123", job_id=789, tail_lines=100)

Issues

"Create a bug report in project 123"
→ gitlab_create_issue(project_id="123", title="Login page 500 error", labels=["bug","P1"])

"Find open issues assigned to me"
→ gitlab_list_issues(project_id="123", state="opened", assignee_username="johndoe")

Security Considerations

• Token scope: Use the minimum required scope. api scope grants full access; prefer read_api for read-only deployments.
• Read-only mode: Set GITLAB_READ_ONLY=true to disable all write operations (create, update, delete, merge). Read-only mode is enforced server-side before any API call.
• SSL verification: GITLAB_SSL_VERIFY=true by default. Only disable for self-signed certificates in trusted networks.
• CI/CD variable masking: gitlab_list_variables and gitlab_list_group_variables automatically mask values of variables marked as masked in GitLab, returning ***MASKED*** instead of the actual value.
• MCP tool annotations: Each tool declares readOnlyHint, destructiveHint, and idempotentHint for client-side permission prompts.
• No credential storage: The server does not persist tokens. Credentials are read from environment variables at startup.

Rate Limits & Permissions

Rate Limits

GitLab enforces per-user rate limits (default: 2000 requests/minute for authenticated users). When rate-limited, tools return a 429 error with a hint to wait before retrying. Paginated endpoints default to 20 results per page; use per_page (max 100) to reduce the number of API calls.

Required Permissions

Operation	Minimum GitLab Role
Read projects, MRs, pipelines, issues	Reporter
Create branches, MRs, issues	Developer
Merge MRs, manage CI/CD variables	Maintainer
Delete projects, manage approval rules	Maintainer/Owner
Share projects/groups	Owner (or Admin)

CLI & Transport Options

# Default: stdio transport (for MCP clients)
uvx mcp-gitlab

# HTTP transport (SSE or streamable-http)
uvx mcp-gitlab --transport sse --host 127.0.0.1 --port 8000
uvx mcp-gitlab --transport streamable-http --port 9000

# CLI overrides for config
uvx mcp-gitlab --gitlab-url https://gitlab.example.com --gitlab-token glpat-xxx --read-only

The server loads .env files from the working directory automatically via python-dotenv.

Related MCP Servers

• mcp-atlassian-extended — Jira + Confluence integration (23 tools, 15 resources, 5 prompts)
• mcp-coda — Coda.io integration (54 tools, 12 resources, 5 prompts)

Development

git clone https://github.com/vish288/mcp-gitlab.git
cd mcp-gitlab
uv sync --all-extras

uv run pytest --cov
uv run ruff check .
uv run ruff format --check .

License

MIT