GitLab MCP

Overview

GitLab MCP provides seamless integration between AI assistants and GitLab, enabling developers to work with repositories, merge requests, issues, and CI/CD pipelines directly from their AI coding environment. This MCP server brings GitLab's powerful DevOps platform capabilities into Claude Desktop, Cursor, and other MCP-compatible clients.

With GitLab MCP, you can search code, review merge requests, manage issues, trigger pipelines, and more — all through natural language conversations with your AI assistant.

Features

• Repository Access: Browse files, search code, and explore project structures
• Merge Request Management: Create, review, and manage merge requests
• Issue Tracking: Create, update, and search issues
• CI/CD Pipeline Control: Trigger pipelines, view job logs, and manage deployments
• Snippet Management: Create and manage code snippets
• Wiki Access: Read and edit project wikis

Installation

npx -y @modelcontextprotocol/server-gitlab

Configuration

Add to your claude_desktop_config.json:

{
  "mcpServers": {
    "gitlab": {
      "command": "npx",
      "args": ["-y", "@modelcontextprotocol/server-gitlab"],
      "env": {
        "GITLAB_PERSONAL_ACCESS_TOKEN": "glpat-xxxxxxxxxxxx"
      }
    }
  }
}

Or set as environment variable:

export GITLAB_PERSONAL_ACCESS_TOKEN="glpat-xxxxxxxxxxxx"
npx -y @modelcontextprotocol/server-gitlab

Creating a GitLab Personal Access Token

1. Go to User Settings → Access Tokens in GitLab
2. Click Add new token
3. Give it a name and set expiration
4. Select scopes: read_api, write_repository, read_repository
5. Click Create personal access token
6. Copy the token and add it to your configuration

Available Tools

Tool	Description
list_projects	List accessible GitLab projects
get_project	Get detailed project information
list_merge_requests	List merge requests for a project
get_merge_request	Get detailed merge request information
create_merge_request	Create a new merge request
list_issues	List issues for a project
create_issue	Create a new issue
get_issue	Get detailed issue information
list_pipelines	List CI/CD pipelines for a project
trigger_pipeline	Trigger a new CI/CD pipeline
get_pipeline_status	Get pipeline status and jobs
list_files	List files in a repository
get_file	Get file content from repository
search_code	Search code across repositories

Usage Examples

Search for Code

Search for all files containing "authentication" in the my-project repository

Review a Merge Request

Show me the details and diff for merge request #42 in my-project

Create an Issue

Create an issue in my-project titled "Fix login bug" with description "Users are unable to log in when using SSO"

Trigger a Pipeline

Trigger a CI/CD pipeline for the main branch in my-project

Get Pipeline Logs

Show me the logs for the latest failed pipeline job in my-project

Claude Desktop Setup

1. Install the MCP server:

   npm install -g @modelcontextprotocol/server-gitlab
   

2. Add to claude_desktop_config.json:

   {
     "mcpServers": {
       "gitlab": {
         "command": "npx",
         "args": ["-y", "@modelcontextprotocol/server-gitlab"],
         "env": {
           "GITLAB_PERSONAL_ACCESS_TOKEN": "glpat-xxxxxxxxxxxx"
         }
       }
     }
   }
   

3. Restart Claude Desktop

Pros

• ✅ Direct GitLab API integration
• ✅ Full repository access
• ✅ CI/CD pipeline management
• ✅ Issue and merge request workflows
• ✅ Code search capabilities

Cons

• ❌ Requires personal access token
• ❌ Self-hosted GitLab may need additional configuration
• ❌ Rate limits apply for API calls

Resources

• GitLab Documentation
• MCP Servers Repository
• GitLab API Reference