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GitLab MCP Server

A comprehensive Model Context Protocol server for GitLab. Manage projects, merge requests, issues, pipelines, wikis, releases, tags, milestones, and more from any MCP-compatible AI client.

Default: 40 tools (38 core + discover_tools + help). 278 tools exist in total. Start lean; call discover_tools to activate more. Machine-readable index: llms.txt · llms-full.txt.

npm License

Without → With

Without this MCP With this MCP
Paste MR URLs and diffs into chat list_merge_request_changed_files → batched get_merge_request_file_diff
Hunt job logs in the GitLab UI get_pipeline_job_output with pagination
Re-explain the project path every turn project_id=group%2Fproject and merge_request_iid=123

Three install paths

Path When How
Local IDE Cursor, Claude Code, Codex on your machine stdio + PAT or local OAuth
Shared HTTP Team or hosted MCP Streamable HTTP URL such as https://mcp.example.com/mcp
Claude.ai Claude web connectors Public HTTPS + GITLAB_MCP_OAUTH

Skill + CLI is an equal path with no MCP registration: see CLI without MCP.

Use MCP in chat; use the CLI when you need the full payload (diffs, logs, artifacts). Human CLI is never compacted.

Why use this GitLab MCP?

  • Broad GitLab coverage — projects, repository browsing, merge requests, issues, pipelines, wiki, releases, tags, labels, milestones, and more.
  • Flexible auth — Personal Access Token, local OAuth2 browser flow, MCP OAuth proxy, and per-request remote authorization.
  • Multiple transports — stdio for local clients, SSE for legacy clients, and Streamable HTTP for modern remote deployments.
  • Client-friendly setup — examples for Claude Code, Codex, Antigravity, OpenCode, Copilot, Cline, Roo Code, Cursor, Kilo Code, and Amp Code.
  • Self-hosted ready — works with custom GitLab instances, proxy settings, and dynamic API URL routing.

Quick Start

Pick the auth method that fits your environment and drop it into your MCP client config.

Install the server once:

brew tap zereight/gitlab-mcp https://github.com/zereight/gitlab-mcp
brew install zereight/gitlab-mcp/zereight-mcp-gitlab

Or with npm:

npm install -g @zereight/mcp-gitlab

Official MCP Registry listing: io.github.zereight/gitlab-mcp. One-liner: npx -y @zereight/mcp-gitlab@latest.

The examples use zereight-mcp-gitlab, a less collision-prone alias for the legacy mcp-gitlab binary. If your MCP client cannot find it, use the absolute path from which zereight-mcp-gitlab.

No global install? Pin npx to the previous stable release (the version these docs recommend), for example npx -y @zereight/mcp-gitlab@2.3.6. If you always want the newest release, use npx -y @zereight/mcp-gitlab@latest instead. To try a fix merged to main before the next stable release, use npx -y @zereight/mcp-gitlab@next, a pre-release build that is not meant for production.

{
  "mcpServers": {
    "gitlab": {
      "command": "zereight-mcp-gitlab",
      "env": {
        "GITLAB_PERSONAL_ACCESS_TOKEN": "glpat-xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx",
        "GITLAB_API_URL": "https://gitlab.com/api/v4"
      }
    }
  }
}

{
  "mcpServers": {
    "gitlab": {
      "command": "zereight-mcp-gitlab",
      "env": {
        "GITLAB_USE_OAUTH": "true",
        "GITLAB_API_URL": "https://gitlab.com/api/v4"
      }
    }
  }
}

{
  "mcpServers": {
    "gitlab": {
      "command": "zereight-mcp-gitlab",
      "args": [
        "--token=glpat-xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx",
        "--api-url=https://gitlab.com/api/v4"
      ]
    }
  }
}

See Getting Started for a full comparison of authentication methods.

Choose your client

Anthropic's terminal coding agent.

MCP support via VS Code's built-in client.

GitHub Copilot CLI with MCP integration.

The AI-first code editor.

OpenAI Codex CLI client.

Factory AI Droid, OpenClaw, OpenCode, and other generic clients.

Learn more

  • Tools Reference — complete catalog of every tool the MCP server exposes, grouped by category with read/write markers.
  • Authentication — OAuth2 setup, callback proxy, and multi-PAT configurations for custom agents.
  • Configuration — complete environment variable reference, dynamic API URLs, and stateless mode for multi-pod deployments.
  • Features — feature-specific guides such as resolving issue threads.
  • Reference — repository setup guides and design specs, including OpenTelemetry MCP semantics (docs-only; local stdio is not instrumented).