GitLab MCP server for AI agents

This GitLab MCP Server provides an interface between AI assistants and GitLab repositories, allowing you to interact with GitLab projects, issues, merge requests, and more through the Model Context Protocol (MCP).

Installation

The server can be installed and run using either npx or Docker. Choose the method that best fits your environment.

Using with npx

To run the GitLab MCP server with npx, create a mcp.json configuration file with the following content:

{
  "mcpServers": {
    "GitLab communication server": {
      "command": "npx",
      "args": ["-y", "@zereight/mcp-gitlab"],
      "env": {
        "GITLAB_PERSONAL_ACCESS_TOKEN": "your_gitlab_token",
        "GITLAB_API_URL": "your_gitlab_api_url",
        "GITLAB_READ_ONLY_MODE": "false",
        "USE_GITLAB_WIKI": "false",
        "USE_MILESTONE": "false",
        "USE_PIPELINE": "false"
      }
    }
  }
}

Replace your_gitlab_token with your actual GitLab personal access token and your_gitlab_api_url with your GitLab API URL (defaults to https://gitlab.com/api/v4 if not specified).

Using with Docker

Standard (stdio) Mode

Create a mcp.json file with the following configuration:

{
  "mcpServers": {
    "GitLab communication server": {
      "command": "docker",
      "args": [
        "run",
        "-i",
        "--rm",
        "-e",
        "GITLAB_PERSONAL_ACCESS_TOKEN",
        "-e",
        "GITLAB_API_URL",
        "-e",
        "GITLAB_READ_ONLY_MODE",
        "-e",
        "USE_GITLAB_WIKI",
        "-e",
        "USE_MILESTONE",
        "-e",
        "USE_PIPELINE",
        "iwakitakuma/gitlab-mcp"
      ],
      "env": {
        "GITLAB_PERSONAL_ACCESS_TOKEN": "your_gitlab_token",
        "GITLAB_API_URL": "https://gitlab.com/api/v4",
        "GITLAB_READ_ONLY_MODE": "false",
        "USE_GITLAB_WIKI": "true",
        "USE_MILESTONE": "true",
        "USE_PIPELINE": "true"
      }
    }
  }
}

SSE (Server-Sent Events) Mode

First, run the Docker container:

docker run -i --rm \
  -e GITLAB_PERSONAL_ACCESS_TOKEN=your_gitlab_token \
  -e GITLAB_API_URL="https://gitlab.com/api/v4" \
  -e GITLAB_READ_ONLY_MODE=true \
  -e USE_GITLAB_WIKI=true \
  -e USE_MILESTONE=true \
  -e USE_PIPELINE=true \
  -e SSE=true \
  -p 3333:3002 \
  iwakitakuma/gitlab-mcp

Then, create a mcp.json file with this configuration:

{
  "mcpServers": {
    "GitLab communication server": {
      "url": "http://localhost:3333/sse"
    }
  }
}

Configuration Options

The GitLab MCP server can be configured using the following environment variables:

GITLAB_PERSONAL_ACCESS_TOKEN: Your GitLab personal access token (required)
GITLAB_API_URL: Your GitLab API URL (defaults to https://gitlab.com/api/v4)
GITLAB_READ_ONLY_MODE: When set to 'true', restricts operations to read-only
USE_GITLAB_WIKI: When set to 'true', enables wiki-related tools
USE_MILESTONE: When set to 'true', enables milestone-related tools
USE_PIPELINE: When set to 'true', enables pipeline-related tools

Available Tools

The GitLab MCP server provides 65 different tools for interacting with GitLab. Here are some of the key tools:

Repository Management

create_or_update_file - Create or update a single file in a GitLab project
search_repositories - Search for GitLab projects
create_repository - Create a new GitLab project
get_file_contents - Get the contents of a file or directory
push_files - Push multiple files in a single commit
fork_repository - Fork a GitLab project
create_branch - Create a new branch

Issues & Merge Requests

create_issue - Create a new issue
list_issues - List issues with filtering options
get_issue - Get details of a specific issue
update_issue - Update an issue
create_merge_request - Create a new merge request
get_merge_request - Get merge request details
update_merge_request - Update a merge request

Comments & Discussions

create_note - Create a comment on an issue or merge request
create_merge_request_thread - Create a new thread on a merge request
mr_discussions - List discussion items for a merge request
list_issue_discussions - List discussions for an issue

Wiki Management (when enabled)

list_wiki_pages - List wiki pages
get_wiki_page - Get details of a specific wiki page
create_wiki_page - Create a new wiki page
update_wiki_page - Update an existing wiki page
delete_wiki_page - Delete a wiki page

CI/CD Pipeline Management (when enabled)

list_pipelines - List pipelines with filtering options
get_pipeline - Get details of a specific pipeline
create_pipeline - Create a new pipeline
retry_pipeline - Retry a failed or canceled pipeline
cancel_pipeline - Cancel a running pipeline

Milestone Management (when enabled)

list_milestones - List milestones with filtering options
get_milestone - Get details of a specific milestone
create_milestone - Create a new milestone
edit_milestone - Edit an existing milestone
delete_milestone - Delete a milestone

How to install this MCP server

For Claude Code

To add this MCP server to Claude Code, run this command in your terminal:

claude mcp add-json "GitLab-communication-server" '{"command":"npx","args":["-y","@zereight/mcp-gitlab"],"env":{"GITLAB_PERSONAL_ACCESS_TOKEN":"your_gitlab_token","GITLAB_API_URL":"your_gitlab_api_url","GITLAB_READ_ONLY_MODE":"false","USE_GITLAB_WIKI":"false","USE_MILESTONE":"false","USE_PIPELINE":"false"}}'

See the official Claude Code MCP documentation for more details.

For Cursor

There are two ways to add an MCP server to Cursor. The most common way is to add the server globally in the ~/.cursor/mcp.json file so that it is available in all of your projects.

If you only need the server in a single project, you can add it to the project instead by creating or adding it to the .cursor/mcp.json file.

Adding an MCP server to Cursor globally

To add a global MCP server go to Cursor Settings > Tools & Integrations and click "New MCP Server".

When you click that button the ~/.cursor/mcp.json file will be opened and you can add your server like this:

{
    "mcpServers": {
        "GitLab communication server": {
            "command": "npx",
            "args": [
                "-y",
                "@zereight/mcp-gitlab"
            ],
            "env": {
                "GITLAB_PERSONAL_ACCESS_TOKEN": "your_gitlab_token",
                "GITLAB_API_URL": "your_gitlab_api_url",
                "GITLAB_READ_ONLY_MODE": "false",
                "USE_GITLAB_WIKI": "false",
                "USE_MILESTONE": "false",
                "USE_PIPELINE": "false"
            }
        }
    }
}

Adding an MCP server to a project

To add an MCP server to a project you can create a new .cursor/mcp.json file or add it to the existing one. This will look exactly the same as the global MCP server example above.

How to use the MCP server

Once the server is installed, you might need to head back to Settings > MCP and click the refresh button.

The Cursor agent will then be able to see the available tools the added MCP server has available and will call them when it needs to.

You can also explicitly ask the agent to use the tool by mentioning the tool name and describing what the function does.

For Claude Desktop

To add this MCP server to Claude Desktop:

1. Find your configuration file:

macOS: ~/Library/Application Support/Claude/claude_desktop_config.json
Windows: %APPDATA%\Claude\claude_desktop_config.json
Linux: ~/.config/Claude/claude_desktop_config.json

2. Add this to your configuration file:

{
    "mcpServers": {
        "GitLab communication server": {
            "command": "npx",
            "args": [
                "-y",
                "@zereight/mcp-gitlab"
            ],
            "env": {
                "GITLAB_PERSONAL_ACCESS_TOKEN": "your_gitlab_token",
                "GITLAB_API_URL": "your_gitlab_api_url",
                "GITLAB_READ_ONLY_MODE": "false",
                "USE_GITLAB_WIKI": "false",
                "USE_MILESTONE": "false",
                "USE_PIPELINE": "false"
            }
        }
    }
}

3. Restart Claude Desktop for the changes to take effect