GitLab MCP Server

New Feature: Dynamic GitLab API URL support with connection pooling! See Dynamic API URL Documentation for details.

@zereight/mcp-gitlab

GitLab MCP(Model Context Protocol) Server. Includes bug fixes and improvements over the original GitLab MCP server.

Related MCP server: gitlab-mcp-server

Usage

Using with Claude App, Cline, Roo Code, Cursor, Kilo Code

When using with the Claude App, you need to set up your API key and URLs directly.

Authentication Methods

The server supports two authentication methods:

1. Personal Access Token (traditional method)

2. OAuth2 (recommended for better security)

Using OAuth2 Authentication

OAuth2 provides a more secure authentication flow using browser-based authentication. When enabled, the server will:

1. Open your browser to GitLab's authorization page

2. Wait for you to approve the access

3. Store the token securely for future use

4. Automatically refresh the token when it expires

For detailed OAuth2 setup instructions, see OAuth Setup Guide.

Quick setup - first create a GitLab OAuth application:

1. Go to your GitLab instance: Settings → Applications

2. Create a new application with:

   • Name: GitLab MCP Server (or any name you prefer)

   • Redirect URI: http://127.0.0.1:8888/callback

   • Scopes: Select api (provides complete read/write access to the API)

3. Copy the Application ID (this is your Client ID)

Then configure the MCP server with OAuth:

Using Personal Access Token (traditional)

vscode .vscode/mcp.json

Using OAuth2 (Non-Confidential - Recommended):

Using OAuth2 (Confidential):

Using Personal Access Token:

Strands Agents SDK (MCP Tools)

Docker

Note: For Docker deployments, Personal Access Token is recommended. OAuth requires browser-based authentication and a local callback server, which does not work properly in containerized environments.

Using Personal Access Token (stdio) - Recommended:

• sse

• streamable-http

Environment Variables

Authentication Configuration

• GITLAB_PERSONAL_ACCESS_TOKEN: Your GitLab personal access token. Required in standard mode; not used when REMOTE_AUTHORIZATION=true or when using OAuth.

• GITLAB_USE_OAUTH: Set to true to enable OAuth2 authentication instead of personal access token.

• GITLAB_OAUTH_CLIENT_ID: The Client ID from your GitLab OAuth application. Required when using OAuth.

• GITLAB_OAUTH_CLIENT_SECRET: The Client Secret from your GitLab OAuth application. Required only for Confidential applications.

• GITLAB_OAUTH_REDIRECT_URI: The OAuth callback URL. Default: http://127.0.0.1:8888/callback

• GITLAB_OAUTH_TOKEN_PATH: Custom path to store the OAuth token. Default: ~/.gitlab-mcp-token.json

• REMOTE_AUTHORIZATION: When set to 'true', enables remote per-session authorization via HTTP headers. In this mode:

  • The server accepts GitLab PAT tokens from HTTP headers (Authorization: Bearer <token> or Private-Token: <token>) on a per-session basis

  • GITLAB_PERSONAL_ACCESS_TOKEN environment variable is not required and ignored

  • Only works with Streamable HTTP transport (STREAMABLE_HTTP=true) because session management was already handled by the transport layer

  • SSE transport is disabled - attempting to use SSE with remote authorization will cause the server to exit with an error

  • Each client session can use a different token, enabling multi-user support with secure session isolation

  • Tokens are stored per session and automatically cleaned up when sessions close or timeout

• SESSION_TIMEOUT_SECONDS: Session auth token timeout in seconds. Default: 3600 (1 hour). Valid range: 1-86400 seconds (recommended: 60+). After this period of inactivity, the auth token is removed but the transport session remains active. The client must provide auth headers again on the next request. Only applies when REMOTE_AUTHORIZATION=true.

General Configuration

• GITLAB_API_URL: Your GitLab API URL. (Default: https://gitlab.com/api/v4)

• GITLAB_PROJECT_ID: Default project ID. If set, Overwrite this value when making an API request.

• GITLAB_ALLOWED_PROJECT_IDS: Optional comma-separated list of allowed project IDs. When set with a single value, acts as a default project (like the old "lock" mode). When set with multiple values, restricts access to only those projects. Examples:

  • Single value 123: MCP server can only access project 123 and uses it as default

  • Multiple values 123,456,789: MCP server can access projects 123, 456, and 789 but requires explicit project ID in requests

• GITLAB_READ_ONLY_MODE: When set to 'true', restricts the server to only expose read-only operations. Useful for enhanced security or when write access is not needed. Also useful for using with Cursor and it's 40 tool limit.

• GITLAB_DENIED_TOOLS_REGEX: When set as a regular expression, it excludes the matching tools.

• USE_GITLAB_WIKI: When set to 'true', enables the wiki-related tools (list_wiki_pages, get_wiki_page, create_wiki_page, update_wiki_page, delete_wiki_page). By default, wiki features are disabled.

• USE_MILESTONE: When set to 'true', enables the milestone-related tools (list_milestones, get_milestone, create_milestone, edit_milestone, delete_milestone, get_milestone_issue, get_milestone_merge_requests, promote_milestone, get_milestone_burndown_events). By default, milestone features are disabled.

• USE_PIPELINE: When set to 'true', enables the pipeline-related tools (list_pipelines, get_pipeline, list_pipeline_jobs, list_pipeline_trigger_jobs, get_pipeline_job, get_pipeline_job_output, create_pipeline, retry_pipeline, cancel_pipeline, play_pipeline_job, retry_pipeline_job, cancel_pipeline_job). By default, pipeline features are disabled.

• GITLAB_AUTH_COOKIE_PATH: Path to an authentication cookie file for GitLab instances that require cookie-based authentication. When provided, the cookie will be included in all GitLab API requests.

• SSE: When set to 'true', enables the Server-Sent Events transport.

• STREAMABLE_HTTP: When set to 'true', enables the Streamable HTTP transport. If both SSE and STREAMABLE_HTTP are set to 'true', the server will prioritize Streamable HTTP over SSE transport.

• GITLAB_COMMIT_FILES_PER_PAGE: The number of files per page that GitLab returns for commit diffs. This value should match the server-side GitLab setting. Adjust this if your GitLab instance uses a custom per-page value for commit diffs.

Performance & Security Configuration

• HOST: Server host address. Default: 127.0.0.1 (localhost only). Set to 0.0.0.0 to allow external connections (required for Docker with port forwarding).

• MAX_SESSIONS: Maximum number of concurrent sessions allowed. Default: 1000. Valid range: 1-10000. When limit is reached, new connections are rejected with HTTP 503.

• MAX_REQUESTS_PER_MINUTE: Rate limit per session in requests per minute. Default: 60. Valid range: 1-1000. Exceeded requests return HTTP 429.

• PORT: Server port. Default: 3002. Valid range: 1-65535.

Monitoring Endpoints

When using Streamable HTTP transport, the following endpoints are available:

• /health: Health check endpoint returning server status, active sessions count, and uptime.

• /metrics: Detailed metrics including:

  • Active and total session counts

  • Authentication metrics (failures, expirations)

  • Rate limiting statistics

  • Resource usage (memory, uptime)

  • Configuration summary

Remote Authorization Setup (Multi-User Support)

When using REMOTE_AUTHORIZATION=true, the MCP server can support multiple users, each with their own GitLab token passed via HTTP headers. This is useful for:

• Shared MCP server instances where each user needs their own GitLab access

• IDE integrations that can inject user-specific tokens into MCP requests

Setup Example:

Client Configuration:

Your IDE or MCP client must send one of these headers with each request:

or

The token is stored per session (identified by mcp-session-id header) and reused for subsequent requests in the same session.

Remote Authorization Client Configuration Example with Cursor

Important Notes:

• Remote authorization only works with Streamable HTTP transport

• Each session is isolated - tokens from one session cannot access another session's data Tokens are automatically cleaned up when sessions close

• Session timeout: Auth tokens expire after SESSION_TIMEOUT_SECONDS (default 1 hour) of inactivity. After timeout, the client must send auth headers again. The transport session remains active.

• Each request resets the timeout timer for that session

• Rate limiting: Each session is limited to MAX_REQUESTS_PER_MINUTE requests per minute (default 60)

• Capacity limit: Server accepts up to MAX_SESSIONS concurrent sessions (default 1000)

Tools 🛠️

1. merge_merge_request - Merge a merge request in a GitLab project

2. create_or_update_file - Create or update a single file in a GitLab project

3. search_repositories - Search for GitLab projects

4. create_repository - Create a new GitLab project

5. get_file_contents - Get the contents of a file or directory from a GitLab project

6. push_files - Push multiple files to a GitLab project in a single commit

7. create_issue - Create a new issue in a GitLab project

8. create_merge_request - Create a new merge request in a GitLab project

9. fork_repository - Fork a GitLab project to your account or specified namespace

10. create_branch - Create a new branch in a GitLab project

11. get_merge_request - Get details of a merge request (Either mergeRequestIid or branchName must be provided)

12. get_merge_request_diffs - Get the changes/diffs of a merge request (Either mergeRequestIid or branchName must be provided)

13. list_merge_request_diffs - List merge request diffs with pagination support (Either mergeRequestIid or branchName must be provided)

14. get_branch_diffs - Get the changes/diffs between two branches or commits in a GitLab project

15. update_merge_request - Update a merge request (Either mergeRequestIid or branchName must be provided)

16. create_note - Create a new note (comment) to an issue or merge request

17. create_merge_request_thread - Create a new thread on a merge request

18. mr_discussions - List discussion items for a merge request

19. update_merge_request_note - Modify an existing merge request thread note

20. create_merge_request_note - Add a new note to an existing merge request thread

21. get_draft_note - Get a single draft note from a merge request

22. list_draft_notes - List draft notes for a merge request

23. create_draft_note - Create a draft note for a merge request

24. update_draft_note - Update an existing draft note

25. delete_draft_note - Delete a draft note

26. publish_draft_note - Publish a single draft note

27. bulk_publish_draft_notes - Publish all draft notes for a merge request

28. update_issue_note - Modify an existing issue thread note

29. create_issue_note - Add a new note to an existing issue thread

30. list_issues - List issues (default: created by current user only; use scope='all' for all accessible issues)

31. my_issues - List issues assigned to the authenticated user (defaults to open issues)

32. get_issue - Get details of a specific issue in a GitLab project

33. update_issue - Update an issue in a GitLab project

34. delete_issue - Delete an issue from a GitLab project

35. list_issue_links - List all issue links for a specific issue

36. list_issue_discussions - List discussions for an issue in a GitLab project

37. get_issue_link - Get a specific issue link

38. create_issue_link - Create an issue link between two issues

39. delete_issue_link - Delete an issue link

40. list_namespaces - List all namespaces available to the current user

41. get_namespace - Get details of a namespace by ID or path

42. verify_namespace - Verify if a namespace path exists

43. get_project - Get details of a specific project

44. list_projects - List projects accessible by the current user

45. list_project_members - List members of a GitLab project

46. list_labels - List labels for a project

47. get_label - Get a single label from a project

48. create_label - Create a new label in a project

49. update_label - Update an existing label in a project

50. delete_label - Delete a label from a project

51. list_group_projects - List projects in a GitLab group with filtering options

52. list_wiki_pages - List wiki pages in a GitLab project

53. get_wiki_page - Get details of a specific wiki page

54. create_wiki_page - Create a new wiki page in a GitLab project

55. update_wiki_page - Update an existing wiki page in a GitLab project

56. delete_wiki_page - Delete a wiki page from a GitLab project

57. get_repository_tree - Get the repository tree for a GitLab project (list files and directories)

58. list_pipelines - List pipelines in a GitLab project with filtering options

59. get_pipeline - Get details of a specific pipeline in a GitLab project

60. list_pipeline_jobs - List all jobs in a specific pipeline

61. list_pipeline_trigger_jobs - List all trigger jobs (bridges) in a specific pipeline that trigger downstream pipelines

62. get_pipeline_job - Get details of a GitLab pipeline job number

63. get_pipeline_job_output - Get the output/trace of a GitLab pipeline job with optional pagination to limit context window usage

64. create_pipeline - Create a new pipeline for a branch or tag

65. retry_pipeline - Retry a failed or canceled pipeline

66. cancel_pipeline - Cancel a running pipeline

67. play_pipeline_job - Run a manual pipeline job

68. retry_pipeline_job - Retry a failed or canceled pipeline job

69. cancel_pipeline_job - Cancel a running pipeline job

70. list_merge_requests - List merge requests in a GitLab project with filtering options

71. list_milestones - List milestones in a GitLab project with filtering options

72. get_milestone - Get details of a specific milestone

73. create_milestone - Create a new milestone in a GitLab project

74. edit_milestone - Edit an existing milestone in a GitLab project

75. delete_milestone - Delete a milestone from a GitLab project

76. get_milestone_issue - Get issues associated with a specific milestone

77. get_milestone_merge_requests - Get merge requests associated with a specific milestone

78. promote_milestone - Promote a milestone to the next stage

79. get_milestone_burndown_events - Get burndown events for a specific milestone

80. get_users - Get GitLab user details by usernames

81. list_commits - List repository commits with filtering options

82. get_commit - Get details of a specific commit

83. get_commit_diff - Get changes/diffs of a specific commit

84. list_group_iterations - List group iterations with filtering options

85. upload_markdown - Upload a file to a GitLab project for use in markdown content

86. download_attachment - Download an uploaded file from a GitLab project by secret and filename

87. list_events - List all events for the currently authenticated user

88. get_project_events - List all visible events for a specified project

89. list_releases - List all releases for a project

90. get_release - Get a release by tag name

91. create_release - Create a new release in a GitLab project

92. update_release - Update an existing release in a GitLab project

93. delete_release - Delete a release from a GitLab project (does not delete the associated tag)

94. create_release_evidence - Create release evidence for an existing release (GitLab Premium/Ultimate only)

95. download_release_asset - Download a release asset file by direct asset path

Testing 🧪

The project includes comprehensive test coverage including remote authorization:

All remote authorization tests use a mock GitLab server and do not require actual GitLab credentials.