gitlab-mcp-server

GitLab MCP Server

✨ Features

Comprehensive GitLab API Integration - Access repositories, issues, merge requests, wikis, and more
Both Transports Supported - Use with stdio or Server-Sent Events (SSE)
Consistent Response Formatting - Standardized pagination and response structures
Strong TypeScript Typing - Built with the MCP SDK for type safety
Complete Documentation - Examples for all available tools

🔍 Supported Operations

Repository Management - Search, create, fork repositories
File Handling - Read, create, update files
Branch Operations - Create and manage branches
Issue Tracking - Create, list, filter issues
Merge Requests - Create, list, review merge requests
Group Management - List group projects and members
Project Activity - Track events and commit history
Wiki Management - Full support for project and group wikis with attachments
Member Management - List and manage project/group members

🚀 Getting Started

Installation

From npm (Recommended)

npm install @yoda.digital/gitlab-mcp-server

From Source

# Clone the repository
git clone https://github.com/yoda-digital/mcp-gitlab-server.git
cd mcp-gitlab-server

# Install dependencies
npm install

# Build the project
npm run build

Configuration

Environment Variables

The server requires the following environment variables:

Variable	Required	Default	Description
`GITLAB_PERSONAL_ACCESS_TOKEN`	Yes	-	Your GitLab personal access token
`GITLAB_API_URL`	No	`https://gitlab.com/api/v4`	GitLab API URL
`PORT`	No	`3000`	Port for SSE transport
`USE_SSE`	No	`false`	Set to 'true' to use SSE transport
`GITLAB_READ_ONLY_MODE`	No	`false`	Set to 'true' to enable read-only mode (see below)

Read-Only Mode

When GITLAB_READ_ONLY_MODE is set to true, the server will only expose read operations. This is useful for client applications that shouldn't have write access to your GitLab resources. In read-only mode, the following tools will be available:

search_repositories
get_file_contents
list_group_projects
get_project_events
list_commits
list_issues
list_merge_requests
list_project_wiki_pages
get_project_wiki_page
list_group_wiki_pages
get_group_wiki_page
list_project_members
list_group_members

Any attempt to use write operations (create, update, delete) will result in an error when in read-only mode.

MCP Settings Configuration

Add the GitLab MCP server to your MCP settings file:

{
  "mcpServers": {
    "gitlab": {
      "command": "npx",
      "args": ["-y", "@yoda.digital/gitlab-mcp-server"],
      "env": {
        "GITLAB_PERSONAL_ACCESS_TOKEN": "your_token_here",
        "GITLAB_API_URL": "https://gitlab.com/api/v4"
      },
      "alwaysAllow": [],
      "disabled": false
    }
  }
}

For read-only mode, add the GITLAB_READ_ONLY_MODE environment variable:

{
  "mcpServers": {
    "gitlab-readonly": {
      "command": "npx",
      "args": ["-y", "@yoda.digital/gitlab-mcp-server"],
      "env": {
        "GITLAB_PERSONAL_ACCESS_TOKEN": "your_token_here",
        "GITLAB_API_URL": "https://gitlab.com/api/v4",
        "GITLAB_READ_ONLY_MODE": "true"
      },
      "alwaysAllow": [],
      "disabled": false
    }
  }
}

Usage

With stdio transport (default)

# Set your GitLab personal access token
export GITLAB_PERSONAL_ACCESS_TOKEN=your_token_here

# Run the server
npm start

With SSE transport

# Set your GitLab personal access token and enable SSE
export GITLAB_PERSONAL_ACCESS_TOKEN=your_token_here
export GITLAB_READ_ONLY_MODE=false
export USE_SSE=true
export PORT=3000  # Optional, defaults to 3000

# Run the server
npm start

With npx

# Run directly with npx
GITLAB_PERSONAL_ACCESS_TOKEN=your_token_here npx @yoda.digital/gitlab-mcp-server

🛠️ Available Tools

Repository Operations

{
  "search": "project-name",
  "page": 1,
  "per_page": 20
}

{
  "name": "new-project",
  "description": "A new project",
  "visibility": "private",
  "initialize_with_readme": true
}

{
  "project_id": "username/project",
  "namespace": "target-namespace"
}

{
  "group_id": "group-name",
  "archived": false,
  "visibility": "public",
  "include_subgroups": true,
  "page": 1,
  "per_page": 20
}

File Operations

{
  "project_id": "username/project",
  "file_path": "path/to/file.txt",
  "ref": "main"
}

{
  "project_id": "username/project",
  "file_path": "path/to/file.txt",
  "content": "File content here",
  "commit_message": "Add/update file",
  "branch": "main",
  "previous_path": "old/path/to/file.txt"
}

{
  "project_id": "username/project",
  "files": [
    {
      "path": "file1.txt",
      "content": "Content for file 1"
    },
    {
      "path": "file2.txt",
      "content": "Content for file 2"
    }
  ],
  "commit_message": "Add multiple files",
  "branch": "main"
}

Branch Operations

{
  "project_id": "username/project",
  "branch": "new-branch",
  "ref": "main"
}

Issue Operations

{
  "project_id": "username/project",
  "title": "Issue title",
  "description": "Issue description",
  "assignee_ids": [1, 2],
  "milestone_id": 1,
  "labels": ["bug", "critical"]
}

{
  "project_id": "username/project",
  "state": "opened",
  "labels": "bug,critical",
  "milestone": "v1.0",
  "author_id": 1,
  "assignee_id": 2,
  "search": "keyword",
  "created_after": "2023-01-01T00:00:00Z",
  "created_before": "2023-12-31T23:59:59Z",
  "updated_after": "2023-06-01T00:00:00Z",
  "updated_before": "2023-06-30T23:59:59Z",
  "page": 1,
  "per_page": 20
}

{
  "project_id": "username/project",
  "issue_iid": 42,
  "sort": "desc",
  "order_by": "created_at",
  "page": 1,
  "per_page": 20
}

Response Format:

{
  "count": 15,
  "notes": [
    {
      "id": 123456,
      "body": "This is a comment on the issue",
      "author": {
        "id": 1,
        "username": "username",
        "name": "User Name"
      },
      "created_at": "2023-01-01T00:00:00Z",
      "updated_at": "2023-01-01T00:00:00Z",
      "system": false,
      "type": "comment"
    },
    {
      "id": 123457,
      "body": "added label ~bug",
      "author": {
        "id": 1,
        "username": "username",
        "name": "User Name"
      },
      "created_at": "2023-01-02T00:00:00Z",
      "updated_at": "2023-01-02T00:00:00Z",
      "system": true,
      "type": "system"
    }
    // ... other notes
  ]
}

{
  "project_id": "username/project",
  "issue_iid": 42,
  "page": 1,
  "per_page": 20
}

Response Format:

{
  "count": 5,
  "discussions": [
    {
      "id": "discussion-123",
      "individual_note": true,
      "notes": [
        {
          "id": 123456,
          "body": "This is a comment on the issue",
          "author": {
            "id": 1,
            "username": "username",
            "name": "User Name"
          },
          "created_at": "2023-01-01T00:00:00Z",
          "updated_at": "2023-01-01T00:00:00Z",
          "system": false,
          "type": "comment"
        }
      ]
    },
    {
      "id": "discussion-124",
      "individual_note": false,
      "notes": [
        {
          "id": 123457,
          "body": "This is a thread starter",
          "author": {
            "id": 1,
            "username": "username",
            "name": "User Name"
          },
          "created_at": "2023-01-02T00:00:00Z",
          "updated_at": "2023-01-02T00:00:00Z",
          "system": false,
          "type": "comment"
        },
        {
          "id": 123458,
          "body": "This is a reply in the thread",
          "author": {
            "id": 2,
            "username": "username2",
            "name": "User Name 2"
          },
          "created_at": "2023-01-03T00:00:00Z",
          "updated_at": "2023-01-03T00:00:00Z",
          "system": false,
          "type": "comment"
        }
      ]
    }
    // ... other discussions
  ]
}

Merge Request Operations

{
  "project_id": "username/project",
  "title": "Merge request title",
  "description": "Merge request description",
  "source_branch": "feature-branch",
  "target_branch": "main",
  "allow_collaboration": true,
  "draft": false
}

{
  "project_id": "username/project",
  "state": "opened",
  "order_by": "created_at",
  "sort": "desc",
  "milestone": "v1.0",
  "labels": "feature,enhancement",
  "created_after": "2023-01-01T00:00:00Z",
  "created_before": "2023-12-31T23:59:59Z",
  "updated_after": "2023-06-01T00:00:00Z",
  "updated_before": "2023-06-30T23:59:59Z",
  "author_id": 1,
  "assignee_id": 2,
  "search": "keyword",
  "source_branch": "feature-branch",
  "target_branch": "main",
  "page": 1,
  "per_page": 20
}

Project Activity

{
  "project_id": "username/project",
  "action": "pushed",
  "target_type": "issue",
  "before": "2023-12-31T23:59:59Z",
  "after": "2023-01-01T00:00:00Z",
  "sort": "desc",
  "page": 1,
  "per_page": 20
}

{
  "project_id": "username/project",
  "sha": "branch-or-commit-sha",
  "path": "path/to/file",
  "since": "2023-01-01T00:00:00Z",
  "until": "2023-12-31T23:59:59Z",
  "all": true,
  "with_stats": true,
  "first_parent": true,
  "page": 1,
  "per_page": 20
}

Member Operations

{
  "project_id": "username/project",
  "query": "search term",
  "page": 1,
  "per_page": 20
}

Response Format:

{
  "count": 3,
  "items": [
    {
      "id": 123,
      "username": "username",
      "name": "User Name",
      "state": "active",
      "avatar_url": "https://gitlab.com/avatar.png",
      "web_url": "https://gitlab.com/username",
      "access_level": 50,
      "access_level_description": "Owner"
    }
    // ... other members
  ]
}

{
  "group_id": "group-name",
  "query": "search term",
  "page": 1,
  "per_page": 20
}

Response Format:

{
  "count": 5,
  "items": [
    {
      "id": 456,
      "username": "username",
      "name": "User Name",
      "state": "active",
      "avatar_url": "https://gitlab.com/avatar.png",
      "web_url": "https://gitlab.com/username",
      "access_level": 30,
      "access_level_description": "Developer"
    }
    // ... other members
  ]
}

Project Wiki Operations

{
  "project_id": "username/project",
  "with_content": false
}

{
  "project_id": "username/project",
  "slug": "page-slug",
  "render_html": false,
  "version": "commit-sha"
}

{
  "project_id": "username/project",
  "title": "Page Title",
  "content": "Wiki page content",
  "format": "markdown"
}

{
  "project_id": "username/project",
  "slug": "page-slug",
  "title": "New Page Title",
  "content": "Updated wiki page content",
  "format": "markdown"
}

{
  "project_id": "username/project",
  "slug": "page-slug"
}

{
  "project_id": "username/project",
  "file_path": "path/to/attachment.png",
  "content": "base64-encoded-content",
  "branch": "main"
}

Group Wiki Operations

{
  "group_id": "group-name",
  "with_content": false
}

{
  "group_id": "group-name",
  "slug": "page-slug",
  "render_html": false,
  "version": "commit-sha"
}

{
  "group_id": "group-name",
  "title": "Page Title",
  "content": "Wiki page content",
  "format": "markdown"
}

{
  "group_id": "group-name",
  "slug": "page-slug",
  "title": "New Page Title",
  "content": "Updated wiki page content",
  "format": "markdown"
}

{
  "group_id": "group-name",
  "slug": "page-slug"
}

{
  "group_id": "group-name",
  "file_path": "path/to/attachment.png",
  "content": "base64-encoded-content",
  "branch": "main"
}

🔧 Development

Requirements

Node.js 16+
npm 7+
A GitLab account with a personal access token

Building the Project

npm run build

Running Tests

npm test

Code Style and Linting

npm run lint

Release Process

Update version in package.json
Update CHANGELOG.md
Create a new release on GitHub
Publish to npm with npm publish

📖 Documentation

For more detailed documentation, please visit our documentation site or check the TypeScript definitions in the source code.

💼 Use Cases

AI-powered Development Workflows - Enable AI assistants to interact with your GitLab repositories
Automated Issue and PR Management - Streamline development processes with AI support
Wiki Management - Automate documentation updates and knowledge base management
Team Collaboration - Integrate AI assistants into your team's GitLab workflow

📊 Roadmap

GitLab CI/CD Integration
Advanced Project Analytics
Comprehensive Test Suite
Support for GitLab GraphQL API
Extended Webhook Support

🤝 Contributing

Contributions are welcome and appreciated! Here's how you can contribute:

Fork the repository
Create your feature branch (git checkout -b feature/amazing-feature)
Commit your changes (git commit -m 'Add some amazing feature')
Push to the branch (git push origin feature/amazing-feature)
Open a Pull Request

Please make sure to update tests as appropriate and follow the code style of the project.

📝 License

This project is licensed under the MIT License - see the LICENSE file for details.

👥 Contributors

Thanks to all the contributors who have helped improve this project:

Special thanks to:

thomasleveil - Implemented GitLab member listing functionality for projects and groups with consistent response formatting

📦 NPM Package

This package is available on npm:
https://www.npmjs.com/package/@yoda.digital/gitlab-mcp-server

Integrations