Skip to main content
Glama

gitlab-mcp

CI Release Go Reference License: Apache 2.0

An MCP server for gitlab.com. One binary over stdio, signed in as you. It works inside projects: issues, merge requests, reviews, the repository and CI. Instance and group administration, runners, CI variables and tokens are out of scope.

Unofficial, and not affiliated with GitLab Inc. See NOTICE.

What makes this one different

  • A small surface, gated by registration. About fifty tools rather than an API mirror, and a tool that is switched off is not registered, so it cannot be called at all.

  • Nothing it writes runs a quick action. /merge in a comment is refused or escaped, never executed.

  • Content is marked as untrusted. Issues, reviews, files and job logs come back inside boundaries the content cannot close.

  • Signs in like a desktop app. Your own OAuth application, a browser tab, the token in the OS keyring.

  • Verifiable releases. Signed checksums, build provenance and SBOMs.

Related MCP server: GitLab MCP Server

Status

Stable: the release badge above names the newest tag, and CHANGELOG.md says what each one holds. The tool surface is a contract: tools keep their names and output fields. docs/architecture.md §16 is the plan.

Tools

Tool

What it does

get_me

Who is signed in, with which scopes, and what GitLab reports about itself

resolve_url

Turn a GitLab web URL into the arguments another tool takes, and name that tool

search_projects

Find projects by name, or within a group

get_project

One project: default branch, visibility, what it has turned on

list_members

Who has access to a project, and with which role

find_users

Accounts by exact username or by name

search_issues

Find issues across gitlab.com, a group or a project

get_issue

One issue, its description marked as untrusted content

create_issue

Create an issue; labels, assignees and milestone checked first

update_issue

Change an issue's fields, refused if it changed since you read it

list_discussions

The comment threads on an issue or a merge request

add_comment

Comment on an issue or merge request, reply in a thread, or start one, on a diff line or not

resolve_discussion

Resolve or reopen a thread on a merge request or an issue

link_issues

Link two issues, in one project or two

unlink_issues

Remove the link between two issues

search_merge_requests

Find merge requests across gitlab.com or a project

get_merge_request

One merge request with its approvals

list_mr_files

The files a merge request changes, with line counts and GitLab's markers

get_mr_diff

A merge request's diffs, file by file, bounded

list_mr_commits

A merge request's commits

create_merge_request

Open a merge request from a branch

update_merge_request

Change a merge request's fields, refused if it changed since you read it

add_review_comment

A draft review comment, on the merge request or a diff line

list_review_comments

Your unpublished review comments on a merge request

delete_review_comment

Delete one of your drafts

submit_review

Publish all your drafts at once, with a summary and reviewer state

get_file

A file at a ref, bounded

list_tree

A directory listing at a ref

list_branches

A project's branches

list_commits

Commits on a ref or a path

get_commit

One commit and its diff, bounded

compare_refs

The commits and diffs between two refs, bounded

list_tags

A project's tags

create_branch

Create a branch from a ref

create_commit

Commit file changes to a branch; never the default or a protected one

get_blame

Who last changed each line of a file, bounded

cherry_pick_commit

Apply a commit to a branch; never the default or a protected one

revert_commit

Undo a commit on a branch with a new one; never the default or a protected one

list_pipelines

A project's CI pipelines

get_pipeline

One pipeline with the jobs that failed, trigger jobs included

list_jobs

A pipeline's jobs

get_job_log

A window of a job's log, secrets masked; the failing section on request

lint_ci

Check a project's CI configuration at a ref, or configuration you pass

list_job_artifacts

The files a job kept as artifacts

get_job_artifact

One text file of a job's artifacts, secrets masked, bounded

list_labels

The labels a project's issues and merge requests can carry

list_milestones

A project's or a group's milestones

search

Code, commits, comments and more, in a project, a group or everywhere

list_todos

Your to-do items

mark_todos_done

Mark your to-do items done

merge_merge_request

Merge at the head you reviewed, or when the pipeline succeeds (Ship)

approve_merge_request

Approve at the head you reviewed (Ship)

unapprove_merge_request

Withdraw your approval (Ship)

rebase_merge_request

Rebase a merge request's source branch, from the head you reviewed (Ship)

move_issue

Move an issue to another project, never to one more people can see (Ship)

run_pipeline

Run a pipeline for a ref, with variables whose values are never shown (Ship)

retry_pipeline

Retry a pipeline's failed and canceled jobs (Ship)

retry_job

Run a finished job again, with inputs (Ship)

play_job

Start a manual job, with variables and inputs (Ship)

cancel_pipeline

Cancel a running pipeline (Ship)

delete_branch

Delete a branch; never the default, a protected or an unmerged one unless asked (Destructive)

delete_comment

Delete one of your own comments (Destructive)

list_wiki_pages

A project wiki's pages (wiki toolset)

get_wiki_page

One wiki page, bounded (wiki toolset)

save_wiki_page

Create a wiki page, or change one unchanged since you read it (wiki toolset)

delete_wiki_page

Delete a wiki page (wiki toolset, Destructive)

list_snippets

A project's snippets, or your own (snippets toolset)

get_snippet

One snippet and a file of it, bounded (snippets toolset)

create_snippet

Create a snippet, always private (snippets toolset)

list_releases

A project's releases (releases toolset)

get_release

One release and its notes (releases toolset)

create_release

Create a release, and its tag at a ref, with asset links to the project's own pages (releases toolset, Ship)

create_tag

Create a tag at a ref; never a protected one (releases toolset)

delete_tag

Delete a tag; never a protected one (releases toolset, Destructive)

create_label

Create a project label (planning toolset)

update_label

Change a project label unchanged since you read it (planning toolset)

delete_label

Delete a project label (planning toolset, Destructive)

create_milestone

Create a project milestone (planning toolset)

update_milestone

Change, close or reopen a milestone unchanged since you read it (planning toolset)

delete_milestone

Delete a project milestone (planning toolset, Destructive)

list_environments

A project's environments and their last deployment (deployments toolset)

list_deployments

What was deployed where, and by which job (deployments toolset)

list_events

Recent activity, yours or a project's (activity toolset)

Ship and Destructive tools are registered only with the settings below, and the six toolsets only when GITLAB_MCP_TOOLSETS names them.

Three resources carry the same text for clients that attach rather than call: an issue, a merge request and a job log.

Install

Download an archive for your platform from the releases page, or:

go install github.com/mmedum/gitlab-mcp/cmd/gitlab-mcp@latest

Claude Desktop users can open the .mcpb bundle from the same release. It does not log you in; do the steps below first.

Sign in

You bring your own OAuth application. Nothing is shipped in the binary, and there are no personal access tokens.

  1. Register an application, once. On gitlab.com: your avatar → Edit profile → Applications (or a group's). Redirect URI http://127.0.0.1/callback, Confidential unchecked, scope api (read_api for read-only). docs/setup.md has the exact values.

  2. Log in from a terminal:

    gitlab-mcp login --client-id <application id>

    It prints the scopes it will ask for, opens your browser, and stores the token in the OS keyring. On a machine without a browser, --no-browser prints the URL and the ssh -L line to forward the callback.

  3. Check it:

    gitlab-mcp doctor

    doctor walks the connection, TLS, the sign-in, the application, the granted scopes and one call as you, and names what is missing. status and logout do what they say; --profile keeps two gitlab.com logins side by side.

Connect a client

Claude Code:

claude mcp add gitlab -- gitlab-mcp

Any client that takes a JSON server list:

{
  "mcpServers": {
    "gitlab": { "command": "gitlab-mcp" }
  }
}

Claude Desktop can instead open the .mcpb bundle from a release.

Configuration

Every setting is an environment variable with the GITLAB_MCP_ prefix and a matching flag. docs/configuration.md lists them all.

Safety

GitLab content was written by someone other than you, and some of it is written to steer an agent. The server marks it as untrusted data, never fetches what it references, and nothing it adds tells the model to act on it.

What can be registered depends on the settings, because GitLab's api scope cannot separate any of it:

Setting

Registers

GITLAB_MCP_READ_ONLY=true

Read tools only, with a read_api token

default

Read and Write: issues, comments, reviews, branches, merge requests

GITLAB_MCP_ENABLE_SHIP=true

adds merging, approving, running CI and releases

GITLAB_MCP_ENABLE_DESTRUCTIVE=true

adds deletion, and each call must pass confirm: true

  • No quick actions. GitLab runs /merge, /close and the rest from a description or comment. Every body this server sends is checked, and a quick-action line is refused, or escaped when you ask.

  • Protected branches. Code reaches the default branch or a protected branch only through a merge request; a direct commit there is refused.

  • No blind retries. A create that may or may not have happened is settled by reading, never by creating again.

The default token can still merge and approve; leaving Ship off stops this server doing so, not anything else holding the token. docs/security.md says more.

Verify a release

Each release signs checksums.txt with a keyless Sigstore certificate and attests every archive and the bundle:

sha256sum -c checksums.txt --ignore-missing
cosign verify-blob checksums.txt --bundle checksums.txt.bundle \
  --certificate-identity "https://github.com/mmedum/gitlab-mcp/.github/workflows/release.yml@refs/tags/<tag>" \
  --certificate-oidc-issuer https://token.actions.githubusercontent.com
gh attestation verify <archive> --repo mmedum/gitlab-mcp

Contributing

CONTRIBUTING.md. Security reports go through SECURITY.md, not an issue.

License

Apache-2.0. See LICENSE and NOTICE.

Maintenance

ActivityMaintained
ResponsivenessNo issues

Related MCP Connectors

Related MCP Servers

  • A
    license
    Not graded
    quality
    D
    maintenance
    Enables interaction with GitLab repositories through secure OAuth 2.0 authentication. Supports comprehensive GitLab operations including merge requests, issues, file management, commits, and branch operations through natural language.
    9 npm
    MIT
  • A
    license
    Not graded
    quality
    C
    maintenance
    Enables AI assistants to interact with GitLab by wrapping the REST API v4 into executable tools for repository and branch management. It supports operations like creating projects, managing branches, and retrieving user information through the Model Context Protocol.
    11 npm
    1
    ISC