MCP GitLab Server

A Model Context Protocol (MCP) server that provides comprehensive GitLab API integration. This server enables LLMs to interact with GitLab repositories, manage merge requests, issues, and perform various Git operations.

Features

Core Features

• 🔍 Project Management - List, search, and get details about GitLab projects
• 📝 Issues - List, read, search, and comment on issues
• 🔀 Merge Requests - List, read, update, approve, and merge MRs
• 📁 Repository Files - Browse, read, and commit changes to files
• 🌳 Branches & Tags - List and manage branches and tags
• 🔧 CI/CD Pipelines - View pipeline status and history
• 💬 Discussions - Read and resolve merge request discussions
• 🎯 Smart Operations - Batch operations, AI summaries, and smart diffs

Advanced Features

• Batch Operations - Execute multiple GitLab operations atomically with rollback support
• AI-Optimized Summaries - Generate concise summaries of MRs, issues, and pipelines
• Smart Diffs - Get structured diffs with configurable context and size limits
• Safe Preview - Preview file changes before committing
• Cross-Reference Support - Reference results from previous operations in batch mode

Installation

Using uvx (recommended - no installation needed)

# Run directly without installation
uvx mcp-gitlab

From source

# Clone the repository
git clone https://github.com/Vijay-Duke/mcp-gitlab.git
cd mcp-gitlab

# Install dependencies and run with uv
uv sync
uv run mcp-gitlab

# Or install in development mode with test dependencies
uv sync --all-extras
uv run pytest  # to run tests

Configuration

Environment Variables

Set one of the following authentication tokens:

# Private token (recommended for personal use)
export GITLAB_PRIVATE_TOKEN="your-private-token"

# OAuth token
export GITLAB_OAUTH_TOKEN="your-oauth-token"

# GitLab URL (optional, defaults to https://gitlab.com)
export GITLAB_URL="https://gitlab.example.com"

Getting a GitLab Token

1. Go to your GitLab profile settings
2. Navigate to "Access Tokens"
3. Create a new token with the following scopes:
   • api - Full API access
   • read_repository - Read repository content
   • write_repository - Write repository content (for commits)

Usage

With Claude Desktop

Add to your Claude Desktop configuration:

Using uvx (recommended - no installation needed):

{
  "mcp-gitlab": {
    "command": "uvx",
    "args": ["mcp-gitlab"],
    "env": {
      "GITLAB_PRIVATE_TOKEN": "your-token-here"
    }
  }
}

Using uv (if you've cloned the repository):

{
  "mcp-gitlab": {
    "command": "uv",
    "args": ["run", "mcp-gitlab"],
    "cwd": "/path/to/mcp-gitlab",
    "env": {
      "GITLAB_PRIVATE_TOKEN": "your-token-here"
    }
  }
}

Replace /path/to/mcp-gitlab with the full path to where you cloned the repository.

Running with uvx

The easiest way to run the MCP GitLab server is using uvx:

# Set your GitLab token
export GITLAB_PRIVATE_TOKEN="your-token-here"

# Run the server directly with uvx
uvx mcp-gitlab

Standalone Usage

# If running from source (after uv sync)
uv run mcp-gitlab

# Or run the Python module directly
uv run python -m mcp_gitlab

Available Tools

Project Management

gitlab_list_projects

List accessible GitLab projects with pagination and search.

{
  "owned": false,
  "search": "my-project",
  "per_page": 20,
  "page": 1
}

gitlab_get_project

Get detailed information about a specific project.

{
  "project_id": "group/project"
}

gitlab_get_current_project

Get the GitLab project information from the current git repository.

{
  "path": "."
}

Issues

gitlab_list_issues

List project issues with state filtering.

{
  "project_id": "group/project",
  "state": "opened",
  "per_page": 20
}

gitlab_get_issue

Get a single issue with full details.

{
  "project_id": "group/project",
  "issue_iid": 123
}

gitlab_add_issue_comment

Add a comment to an issue.

{
  "project_id": "group/project",
  "issue_iid": 123,
  "body": "Thanks for reporting this!"
}

Merge Requests

gitlab_list_merge_requests

List merge requests with filtering options.

{
  "project_id": "group/project",
  "state": "opened"
}

gitlab_get_merge_request

Get detailed merge request information.

{
  "project_id": "group/project",
  "mr_iid": 456
}

gitlab_update_merge_request

Update merge request fields.

{
  "project_id": "group/project",
  "mr_iid": 456,
  "title": "Updated title",
  "description": "New description",
  "labels": "bug,priority"
}

gitlab_merge_merge_request

Merge a merge request with options.

{
  "project_id": "group/project",
  "mr_iid": 456,
  "squash": true,
  "should_remove_source_branch": true
}

gitlab_approve_merge_request

Approve a merge request.

{
  "project_id": "group/project",
  "mr_iid": 456
}

Repository Operations

gitlab_get_file_content

Read file content from the repository.

{
  "project_id": "group/project",
  "file_path": "src/main.py",
  "ref": "main"
}

gitlab_create_commit

Create a commit with multiple file changes.

{
  "project_id": "group/project",
  "branch": "feature-branch",
  "commit_message": "Add new features",
  "actions": [
    {
      "action": "create",
      "file_path": "new_file.py",
      "content": "print('Hello')"
    },
    {
      "action": "update",
      "file_path": "existing.py",
      "content": "# Updated content"
    }
  ]
}

gitlab_compare_refs

Compare two branches, tags, or commits.

{
  "project_id": "group/project",
  "from_ref": "main",
  "to_ref": "feature-branch"
}

Advanced Tools

gitlab_batch_operations

Execute multiple operations atomically with rollback support.

{
  "project_id": "group/project",
  "operations": [
    {
      "name": "get_issue",
      "tool": "gitlab_get_issue",
      "arguments": {"issue_iid": 123}
    },
    {
      "name": "create_mr",
      "tool": "gitlab_create_merge_request",
      "arguments": {
        "source_branch": "fix-{{get_issue.iid}}",
        "target_branch": "main",
        "title": "Fix: {{get_issue.title}}"
      }
    }
  ]
}

gitlab_summarize_merge_request

Generate an AI-friendly summary of a merge request.

{
  "project_id": "group/project",
  "mr_iid": 456,
  "max_length": 500
}

gitlab_smart_diff

Get a structured diff with context and size limits.

{
  "project_id": "group/project",
  "from_ref": "main",
  "to_ref": "feature",
  "context_lines": 3,
  "max_file_size": 50000
}

Complete Tool List

• Projects: gitlab_list_projects, gitlab_get_project, gitlab_get_current_project, gitlab_search_projects
• Issues: gitlab_list_issues, gitlab_get_issue, gitlab_add_issue_comment
• Merge Requests: gitlab_list_merge_requests, gitlab_get_merge_request, gitlab_update_merge_request, gitlab_close_merge_request, gitlab_merge_merge_request, gitlab_add_merge_request_comment, gitlab_get_merge_request_notes, gitlab_approve_merge_request, gitlab_get_merge_request_approvals, gitlab_get_merge_request_discussions, gitlab_resolve_discussion, gitlab_get_merge_request_changes, gitlab_rebase_merge_request
• Repository: gitlab_get_file_content, gitlab_list_repository_tree, gitlab_list_commits, gitlab_get_commit, gitlab_get_commit_diff, gitlab_create_commit, gitlab_cherry_pick_commit, gitlab_compare_refs, gitlab_list_tags
• Branches: gitlab_list_branches
• Pipelines: gitlab_list_pipelines, gitlab_summarize_pipeline
• Search: gitlab_search_projects, gitlab_search_in_project
• Users: gitlab_list_user_events, gitlab_list_project_members
• Releases: gitlab_list_releases
• Webhooks: gitlab_list_project_hooks
• AI Tools: gitlab_summarize_merge_request, gitlab_summarize_issue, gitlab_summarize_pipeline
• Advanced: gitlab_batch_operations, gitlab_smart_diff, gitlab_safe_preview_commit

Examples

Auto-detect and List Issues

# First get current project from git repo
project = await session.call_tool("gitlab_get_current_project")

# Then list open issues
issues = await session.call_tool("gitlab_list_issues", {
    "state": "opened"
})

Create a Fix with Batch Operations

# Atomically: get issue → create branch → commit fix → create MR
result = await session.call_tool("gitlab_batch_operations", {
    "operations": [
        {
            "name": "issue",
            "tool": "gitlab_get_issue", 
            "arguments": {"issue_iid": 123}
        },
        {
            "name": "fix",
            "tool": "gitlab_create_commit",
            "arguments": {
                "branch": "fix-issue-{{issue.iid}}",
                "commit_message": "Fix: {{issue.title}}",
                "actions": [{
                    "action": "update",
                    "file_path": "src/bug.py",
                    "content": "# Fixed code here"
                }]
            }
        },
        {
            "name": "mr",
            "tool": "gitlab_create_merge_request",
            "arguments": {
                "source_branch": "fix-issue-{{issue.iid}}",
                "target_branch": "main",
                "title": "Fix: {{issue.title}}",
                "description": "Fixes #{{issue.iid}}"
            }
        }
    ]
})

Development

Running Tests

# Run all tests
uv run pytest tests/ -v

# Run with coverage
uv run pytest tests/ --cov=mcp_gitlab

# Run specific test file
uv run pytest tests/test_gitlab_client.py -v

Code Style

The project uses:

• Black for code formatting
• isort for import sorting
• flake8 for linting
• mypy for type checking

# Format code
black src/ tests/
isort src/ tests/

# Run linters
flake8 src/ tests/
mypy src/

Troubleshooting

Authentication Issues

• Ensure your token has the required scopes (api, read_repository, write_repository)
• Check token expiration date
• Verify GitLab URL if using self-hosted instance

Rate Limiting

GitLab API has rate limits. The server handles rate limit errors gracefully and returns appropriate error messages.

Large Responses

Responses are automatically truncated if they exceed size limits. Use pagination parameters to retrieve data in chunks.

Contributing

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

License

This project is licensed under the Apache License 2.0 - see the LICENSE file for details.

Acknowledgments

• Built on the Model Context Protocol
• Uses python-gitlab for GitLab API interaction
• Inspired by the need for better LLM-GitLab integration