What is Gitlab Mcp

gitlab-mcp is a Model Context Protocol (MCP) server designed for interacting with the GitLab API. It enables AI clients to perform various operations on GitLab repositories, issues, merge requests, and more, supporting both synchronous and asynchronous execution.

Use cases

Use cases for gitlab-mcp include automating GitLab operations for CI/CD pipelines, integrating AI tools for project management, and enhancing collaboration by managing issues and merge requests programmatically.

How to use

To use gitlab-mcp, clone the repository from GitHub, install dependencies using either ‘uv’ or ‘pip’, and configure the required environment variables for GitLab API authentication. You can run the server using the provided commands in the README.

Key features

Key features of gitlab-mcp include support for both synchronous and asynchronous operations, a modular architecture for easy integration, and the ability to interact with multiple GitLab API endpoints such as repositories and issues.

Where to use

gitlab-mcp can be used in software development environments, particularly for projects that utilize GitLab for version control, issue tracking, and collaborative development. It is suitable for AI applications that require GitLab integration.

GitLab MCP Server

A MCP (Model Context Protocol) server for interacting with GitLab API. This server provides a set of tools that allow AI clients to perform operations on GitLab repositories, issues, merge requests, and more. All operations support both synchronous and asynchronous execution patterns.

Installation

Using uv (Recommended)

# Clone the repository
git clone https://github.com/Adit-999/gitlab-mcp.git
cd gitlab-mcp

# Install dependencies using uv
uv sync

Using pip

# Clone the repository
git clone https://github.com/Adit-999/gitlab-mcp.git
cd gitlab-mcp

# Create and activate a virtual environment
python -m venv .venv
source .venv/bin/activate  # On Windows: .venv\Scripts\activate

# Install dependencies
pip install -e .

Configuration

The GitLab MCP server requires two environment variables to function properly:

1. GITLAB_PERSONAL_ACCESS_TOKEN - For authentication with GitLab API
2. GITLAB_API_URL - The base URL for the GitLab API

Option 1: Environment Variables

Create a .env file in the project root directory with these variables:

GITLAB_PERSONAL_ACCESS_TOKEN=your_personal_access_token
GITLAB_API_URL=https://gitlab.com

Option 2: MCP Configuration

You can also configure the MCP server in your MCP JSON configuration file:

{
  "mcpServers": {
    "gitlab-mcp": {
      "command": "uv",
      "args": [
        "run",
        "--with",
        "mcp[cli]",
        "mcp",
        "run",
        "/path/to/gitlab-mcp/server.py"
      ],
      "env": {
        "GITLAB_PERSONAL_ACCESS_TOKEN": "your_personal_access_token",
        "GITLAB_API_URL": "https://gitlab.com"
      }
    }
  }
}

Configure with uv for Claude Desktop

uv run mcp install server.py

Project Structure

The project follows a modular, domain-driven architecture:

gitlab-mcp/
├── src/                           # Source code
│   ├── api/                       # API interaction layer
│   │   ├── rest_client.py         # GitLab REST API client
│   │   ├── exceptions.py          # API exception definitions
│   ├── schemas/                   # Data models and validation
│   │   ├── base.py                # Base schema classes
│   │   ├── repositories.py        # Repository data models
│   │   ├── branches.py            # Branch data models
│   │   ├── issues.py              # Issue data models
│   │   ├── merge_requests.py      # Merge request data models
│   │   ├── groups.py              # Group data models
│   │   └── search.py              # search data models
│   ├── services/                  # Business logic layer
│   │   ├── repositories.py        # Repository operations
│   │   ├── branches.py            # Branch operations
│   │   ├── issues.py              # Issue operations
│   │   ├── merge_requests.py      # Merge request operations
│   │   ├── groups.py              # Group operations
│   │   └── search.py              # search operations
│   └── tools/                     # MCP tool implementations
│       ├── repositories.py        # Repository tools
│       ├── branches.py            # Branch tools
│       ├── issues.py              # Issue tools
│       ├── merge_requests.py      # Merge request tools
│       ├── groups.py              # Group tools
│       └── search.py              # search tools
├── server.py                      # Main MCP server entry point

This architecture provides several benefits:

• Separation of concerns: Each module has a clear responsibility
• Type safety: Pydantic schemas ensure data validation
• Maintainability: Domain-driven organization makes code easier to navigate
• Extensibility: New features can be added by following the established patterns
• Async support: All operations are available in both synchronous and asynchronous versions

Available Tools

The server provides the following tools for interacting with GitLab:

Repository Management

• create_repository: Create a new GitLab repository
• list_repository_tree: List the contents of a repository tree

Branch Operations

• create_branch: Create a new branch in a GitLab repository
• list_branches: List branches in a GitLab repository
• get_branch: Get details for a specific GitLab branch
• delete_branch: Delete a branch from a GitLab repository
• delete_merged_branches: Delete all merged branches from a GitLab repository
• protect_branch: Protect a branch in a GitLab repository
• unprotect_branch: Remove protection from a branch in a GitLab repository
• get_default_branch_ref: Get the default branch reference for a GitLab repository

File Operations

• create_file: Create a new file in a GitLab repository
• get_file_contents: Retrieve the contents of a file from a GitLab repository
• update_file: Update an existing file in a GitLab repository
• delete_file: Delete a file from a GitLab repository

Issue Management

• create_issue: Create a new issue in a GitLab repository
• list_all_issues: List all issues the authenticated user has access to
• get_issue: Get details for a specific GitLab issue
• close_issue: Close a GitLab issue
• delete_issue: Delete an issue from a GitLab repository
• move_issue: Move an issue to a different project
• comment_on_issue: Add a comment to a GitLab issue
• list_issue_comments: List comments for a GitLab issue

Merge Request Operations

• create_merge_request: Create a new merge request in a GitLab repository
• list_merge_requests: List merge requests for a GitLab project
• get_merge_request: Get details for a specific GitLab merge request
• merge_merge_request: Merge a GitLab merge request
• update_merge_request: Update an existing merge request in a GitLab repository.
• delete_merge_request: Delete a merge request from a GitLab repository.
• merge_request_changes: Get the changes for a specific merge request.
• create_merge_request_comment: Add a comment to a GitLab merge request.

Job Operations

• get_job_logs: Get logs from a GitLab job

Group Operations

• list_groups: List GitLab groups
• get_group: Get a specific GitLab group
• get_group_by_project_namespace: Get a GitLab group based on a project namespace

Search Tools

• search_globally: Search across all GitLab resources (currently supports projects and files/blobs).
• search_project: Search within a specific project (currently supports projects and files/blobs).
• search_group: Search within a specific group (currently supports projects and files/blobs).

Troubleshooting

Common Issues

• GitLab API Authentication Errors: Ensure your GITLAB_PERSONAL_ACCESS_TOKEN has the necessary permissions and is correctly set in your environment variables.
• NoneType errors: Some functions may encounter issues when handling empty results. If you encounter these errors, please report them with detailed steps to reproduce.

License

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