GitLab MCP

A comprehensive Go-based MCP (Model Context Protocol) connector for GitLab that enables AI assistants like Claude to interact seamlessly with GitLab repositories, projects, and workflows. This tool provides a powerful interface for AI models to perform comprehensive GitLab operations through natural language.

WHY

While GitLab provides various API integrations, our MCP implementation offers superior AI-native interaction and comprehensive workflow management. We've built this connector to address the real challenges developers and project managers face when working with GitLab through AI assistants.

Key Advantages:

• Comprehensive GitLab Integration: Full access to projects, merge requests, pipelines, commits, CI/CD jobs, and user management
• AI-Optimized Interface: Designed specifically for natural language interactions with AI assistants
• Real-World Workflow Focus: Built to solve actual daily problems like code review, CI/CD monitoring, and project management
• Enhanced Productivity: Seamless integration allowing AI to help with GitLab operations without context switching
• Developer-Friendly: Tools designed for actual development workflows, not just basic API calls

🚀 Features Overview

📁 Project & Repository Management

• List and explore projects with detailed information and access levels
• Get file content from any repository with branch/commit support
• Browse repository structure and navigate codebases
• Access project metadata including statistics and configuration

🔀 Merge Request Operations

• List merge requests with filtering by state, author, and target branch
• Get detailed MR information including changes, discussions, and approvals
• Create new merge requests with custom titles and descriptions
• Comment on merge requests and manage discussions
• Monitor merge request status and review progress
• Get MR pipelines and commits for comprehensive review
• Rebase merge requests when needed

🔄 Pipeline & CI/CD Management

• List and analyze pipelines with status and duration information
• Get detailed pipeline information including jobs and artifacts
• Trigger new pipelines with custom variables
• Monitor pipeline execution and job details
• Track CI/CD performance across projects

💼 Job Management

• List project and pipeline jobs with filtering capabilities
• Get detailed job information including logs and artifacts
• Cancel running jobs when needed
• Retry failed jobs for quick recovery
• Monitor job status across pipelines

📝 Commit & History Tracking

• Search and list commits with author, date, and message filtering
• Get detailed commit information including changes and statistics
• Search commits by author and file path for targeted analysis
• Comment on commits for code review
• Cherry-pick and revert commits for branch management
• Track repository history and development progress

🌊 Git Flow Workflow Support

• Create release branches following Git Flow conventions
• Create feature branches with proper naming
• Create hotfix branches for urgent fixes
• Finish releases by creating merge requests to develop and master
• Finish features by creating merge requests to develop
• Finish hotfixes by creating merge requests to both branches
• List Git Flow branches by type (feature, release, hotfix)

👥 User & Group Management

• View user contribution events and activity streams
• List group members and their roles
• List accessible groups with filtering options
• Track user contributions across projects
• Monitor team activity and collaboration

🔐 Variable & Security Management

• List group variables with security information
• Create and update group variables with proper scoping
• Manage variable security (protected, masked, raw)
• Remove variables when no longer needed
• Handle environment-specific variables

🚀 Deployment & Token Management

• List deploy tokens for projects and groups
• Create deploy tokens with specific scopes
• Manage token permissions and expiration
• Delete tokens when no longer needed
• Handle both project and group-level tokens

🔍 Advanced Search Capabilities

• Global search across all GitLab content
• Group-specific search within organizations
• Project-specific search for targeted results
• Search by scope (projects, merge requests, commits, users, code)
• Specialized search tools for issues, merge requests, commits, and code

🚀 Quick Start Guide

Prerequisites

Before you begin, you'll need:

1. GitLab Account with access to your GitLab instance (GitLab.com or self-hosted)
2. Personal Access Token from GitLab (we'll help you get this)
3. Cursor IDE with Claude integration

Step 1: Get Your GitLab Personal Access Token

1. Go to your GitLab instance → User Settings → Access Tokens
2. Click "Add new token"
3. Give it a name like "GitLab MCP Connector"
4. Select scopes: api, read_user, read_repository, write_repository
5. Set expiration date (optional)
6. Click "Create personal access token"
7. Copy the token (you won't see it again!)

Step 2: Choose Your Installation Method

We recommend Docker for the easiest setup:

🐳 Option A: Docker (Recommended)

# Pull the latest image
docker pull ghcr.io/nguyenvanduocit/gitlab-mcp:latest

# Test it works (replace with your details)
docker run --rm \
  -e GITLAB_URL=https://gitlab.com \
  -e GITLAB_TOKEN=your-personal-access-token \
  ghcr.io/nguyenvanduocit/gitlab-mcp:latest

📦 Option B: Download Binary

1. Go to GitHub Releases
2. Download for your platform:
   • macOS: gitlab-mcp_darwin_amd64
   • Linux: gitlab-mcp_linux_amd64
   • Windows: gitlab-mcp_windows_amd64.exe
3. Make it executable (macOS/Linux):

   chmod +x gitlab-mcp_*
   sudo mv gitlab-mcp_* /usr/local/bin/gitlab-mcp

🛠️ Option C: Build from Source

go install github.com/nguyenvanduocit/gitlab-mcp@latest

Step 3: Configure Cursor

1. Open Cursor
2. Go to Settings → Features → Model Context Protocol
3. Add a new MCP server with this configuration:

For Docker Users:

{
  "mcpServers": {
    "gitlab": {
      "command": "docker",
      "args": [
        "run", "--rm", "-i",
        "-e", "GITLAB_URL=https://gitlab.com",
        "-e", "GITLAB_TOKEN=your-personal-access-token",
        "ghcr.io/nguyenvanduocit/gitlab-mcp:latest"
      ]
    }
  }
}

For Binary Users:

{
  "mcpServers": {
    "gitlab": {
      "command": "/usr/local/bin/gitlab-mcp",
      "env": {
        "GITLAB_URL": "https://gitlab.com",
        "GITLAB_TOKEN": "your-personal-access-token"
      }
    }
  }
}

For Self-Hosted GitLab:

Replace https://gitlab.com with your GitLab instance URL (e.g., https://gitlab.yourcompany.com)

Step 4: Test Your Setup

1. Restart Cursor completely
2. Open a new chat with Claude
3. Try these test commands:

List my GitLab groups

Show me recent merge requests in my projects

What's the status of the latest pipeline?

If you see GitLab data, congratulations! 🎉 You're all set up.

🔧 Advanced Configuration

Using Environment Files

Create a .env file for easier management:

# .env file
GITLAB_URL=https://gitlab.com
GITLAB_TOKEN=your-personal-access-token

Then use it:

# With binary
gitlab-mcp -env .env

# With Docker
docker run --rm -i --env-file .env ghcr.io/nguyenvanduocit/gitlab-mcp:latest

HTTP Mode for Development

For development and testing, you can run in HTTP mode:

# Start HTTP server on port 3000
gitlab-mcp -env .env -http_port 3000

Then configure Cursor with:

{
  "mcpServers": {
    "gitlab": {
      "url": "http://localhost:3000/mcp"
    }
  }
}

🎯 Usage Examples

Once configured, you can ask Claude to help with GitLab tasks using natural language:

Project & Repository Management

• "Show me all my GitLab groups"
• "List projects in group 'my-team'"
• "Get the README file from the main branch of project X"
• "What are the recent changes in project Z?"

Merge Request Operations

• "Show me all open merge requests in project ABC"
• "Create a merge request from feature-branch to develop"
• "What's the status of MR #123 in project ABC?"
• "Add a comment to merge request #456 saying 'LGTM'"
• "Show me the pipeline status for MR #789"

Pipeline & CI/CD Management

• "What's the status of the latest pipeline in project X?"
• "Trigger a new pipeline on the develop branch"
• "Show me failed pipelines from the last week"
• "List all running jobs in project Y"
• "Cancel job #123 in project Z"

Git Flow Workflows

• "Create a release branch for version 1.2.0"
• "Create a feature branch called user-authentication"
• "Finish the release 1.2.0 and create merge requests"
• "List all feature branches in the project"

Search & Discovery

• "Search for commits containing 'bug fix' across all projects"
• "Find merge requests related to authentication in group X"
• "Search for code containing 'API_KEY' in project Y"
• "Show me all users in group Z"

Variable & Security Management

• "List all variables in group 'production'"
• "Create a new variable DATABASE_URL in group X"
• "Show me deploy tokens for project Y"

Development Insights

• "Show me recent commits by author John"
• "What commits were made to the main branch today?"
• "List all commits with 'fix' in the message"
• "Show me user activity for the development team"

🛠️ Available Tools Reference

Project Tools

• list_projects - List projects in a group
• get_project - Get detailed project information

Merge Request Tools

• list_mrs - List merge requests with filtering
• get_mr_details - Get detailed MR information
• create_mr - Create new merge requests
• create_mr_note - Add comments to merge requests
• list_mr_comments - List all MR comments
• get_mr_pipelines - Get MR pipeline information
• get_mr_commits - Get MR commit history
• create_mr_pipeline - Trigger new MR pipeline
• rebase_mr - Rebase merge requests

Repository Tools

• get_file_content - Get file content from repositories
• list_commits - List commits with date filtering
• get_commit_details - Get detailed commit information
• search_commits - Search commits by author/path/date
• get_commit_comments - Get commit comments
• post_commit_comment - Add comments to commits
• get_commit_merge_requests - Get MRs associated with commits
• cherry_pick_commit - Cherry-pick commits to other branches
• revert_commit - Revert commits

Pipeline Tools

• list_pipelines - List project pipelines
• get_pipeline - Get detailed pipeline information
• trigger_pipeline - Trigger new pipelines with variables

Job Tools

• list_project_jobs - List all project jobs
• list_pipeline_jobs - List jobs for specific pipeline
• get_job - Get detailed job information
• cancel_job - Cancel running jobs
• retry_job - Retry failed jobs

Git Flow Tools

• gitflow_create_release - Create release branches
• gitflow_finish_release - Finish releases with MRs
• gitflow_create_feature - Create feature branches
• gitflow_finish_feature - Finish features with MRs
• gitflow_create_hotfix - Create hotfix branches
• gitflow_finish_hotfix - Finish hotfixes with MRs
• gitflow_list_branches - List Git Flow branches

User & Group Tools

• list_user_contribution_events - List user activity
• list_group_users - List group members
• list_groups - List accessible groups

Variable Tools

• list_group_variables - List group variables
• get_group_variable - Get specific variable details
• create_group_variable - Create new variables
• update_group_variable - Update existing variables
• remove_group_variable - Remove variables

Deployment Tools

• list_all_deploy_tokens - List all deploy tokens (admin)
• list_project_deploy_tokens - List project deploy tokens
• get_project_deploy_token - Get project token details
• create_project_deploy_token - Create project tokens
• delete_project_deploy_token - Delete project tokens
• list_group_deploy_tokens - List group deploy tokens
• get_group_deploy_token - Get group token details
• create_group_deploy_token - Create group tokens
• delete_group_deploy_token - Delete group tokens

Search Tools

• search_global - Search across all GitLab
• search_group - Search within specific groups
• search_project - Search within specific projects
• search_issues_global - Global issue search
• search_merge_requests_global - Global MR search
• search_commits_global - Global commit search
• search_code_global - Global code search

🛠️ Troubleshooting

Common Issues

❌ "Connection failed" or "Authentication error"

• Double-check your GITLAB_URL (should include https://)
• Verify your personal access token is correct and not expired
• Make sure your token has the required scopes (api, read_user, read_repository, write_repository)

❌ "No MCP servers found"

• Restart Cursor completely after adding the configuration
• Check the MCP configuration syntax in Cursor settings
• Verify the binary path is correct (for binary installations)

❌ "Permission denied" errors

• Make sure your GitLab account has access to the projects you're trying to access
• Check if your personal access token has the necessary permissions
• Verify you're using the correct GitLab instance URL

❌ "Rate limit exceeded"

• GitLab has API rate limits; wait a moment before retrying
• Consider using a more specific query to reduce API calls

❌ "Missing required environment variables"

• Ensure both GITLAB_URL and GITLAB_TOKEN are set
• Check that environment variables are properly loaded from .env file

Getting Help

1. Check the logs: Run with -http_port to see detailed error messages
2. Test your credentials: Try the Docker test command from Step 2
3. Verify Cursor config: The app will show you the exact configuration to use
4. Check GitLab permissions: Ensure your token has access to the resources you need

📚 Development

For local development and contributing:

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

# Create .env file with your credentials
cp .env.example .env
# Edit .env with your details

# Run in development mode
just dev
# or
go run main.go -env .env

# Build the project
just build

# Install locally
just install

# Test with MCP inspector (if running in HTTP mode)
npx @modelcontextprotocol/inspector http://localhost:3000/mcp

Project Structure

gitlab-mcp/
├── bin/          # Compiled binaries
├── tools/        # Tool implementations
│   ├── projects.go      # Project management tools
│   ├── merge_requests.go # MR management tools
│   ├── repositories.go  # Repository and commit tools
│   ├── pipelines.go     # Pipeline management tools
│   ├── job.go          # CI/CD job tools
│   ├── flow.go         # Git Flow workflow tools
│   ├── users.go        # User management tools
│   ├── groups.go       # Group management tools
│   ├── variable.go     # Variable management tools
│   ├── deploy.go       # Deployment token tools
│   └── search.go       # Search functionality tools
├── util/         # Utility functions
├── main.go       # Application entry point
├── go.mod        # Go module definition
├── justfile      # Build automation
└── README.md     # This file

CLI Usage

In addition to the MCP server, gitlab-mcp ships a standalone CLI binary (gitlab-cli) for direct terminal use — no MCP client needed.

Installation

just install-cli
# or
go install github.com/nguyenvanduocit/gitlab-mcp/cmd/gitlab-cli@latest

Quick Start

export GITLAB_URL=https://gitlab.com
export GITLAB_TOKEN=your-access-token
# or
gitlab-cli --env .env <command> [flags]

Commands

Command	Description
list-projects	List GitLab projects
list-mrs	List merge requests
list-pipelines	List pipelines
list-branches	List branches
list-jobs	List CI/CD jobs
list-users	List group members
list-groups	List groups
manage-variable	Manage CI/CD variables
trigger-pipeline	Trigger a pipeline
search	Search across GitLab

Examples

# List projects
gitlab-cli list-projects --search my-repo

# List open MRs
gitlab-cli list-mrs --project-id 123 --state opened

# Trigger pipeline
gitlab-cli trigger-pipeline --project-id 123 --ref main

# JSON output
gitlab-cli list-projects --output json | jq '.[].path_with_namespace'

Flags

Every command accepts:

• --env string — Path to .env file
• --output string — Output format: text (default) or json

🤝 Contributing

We welcome contributions! Here's how to get started:

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

Contribution Guidelines

• Follow Conventional Commits for commit messages
• Add tests for new features
• Update documentation as needed
• Ensure all tests pass before submitting

📄 License

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

---

Need help? Check our CHANGELOG.md for recent updates or open an issue on GitHub.

Installation

Homebrew (macOS/Linux)

brew install nguyenvanduocit/tap/gitlab-mcp