gitlab-mcp

GitLab MCP

A Model Context Protocol (MCP) server for GitLab, enabling Claude to interact directly with your GitLab instance.

💬 Feedback

Please provide feedback in https://gitlab.com/gitlab-org/ux-research/-/issues/3495, or (if you don't have access) open a new issue at https://gitlab.com/fforster/gitlab-mcp/-/issues.

Overview

GitLab MCP implements the Model Context Protocol for GitLab, allowing AI assistants like Claude to access and manipulate GitLab resources. This integration enables Claude to work with:

• Discussions and Notes
• Epics
• Issues
• Jobs
• Merge Requests
• Repository Files and Directories
• Snippets
• User information

Installation

Option 1: Install from Homebrew

This is the simplest way to install gitlab-mcp when you're on Mac.

# Add the gitlab-mcp tap repository
brew tap fforster/gitlab-mcp https://gitlab.com/fforster/homebrew-gitlab-mcp.git

# Install gitlab-mcp
brew install gitlab-mcp

Option 2: Build from source

This is recommended if you plan on contributing features or bug fixes to gitlab-mcp.

1. Clone this repository
2. Build the binary with go build, this creates gitlab-mcp in the current directory. Use -o <path> to chose a different filename (or directory).

Option 3: Docker

A pre-built Docker image is available:

docker run -i -e GITLAB_TOKEN=your_gitlab_token registry.gitlab.com/fforster/gitlab-mcp:latest

Usage with Claude Desktop

To use the GitLab MCP server with Claude Desktop, add the following to your Claude Desktop configuration file:

Using the binary

{
  "mcpServers": {
    "GitLab": {
      "command": "/opt/homebrew/bin/gitlab-mcp",
      "env": {
        "GITLAB_TOKEN": "your_gitlab_token"
      }
    }
  }
}

Using Docker

{
  "mcpServers": {
    "GitLab": {
      "command": "docker",
      "args": [
        "run",
        "-i",
        "--rm",
        "--pull=always",
        "-e", "GITLAB_TOKEN",
        "registry.gitlab.com/fforster/gitlab-mcp:latest"
      ],
      "env": {
        "GITLAB_TOKEN": "your_gitlab_token"
      }
    }
  }
}

Explanation:

• -i is required so Docker keeps STDIN open.
• --rm cleans up the container when gitlab-mcp exits.
• --pull=always ensures that Docker downloads the latest version of gitlab-mcp before running.
• -e GITLAB_TOKEN exports the GITLAB_TOKEN environment variable to gitlab-mcp.

Config file location

The configuration file is typically located at:

• macOS: ~/Library/Application Support/Claude/claude_desktop_config.json
• Linux: ~/.config/Claude/claude_desktop_config.json
• Windows: %APPDATA%\Claude\claude_desktop_config.json

Environment Variables

You can provide the GitLab token in one of two ways:

1. Directly in the configuration, by adding an env section. This is what the above examples use.

2. Via shell initialization files, where your .bashrc or similar file sets the GITLAB_TOKEN environment variable:

   {
     "mcpServers": {
       "GitLab": {
         "command": "/bin/bash",
         "args": [
           "-c",
           "/opt/homebrew/bin/gitlab-mcp"
         ]
       }
     }
   }
   

Supported Tools

Example Usage

Once configured, you can ask Claude to interact with your GitLab instance:

• "Prioritize the open issues assigned to me."
• "List the merge requests I need to review."
• "Add a comment to issue #42 suggesting a possible solution."
• "Summarize the discussion of issue #123 in the my-project project."
• "Create a new snippet with the code I just shared."
• "What epics are currently open in the my-group group?"
• "Please explain why the pipeline of merge request !456 failed."
• "How do I use the MCP server according to the README.md file in the fforster/gitlab-mcp GitLab project."
• "On GitLab, what have reprazent and ffoster been working on between 2025-04-28 and 2025-05-02?"
• "List all of my pending todos."
• "List the latest 100 completed todos."

License

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