GitLab MCP Server

What is this?

The GitLab MCP Server is a powerful extension of the Model Context Protocol that lets AI agents and automated workflows manage GitLab projects seamlessly. It exposes core GitLab features—CI/CD pipelines, merge request operations, and issue tracking—through a consistent MCP API so you can automate end-to-end DevOps tasks without manual intervention.

By packaging functionality as @modelcontextprotocol/server-gitlab, this server bridges AI-driven agents with GitLab’s REST endpoints. Agents can open issues, trigger pipelines, approve merge requests, and respond to events—all following the universal MCP specification, ensuring uniform error handling, logging, and policy enforcement.

Quick Start

Install the server using npm:

npm install @modelcontextprotocol/server-gitlab

Then add it to your MCP client configuration:

{
  "mcpServers": {
    "gitlab": {
      "command": "npx",
      "args": ["-y", "@modelcontextprotocol/server-gitlab"],
      "env": {
        "API_KEY": "your-api-key-here"
      }
    }
  }
}

Key Features

Feature 1: Automated CI/CD Pipelines – trigger, retry, cancel, and query pipelines programmatically to streamline build and deployment workflows.

Feature 2: Merge Request Orchestration – create, approve, merge, or close merge requests with policies and batch operations for streamlined code integration.

Feature 3: Issue Tracking & Automation – open templated issues, add comments, and bulk-close stale tickets in response to external alerts or webhook events.

Example Usage

Here’s how an AI agent can trigger a new pipeline on the main branch after a successful merge.

// Example code
const result = await client.callTool({
  name: "runPipeline",
  arguments: {
    projectId: 123456,
    ref: "main"
  }
});

This code calls the pipeline tool to start a CI/CD run on the main branch and returns the new pipeline ID for tracking or further automation.

Configuration

The server accepts the following environment variables:

API_KEY – Your GitLab Personal Access Token with api scope for authenticating MCP requests.

WEBHOOK_SECRET (optional) – Secret token used to validate incoming GitLab webhook events.

Available Tools/Resources

GitLabPipelineTool: Manage and orchestrate GitLab CI/CD pipelines via MCP calls.

GitLabIssueTool: Create, comment on, and close issues programmatically through the MCP interface.

Who Should Use This?

This server is perfect for:

Use case 1: DevOps teams wanting to automate builds and deployments for faster feedback loops.

Use case 2: AI developers building autonomous agents that need to interact with GitLab programmatically.

Use case 3: Organizations standardizing CI/CD and issue workflows across multiple repos and platforms.

Conclusion

The GitLab MCP Server empowers agents to automate every aspect of GitLab project management, from CI/CD triggers to merge orchestration and issue handling. Give it a try to accelerate your DevOps workflows and unlock seamless AI-driven integrations.

Check out the GitHub repository for more information and to contribute.