GitLab

The GitLab MCP server connects AI assistants such as Claude Desktop, Claude Code, Cursor and other MCP-compatible tools to a GitLab instance. Once connected, these tools can read GitLab project information, retrieve issue and merge request data, call GitLab APIs and perform GitLab-specific operations on a user's behalf.

The server supports OAuth 2.0 Dynamic Client Registration. When an AI tool connects for the first time, it registers itself as an OAuth application, requests authorization to access the user's GitLab data, and receives an access token for API access. Clients can also use a pre-registered OAuth application. A fine-grained personal access token with the MCP tool resource and the Execute permission is accepted as an alternative. Legacy personal access tokens, project access tokens and group access tokens are rejected.

Clients connect over HTTP transport, which needs no extra dependencies, or through stdio transport using mcp-remote, which requires Node.js 20 or later. The page gives configuration examples for Cursor, Amazon Q Developer, Claude Code, Claude Desktop, Gemini CLI, GitHub Copilot in VS Code, Kiro, OpenCode, OpenAI Codex and Zed.

An administrator must first allow access to the MCP server. On GitLab.com this is set for the top-level group. On GitLab Self-Managed and GitLab Dedicated it is set for the instance.

Tool groups, called toolsets, can be selected with a request header so that the server returns only the tools a user needs. Toolsets include core, merge_requests, work_items, repository and ci, which are on by default, along with opt-in sets such as wikis, code_security and orbit. Some toolsets depend on licensed GitLab Duo Agent Platform or Ultimate features and only appear when the user has access to them. A tool prefix header can also be set to avoid name clashes with other MCP servers.

Each tool checks the user's project and namespace permissions when it is called, so listing a tool does not grant access. The page also covers security considerations, rate limits, supported MCP protocol versions and audit events.

The MCP server is generally available on GitLab.com, GitLab Self-Managed and GitLab Dedicated. The page lists it as available on the Free, Premium and Ultimate tiers.