How do I install Gitlab?

Copy the stdio config for Cursor, Claude Desktop, Claude Code, or VS Code on this page. It uses the publisher's install, not a PlugMCP proxy.

Does Gitlab need an API key?

No required environment variable is listed on this record.

What transport does Gitlab use?

Gitlab runs locally over stdio.

Gitlab MCP-Server

Q: When was Gitlab last checked?

Last checked 2026-10-28. A Model Context Protocol (MCP) server that provides GitLab integration tools for Claude Code.

Agenten stärken

Diesen Server hinzufügen

Install from the publisher. Not a PlugMCP endpoint.

Auf PlugMCP ausführen

Host a copy with our keys and logs.

No packaged release in the registry yet. Follow the repository README.

RepositoryPublisher installStep-by-step: add this in Claude

Remote URL or a command on your machine? How the two installs differ

Auf PlugMCP ausführen

Host a copy with our keys and logs.

A new server you create. It is not this listing's official endpoint. Use the publisher install when you want their URL and their credentials.

Starten

Server facts

Local

Transport: stdio
License: MIT
Last checked: 2026-10-28

Tools

No tool list yet. Remote servers get one after the first health check.

FAQ

Questions

GitLab MCP Server

A Model Context Protocol (MCP) server that provides GitLab integration tools for Claude Code. Interact with GitLab projects, issues, epics, and CI/CD pipelines directly from Claude.

Features

Issue Management: List, create, update issues, and add comments
Label Management: List and manage project labels with filtering
Project Management: View and update project descriptions and topics
Project Discovery: List all projects of a group recursively, including every subgroup
Epic Management: List and create epics (Premium/Ultimate tier)
CI/CD Integration: Monitor pipelines, view job logs, and download traces
Direct Project Access: Use project paths (namespace/project-name) without ID resolution
MCP Architecture: Seamless integration with Claude Code via stdio communication

Quick Start

Prerequisites

GitLab personal access token with api, read_api, and write_api scopes
Claude Code CLI installed
Docker (optional, for containerized deployment)

Detailed setup instructions →

Installation

# Install via Homebrew (Recommended for macOS/Linux)
brew tap sgaunet/homebrew-tools
brew install sgaunet/tools/gitlab-mcp

Configuration

# Set your GitLab token
export GITLAB_TOKEN=your_personal_access_token

# Optional: For self-hosted GitLab
export GITLAB_URI=https://your.gitlab.instance

Add to Claude Code

claude mcp add gitlab-mcp -s user -- gitlab-mcp

This assumes gitlab-mcp is in your PATH (the case after a Homebrew install). If Claude Code cannot find the binary, pass the absolute path instead:

# Apple Silicon Mac
claude mcp add gitlab-mcp -s user -- /opt/homebrew/bin/gitlab-mcp

# Intel Mac / Linux
claude mcp add gitlab-mcp -s user -- /usr/local/bin/gitlab-mcp

Pass the token explicitly with -e if it isn't exported in the environment Claude Code inherits:

claude mcp add gitlab-mcp -s user \
  -e GITLAB_TOKEN=your_personal_access_token \
  -e GITLAB_URI=https://your.gitlab.instance \
  -- gitlab-mcp

Verify the server is connected:

claude mcp list

Other scopes: -s local (current project only, default) or -s project (shared via the project's .mcp.json). See the setup guide for Docker-based registration and manual mcp.json configuration.

CLI Flags (Optional)

Optimize token usage by disabling tool categories you don't need:

# Example: CI/CD debugging only
gitlab-mcp --no-issues --no-labels --no-project-metadata --no-epics

# Example: Issue management only
gitlab-mcp --no-project-metadata --no-epics --no-pipelines

Append the flags after the -- separator when registering the server:

claude mcp add gitlab-mcp -s user -- gitlab-mcp --no-epics --no-pipelines

Available flags: --no-issues, --no-labels, --no-project-metadata, --no-epics, --no-pipelines, --no-merge-requests, --no-projects

Complete CLI configuration →

First Usage

List all open issues for project myorg/myproject

Create an issue with title "Bug fix needed" for project myorg/myproject

Get the latest pipeline for myorg/myproject

List all projects of the myorg group

Documentation

Setup Guide - Installation, configuration, and Claude Code integration
Docker Deployment - Container-based deployment and Docker Compose
Tool Reference - Complete documentation for all available tools
Development Guide - Contributing, testing, and development workflow
Troubleshooting - Common issues and solutions
Contributing - How to contribute to the project

Available Tools

Tool	Description
`list_issues`	List project and group issues with filtering
`create_issues`	Create new issues with labels and assignees
`update_issues`	Update issue title, description, state, labels
`add_issue_note`	Add comments to issues
`list_labels`	List project labels with optional filtering
`list_group_projects`	List all projects of a group, subgroups included
`get_project_description`	Get project description
`update_project_description`	Update project description
`get_project_topics`	Get project topics/tags
`update_project_topics`	Update project topics/tags
`list_epics`	List epics for a group (Premium/Ultimate)
`create_epic`	Create epics (Premium/Ultimate)
`get_latest_pipeline`	Get latest CI/CD pipeline
`list_pipeline_jobs`	List pipeline jobs with filtering
`get_job_log`	Get complete job log output
`download_job_trace`	Download job logs to files

Complete tool documentation →

License

MIT License. See LICENSE for details.

Support

For issues, questions, or feature requests, please create an issue in the repository.