The GitLab MCP server is GitLab's official Model Context Protocol endpoint. It lets MCP-compatible clients — Claude Desktop, Claude Code, Cursor and others — securely read GitLab project data and perform actions on your behalf through a standard interface instead of a custom integration.
It is generally available and included with GitLab Free, Premium and Ultimate on GitLab.com, GitLab Self-Managed and GitLab Dedicated. The server is served by your GitLab instance at /api/v4/mcp.
Core capabilities
Project and repository access — read project metadata, files and repository information.
Issues and merge requests — retrieve issue and MR data, and perform GitLab-specific operations through the AI client.
Work items — interact with GitLab work items through dedicated tools.
CI tools — inspect pipelines and CI-related data.
GitLab Duo Agent Platform — tools that let an agent propose and start Duo flows, with confirmation before execution.
Wikis, code security and Orbit — opt-in toolsets for wiki pages, vulnerability management (Ultimate) and the Orbit knowledge graph.
OAuth 2.0 Dynamic Client Registration — an MCP client can register itself as an OAuth application, request authorization and receive an access token on first connect.
Toolset selection — limit exposed tools with the X-Gitlab-Enabled-Mcp-Server-Toolsets header; use all for everything.
Tool name prefixing — avoid collisions with X-Gitlab-Mcp-Server-Tool-Name-Prefix.
Audit events — optionally record an AI audit event for each MCP tool call.
Authentication
The server accepts an OAuth access token with the mcp scope (obtained through the OAuth flow) or a fine-grained personal access token with the MCP tool resource and Execute permission. Legacy personal access tokens, project access tokens and group access tokens cannot get the mcp scope and are rejected with 403 insufficient_scope.
Transports and protocol
HTTP transport (recommended) — point the client at https://<your-gitlab-host>/api/v4/mcp.
stdio via mcp-remote — for clients that only speak stdio; requires Node.js.
Supported protocol versions: 2025-11-25, 2025-06-18 and 2025-03-26; 2026-07-28 is accepted in initialize but answered with 2025-11-25.
Rate limits
Per-user limits: Free 60 requests/minute and 3,600/hour; Premium and Ultimate 600/minute and 5,000/hour. Limits are shared across all clients and tokens for a user, and count toward GitLab.com's general rate limits. Exceeding them returns 429 with Retry-After and RateLimit-Reset.
Getting started
Allow MCP access for the top-level group on GitLab.com, or for the instance on Self-Managed/Dedicated.
Add the server to your client using the HTTP URL https://<host>/api/v4/mcp.
Complete the OAuth flow (or supply a fine-grained PAT with the MCP resource).
Optionally restrict toolsets with the X-Gitlab-Enabled-Mcp-Server-Toolsets header.
Ask the client to read a project, list issues or open a merge request.
What is GitLab MCP Server? GitLab MCP Server is a coding tool listed on Scriptiii AI Tools. GitLab built-in MCP server that lets AI tools access GitLab projects, issues and merge requests. Pricing: Freemium. Free tier with paid upgrades. Best for: ai-agents, mcp-server, developer-platforms.
Questions & answers
Everything you need to know about GitLab MCP Server
What is GitLab MCP Server?
GitLab MCP Server is a coding tool. GitLab built-in MCP server that lets AI tools access GitLab projects, issues and merge requests.
What does GitLab MCP Server cost?
Freemium. Free tier with paid upgrades.
What is GitLab MCP Server best for?
ai-agents, mcp-server, developer-platforms. It is filed under Coding.
