MCP GitLab CrunchTools (io.github.crunchtools/gitlab)

A secure Model Context Protocol (MCP) server for GitLab projects, covering merge requests, issues, pipelines, and search. It supports any GitLab instance, including gitlab.com, self-hosted, and enterprise deployments, using a configurable URL.

🛠️ Key Features

Secure MCP server with comprehensive threat modeling, input validation, and token protection
Runs locally via stdio; your API token does not leave your machine
Works across multiple GitLab instances via configurable URL
Cross-platform support (as described in the excerpt)

🚀 Use Cases

Access GitLab projects and related resources
Interact with merge requests and issues
View or work with pipelines
Perform GitLab search

⚡ Developer Benefits

Local stdio execution for API token protection
Supports GitLab.com and self-hosted/enterprise setups with configurable URL

⚠️ Limitations

The provided source excerpt does not include tool names, counts, authentication details, or explicit schema/tool behavior beyond the areas listed above.

MCP GitLab CrunchTools

A secure MCP (Model Context Protocol) server for GitLab projects, merge requests, issues, pipelines, and search. Works with any GitLab instance (gitlab.com, self-hosted, or enterprise).

Overview

This MCP server is designed to be:

Secure by default - documented threat model (see SECURITY.md), Pydantic input validation, and the API token held as a SecretStr to prevent accidental logging
No third-party services - Runs locally via stdio, your API token never leaves your machine
Multi-instance - Works with gitlab.com, self-hosted GitLab, or enterprise instances via configurable URL
Cross-platform - Works on Linux, macOS, and Windows
Automatically updated - GitHub Actions monitor for CVEs and update dependencies
Containerized - Available at quay.io/crunchtools/mcp-gitlab built on Hummingbird Python base image

Naming Convention

Component	Name
GitHub repo	crunchtools/mcp-gitlab
Container	`quay.io/crunchtools/mcp-gitlab`
Python package (PyPI)	`mcp-gitlab-crunchtools`
CLI command	`mcp-gitlab-crunchtools`
Module import	`mcp_gitlab_crunchtools`

Why Hummingbird?

The container image is built on the Hummingbird Python base image from Project Hummingbird, which provides:

Minimal CVE exposure - Built with a minimal package set, dramatically reducing the attack surface
Regular updates - Security patches are applied promptly
Optimized for Python - Pre-configured Python environment with uv package manager
Production-ready - Proper signal handling and non-root user defaults

Features

Project Management (5 tools)

list_projects - List projects with filtering and search
get_project - Get project details by ID or path
list_project_branches - List repository branches
get_project_branch - Get a single branch
list_project_commits - List commits with date/path filtering

Group Management (3 tools)

list_groups - List groups with filtering
get_group - Get group details by ID or path
list_group_projects - List projects in a group (with subgroup support)

Merge Requests (7 tools)

list_merge_requests - List MRs by state, labels, milestone
get_merge_request - Get MR details
create_merge_request - Create a new MR
update_merge_request - Update MR title, description, state, assignees
list_mr_notes - List comments on an MR
create_mr_note - Add a comment to an MR
get_mr_changes - Get the diff for an MR

Issues (6 tools)

list_issues - List issues by state, labels, milestone, assignee
get_issue - Get issue details
create_issue - Create a new issue
update_issue - Update issue title, description, state, labels
list_issue_notes - List comments on an issue
create_issue_note - Add a comment to an issue

Pipelines (4 tools)

list_pipelines - List CI/CD pipelines with status filtering
get_pipeline - Get pipeline details
list_pipeline_jobs - List jobs in a pipeline
get_job_log - Get job log output

Search (2 tools)

search_global - Search across all accessible GitLab resources
search_project - Search within a specific project

Installation

With uvx (Recommended)

bash

uvx mcp-gitlab-crunchtools

With pip

bash

pip install mcp-gitlab-crunchtools

With Container

bash

podman run -e GITLAB_TOKEN=your_token \
    quay.io/crunchtools/mcp-gitlab

Configuration

Environment Variables

Variable	Required	Default	Description
`GITLAB_TOKEN`	Yes	—	Personal Access Token
`GITLAB_URL`	No	`https://gitlab.com`	GitLab instance URL
`SSL_CERT_FILE`	No	—	Custom CA bundle path, for self-hosted GitLab with an internal CA
`GITLAB_SSL_VERIFY`	No	`true`	Set `false` to disable TLS verification (not recommended)

Creating a GitLab Personal Access Token

Navigate to Access Tokens
- Go to https://gitlab.com/-/user_settings/personal_access_tokens
- Or: Avatar > Preferences > Access Tokens
Create a Custom Token
- Name: mcp-gitlab-crunchtools
- Expiration: Set an appropriate date (90 days recommended)
- Scopes: Select scopes based on your needs
Scope Selection

Scope Access Level Capabilities
read_api Read-only List/view projects, issues, MRs, pipelines
api Full access All features including create/update
Copy and Store Token
- Copy the token immediately (starts with glpat-)
- Store securely in a password manager

Scope	Access Level	Capabilities
`read_api`	Read-only	List/view projects, issues, MRs, pipelines
`api`	Full access	All features including create/update

Add to Claude Code

bash

claude mcp add mcp-gitlab-crunchtools \
    --env GITLAB_TOKEN=your_token_here \
    -- uvx mcp-gitlab-crunchtools

For self-hosted GitLab:

bash

claude mcp add mcp-gitlab-crunchtools \
    --env GITLAB_TOKEN=your_token_here \
    --env GITLAB_URL=https://gitlab.example.com \
    -- uvx mcp-gitlab-crunchtools

For the container version:

bash

claude mcp add mcp-gitlab-crunchtools \
    --env GITLAB_TOKEN=your_token_here \
    -- podman run -i --rm -e GITLAB_TOKEN quay.io/crunchtools/mcp-gitlab

Usage Examples

List Your Projects

code

User: List my GitLab projects
Assistant: [calls list_projects with membership=true]

View Merge Requests

code

User: Show open merge requests for my-org/backend
Assistant: [calls list_merge_requests with project_id="my-org/backend"]

Create an Issue

code

User: Create an issue in my-org/backend titled "Fix login timeout"
Assistant: [calls create_issue with title="Fix login timeout"]

Check Pipeline Status

code

User: Show failed pipelines for my-org/api
Assistant: [calls list_pipelines with status="failed"]

Search Code

code

User: Search for "authentication" in my-org/backend
Assistant: [calls search_project with scope="blobs"]

Security

This server was designed with security as a primary concern. See SECURITY.md for:

Threat model and attack vectors
Defense in depth architecture
Token handling best practices
Input validation rules
Audit logging

Key Security Features

Token Protection
- Stored as SecretStr (never accidentally logged)
- Environment variable only (never in files or args)
- Sanitized from all error messages
Input Validation
- Pydantic models for all inputs
- Allowlist character validation for project/group IDs
- Path traversal prevention
API Hardening
- HTTPS enforcement (except localhost)
- TLS certificate validation
- Request timeouts (30s)
- Response size limits (10MB)
Automated CVE Scanning
- GitHub Actions scan dependencies weekly
- Container security scanning with Trivy
- CodeQL analysis for Python

Development

Setup

bash

git clone https://github.com/crunchtools/mcp-gitlab.git
cd mcp-gitlab
uv sync

Run Tests

bash

uv run pytest

Lint and Type Check

bash

uv run ruff check src tests
uv run mypy src

Build Container

bash

podman build -t mcp-gitlab .

License

AGPL-3.0-or-later

Contributing

Contributions welcome! Please read SECURITY.md before submitting security-related changes.