Compatibility
GitLab edition compatibility
Section titled “GitLab edition compatibility”GitLab MCP Server works with both Community Edition (CE) and Enterprise Edition (EE). The Enterprise/Premium catalog unlocks 16 additional enterprise-only meta-tools: set GITLAB_TIER=premium (or GITLAB_TIER=ultimate) in stdio mode, use --tier=premium/--tier=ultimate in HTTP mode, or rely on auto-detection from GET /license (fallback free). The legacy boolean GITLAB_ENTERPRISE=true (stdio) and --enterprise (HTTP) flags are still honored for back-compat but are deprecated.
| Feature | Community (CE) | Enterprise (EE) |
|---|---|---|
| Projects, Issues, MRs, Pipelines, CI/CD | ✅ | ✅ |
| Wikis, Labels, Milestones, Releases | ✅ | ✅ |
| Users, Groups, Members, Search | ✅ | ✅ |
| Deployments, Environments, Packages | ✅ | ✅ |
| 32 base meta-tools | ✅ | ✅ |
| 45 resources, 37 prompts | ✅ | ✅ |
| Merge Trains | ❌ | ✅ |
| DORA Metrics | ❌ | ✅ |
| Vulnerability Management | ❌ | ✅ |
| Audit Events | ❌ | ✅ |
| Compliance Policies | ❌ | ✅ |
| +16 enterprise meta-tools | ❌ | ✅ |
To enable enterprise features in stdio mode, set GITLAB_TIER=premium or GITLAB_TIER=ultimate. In HTTP mode, set --tier=premium/--tier=ultimate to force the Enterprise/Premium catalog, or omit it to let the server auto-detect CE/EE per token+URL entry when GitLab reports edition. The legacy GITLAB_ENTERPRISE=true (stdio) and --enterprise (HTTP) flags are still honored for back-compat.
Platform support
Section titled “Platform support”Pre-built binaries are available for all major platforms:
| OS | Architecture | Binary |
|---|---|---|
| Linux | amd64 | gitlab-mcp-server-linux-amd64 |
| Linux | arm64 | gitlab-mcp-server-linux-arm64 |
| macOS | amd64 (Intel) | gitlab-mcp-server-darwin-amd64 |
| macOS | arm64 (Apple Silicon) | gitlab-mcp-server-darwin-arm64 |
| Windows | amd64 | gitlab-mcp-server-windows-amd64.exe |
| Windows | arm64 | gitlab-mcp-server-windows-arm64.exe |
MCP client compatibility
Section titled “MCP client compatibility”Any client supporting the Model Context Protocol stdio transport can use this server. Tested clients:
| Client | Transport | Status |
|---|---|---|
| VS Code + GitHub Copilot | stdio | ✅ |
| Claude Desktop | stdio | ✅ |
| Cursor | stdio | ✅ |
| Claude Code (CLI) | stdio | ✅ |
| Windsurf | stdio | ✅ |
| JetBrains IDEs | stdio | ✅ |
| Zed | stdio | ✅ |
| Kiro | stdio | ✅ |
| OpenAI Codex | stdio | ✅ |
| Any Streamable HTTP client | HTTP | ✅ |
Per-client compatibility profiles
Section titled “Per-client compatibility profiles”Most clients ignore MCP fields they do not understand, so the server ships its full surface to everyone. The one exception is handled automatically: the Codex builds bundled with ChatGPT.app reject results whose content annotations carry a fractional priority value, so when a session identifies itself as Codex the server rounds those priorities to the nearest spec-legal integer. Everything else — audience annotations, structured content, output schemas, icons — is delivered unchanged, and no other client is affected. Set CLIENT_COMPAT=off to disable the rewriting.
For Codex, add the server to ~/.codex/config.toml with tool pre-approval — without it, Codex asks for confirmation on every non-read-only tool, and non-interactive codex exec runs cancel those calls:
[mcp_servers.gitlab]command = "/path/to/gitlab-mcp-server"args = ["stdio"]default_tools_approval_mode = "approve"
[mcp_servers.gitlab.env]GITLAB_URL = "https://gitlab.example.com"GITLAB_TOKEN = "glpat-xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx"Keep the default dynamic tool surface for clients with tool-count limits (Cursor caps servers at 40 tools, Windsurf at 100, OpenAI-backed clients at 128 per request) and keep META_PARAM_SCHEMA at its opaque default for Codex, which silently trims tool schemas larger than ~5 KB.
MCP protocol features
Section titled “MCP protocol features”GitLab MCP Server implements the full set of MCP capabilities beyond tools — resources, prompts, completions, elicitation, and progress notifications — so compatible clients get contextual data, prompt templates, and argument autocompletion in addition to tool calls.
| Capability | Supported |
|---|---|
| Tools | ✅ (up to 1065 self-managed Enterprise / 1071 GitLab.com + Orbit individual / 32 base, 49 self-managed, 50 GitLab.com meta) |
| Resources | ✅ (45) |
| Prompts | ✅ (37) |
| Completions | ✅ (17 argument types) |
| Elicitation | ✅ |
| Progress | ✅ |
The 1065 self-managed and 1071 GitLab.com figures are the expanded set of distinct tool instances. The 32 base, 49 self-managed, and 50 GitLab.com counts are meta-tool catalog sizes whose actions expand to that larger individual tool surface.
Frequently asked questions
Does GitLab MCP Server work with GitLab Community Edition?
Yes. GitLab MCP Server works with both Community Edition (CE) and Enterprise Edition (EE). On CE it exposes the full base catalog — 32 base meta-tools, 45 resources, and 37 prompts — covering projects, issues, merge requests, pipelines, CI/CD, wikis, releases, users, groups, search, deployments, environments, and packages. Enterprise-only features such as merge trains, DORA metrics, vulnerability management, audit events, and compliance policies require a Premium or Ultimate license and are not available on CE.
How do I enable Enterprise tools?
Set the licensing tier explicitly or let the server auto-detect it. In stdio mode, set GITLAB_TIER=premium or GITLAB_TIER=ultimate; in HTTP mode pass --tier=premium or --tier=ultimate. When the tier is omitted, the server auto-detects the edition from GET /license per token+URL entry, falling back to free. Forcing the Enterprise/Premium catalog adds 16 enterprise-only meta-tools. The legacy GITLAB_ENTERPRISE=true (stdio) and --enterprise (HTTP) flags are still honored for back-compat but are deprecated.
Which operating systems and architectures are supported?
Pre-built binaries are available for Linux, macOS, and Windows on both amd64 and arm64 — six binaries in total. macOS ships separate Intel (amd64) and Apple Silicon (arm64) builds. Each platform is a single static binary with no runtime dependencies.
Does GitLab MCP Server work with OpenAI Codex?
Yes. The server detects Codex sessions automatically and applies a compatibility profile: content annotation priorities are rounded to integer values, which the Codex builds bundled with ChatGPT.app require, while every other field is delivered unchanged. Configure the server in ~/.codex/config.toml with default_tools_approval_mode = "approve" so non-interactive runs can execute write tools, and keep the default dynamic tool surface. Set CLIENT_COMPAT=off to disable the per-client rewriting.
Which MCP clients are compatible with GitLab MCP Server?
Any client that supports the Model Context Protocol can use GitLab MCP Server. Tested stdio clients include VS Code + GitHub Copilot, Claude Desktop, Cursor, Claude Code (CLI), Windsurf, JetBrains IDEs, Zed, and Kiro. Any Streamable HTTP client can connect through HTTP mode. The server also supports MCP resources (45), prompts (37), completions (17 argument types), elicitation, and progress notifications.