Resources & Prompts

Beyond tools, GitLab MCP Server exposes resources and prompts — two additional MCP primitives that provide context and reusable templates to AI assistants.

Resources

MCP resources provide read-only context data that clients can request at any time without invoking a tool. Resources are useful for providing background information that helps the LLM make better decisions.

The server exposes 46 resources across several categories:

Note

MCP lists fixed resources and URI templates separately. In full mode, clients that only inspect resources/list see 9 fixed URIs: current user, groups, workspace roots, the tool manifest, and 5 workflow guides. The remaining 37 entries are URI templates returned by resources/templates/list and are read by substituting project, group, issue, MR, or other IDs at runtime.

Static resources (4)

| Resource | Description | | -------------------------- | -------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- | | gitlab://user/current | Current authenticated user profile (username, email, state, admin status) | | gitlab://groups | All GitLab groups accessible to the authenticated user | | gitlab://workspace/roots | Workspace root directories from the MCP client, for project discovery via gitlab_resolve_project_from_remote | | gitlab://tools | Surface-aware manifest of visible tools and executable entries |

Tool manifest resource template (1)

| Resource | Description | | --------------------- | ------------------------------------------------------------------------ | | gitlab://tools/{id} | Accepted call shape and input schema for one entry from gitlab://tools |

Use the tool manifest resources when a client needs the exact parameter shape for a meta-tool action without expanding every schema in tools/list, or when it wants to enumerate dynamic and individual entries in a consistent format.

1. Read gitlab://tools to get the active surface, visible tools, and executable entries.
2. Replace {id} in gitlab://tools/{id} to read the JSON Schema and call shape for that entry.
3. Call the meta-tool with the normal { "action": "...", "params": { ... } } envelope.

For example, gitlab://tools/gitlab_merge_request.create returns the parameter schema and call shape for the create action of gitlab_merge_request. These manifest resources are available with CAPABILITY_SURFACE=full or minimal, regardless of META_PARAM_SCHEMA mode. Dynamic clients can also use gitlab_find_action for ranked discovery and inline schemas.

Project resource templates (23)

| Resource | Description | | ------------------------------------------------------------ | ---------------------------------------------------------------------------------- | | gitlab://project/{project_id} | Project metadata (name, namespace, visibility, default branch) | | gitlab://project/{project_id}/members | Project members with access levels (guest, reporter, developer, maintainer, owner) | | gitlab://project/{project_id}/labels | Project labels with colors, descriptions, and issue/MR counts | | gitlab://project/{project_id}/milestones | Project milestones with state, due dates, and web URLs | | gitlab://project/{project_id}/branches | Branches with protection status, merge status, and default flag | | gitlab://project/{project_id}/branch/{branch} | Single branch by name | | gitlab://project/{project_id}/issues | Open issues with labels, assignees, author, and creation date | | gitlab://project/{project_id}/releases | All releases with tag names, descriptions, and dates | | gitlab://project/{project_id}/release/{tag_name} | Single release by tag | | gitlab://project/{project_id}/tags | Repository tags with messages, commit SHAs, and protection status | | gitlab://project/{project_id}/tag/{tag_name} | Single tag by name | | gitlab://project/{project_id}/commit/{sha} | Single commit by SHA (stats, message, author) | | gitlab://project/{project_id}/file/{ref}/{+path} | File contents at a ref (branch, tag, or SHA) | | gitlab://project/{project_id}/wiki/{slug} | Wiki page by slug | | gitlab://project/{project_id}/label/{label_id} | Single project label | | gitlab://project/{project_id}/milestone/{milestone_iid} | Single project milestone | | gitlab://project/{project_id}/board/{board_id} | Single issue board | | gitlab://project/{project_id}/deployment/{deployment_id} | Single deployment | | gitlab://project/{project_id}/environment/{environment_id} | Single environment | | gitlab://project/{project_id}/job/{job_id} | Single CI/CD job | | gitlab://project/{project_id}/feature_flag/{name} | Single feature flag | | gitlab://project/{project_id}/deploy_key/{deploy_key_id} | Single deploy key | | gitlab://project/{project_id}/snippet/{snippet_id} | Project-scoped snippet |

Issue & merge request templates (4)

| Resource | Description | | ------------------------------------------------------------------ | --------------------------------------------------------------------------- | | gitlab://project/{project_id}/issue/{issue_iid} | Single issue details (title, state, labels, assignees, web URL) | | gitlab://project/{project_id}/mr/{merge_request_iid} | Single merge request details (title, state, branches, author, merge status) | | gitlab://project/{project_id}/mr/{merge_request_iid}/notes | Notes on a merge request | | gitlab://project/{project_id}/mr/{merge_request_iid}/discussions | Discussion threads on a merge request |

CI/CD resource templates (3)

| Resource | Description | | ----------------------------------------------------------- | ----------------------------------------------------------------------- | | gitlab://project/{project_id}/pipelines/latest | Most recent pipeline (status, ref, SHA, source, web URL) | | gitlab://project/{project_id}/pipeline/{pipeline_id} | Specific pipeline details by numeric ID | | gitlab://project/{project_id}/pipeline/{pipeline_id}/jobs | All jobs for a pipeline (name, stage, status, duration, failure reason) |

Group resource templates (5)

| Resource | Description | | ----------------------------------------------------- | ------------------------------------------------------------- | | gitlab://group/{group_id} | Group details (name, path, description, visibility) | | gitlab://group/{group_id}/members | Group members with access levels, including inherited members | | gitlab://group/{group_id}/projects | Projects within a group (ID, name, namespace, visibility) | | gitlab://group/{group_id}/label/{label_id} | Single group label | | gitlab://group/{group_id}/milestone/{milestone_iid} | Single group milestone |

Personal snippet template (1)

| Resource | Description | | ------------------------------- | ----------------------- | | gitlab://snippet/{snippet_id} | Personal (user) snippet |

Workflow guide resources (5)

Static best-practice guides for AI assistants — no API calls required.

| Resource | Description | | ------------------------------------------ | ------------------------------------------------------------------ | | gitlab://guides/git-workflow | Git branching strategy, commit hygiene, and merge best practices | | gitlab://guides/merge-request-hygiene | MR sizing, descriptions, review workflow, and merge strategies | | gitlab://guides/conventional-commits | Conventional Commits specification with GitLab-specific examples | | gitlab://guides/code-review | Structured code review checklist (quality, security, testing) | | gitlab://guides/pipeline-troubleshooting | CI/CD debugging guide: common failures, job logs, retry strategies |

Note

Resource URIs with {project_id}, {group_id}, etc. are resource templates. The client substitutes the actual ID or URL-encoded path when requesting the resource.

Accessing resources

MCP clients can request resources at any time using the resources/read method:

{
  "method": "resources/read",
  "params": {
    "uri": "gitlab://user/current"
  }
}

The server returns the resource content as structured JSON data.

To inspect accepted call shapes, read the surface-aware tool manifest first and then the action schema:

{
  "method": "resources/read",
  "params": {
    "uri": "gitlab://tools"
  }
}

{
  "method": "resources/read",
  "params": {
    "uri": "gitlab://tools/gitlab_merge_request.create"
  }
}

Prompts

MCP prompts are reusable templates that guide AI assistants through common workflows. The server collects relevant data from GitLab and returns structured context that the LLM uses to produce high-quality outputs.

The server provides 37 prompt templates organized into categories:

Core prompts (12)

Merge request analysis, project overview, and personal productivity.

| Prompt | Description | | --------------------------- | -------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- | | summarize_mr_changes | Summarize changed files and modifications in a merge request | | review_mr | Structured code review with risk categorization and per-file metrics | | suggest_mr_reviewers | Suggest reviewers based on changed files and active project members | | mr_risk_assessment | Assess MR risk level (LOW/MEDIUM/HIGH/CRITICAL) based on size, files, and sensitive patterns | | summarize_pipeline_status | Latest CI/CD pipeline status with failure reasons | | summarize_open_mrs | All open MRs with age and merge status, highlighting stale MRs | | project_health_check | Comprehensive health assessment (pipeline, MRs, branch hygiene) | | generate_release_notes | Release notes from commits between two Git refs | | compare_branches | Compare two branches showing commit differences and file changes | | daily_standup | Daily standup summary from GitLab activity (done/planned/blockers) | | team_member_workload | Workload summary for a team member over configurable time period | | user_stats | User statistics with contribution events, MR/issue stats, and activity chart |

Cross-project prompts (4)

Personal dashboards that aggregate across all accessible projects.

| Prompt | Description | | --------------------- | ---------------------------------------------------- | | my_open_mrs | All open MRs where you are author or assignee | | my_pending_reviews | All open MRs assigned to you as reviewer | | my_issues | All issues assigned to you with overdue detection | | my_activity_summary | Personal activity summary across projects for N days |

Team prompts (4)

Group-level team management prompts.

| Prompt | Description | | ---------------------- | ------------------------------------------------------------ | | user_activity_report | Detailed activity report for a specific user (for managers) | | team_overview | Team dashboard with open MR counts and workload pie chart | | group_mr_dashboard | All MRs for a group with state and target branch filters | | reviewer_workload | Review distribution analysis to identify workload imbalances |

Project report prompts (5)

Project-level analysis and reporting.

| Prompt | Description | | ------------------------- | ---------------------------------------------------------------- | | branch_mr_summary | All MRs targeting a branch with readiness summary | | project_activity_report | Project activity report with events, merged MRs, and open issues | | mr_discussion_health | Discussion health of open MRs (unresolved thread counts) | | unassigned_items | Find open MRs and issues without assignees | | stale_items_report | MRs and issues not updated for N days (default: 14) |

Analytics prompts (4)

Velocity and release analytics.

| Prompt | Description | | ------------------- | -------------------------------------------------------- | | merge_velocity | MR throughput, average time-to-merge, and daily chart | | release_readiness | Release branch readiness (open MRs, conflicts, drafts) | | release_cadence | Release frequency analysis with cadence chart | | weekly_team_recap | Comprehensive weekly recap combining MRs, issues, events |

Milestone & label prompts (4)

Milestone tracking and label analysis.

| Prompt | Description | | -------------------------- | ----------------------------------------------------------------- | | milestone_progress | Milestone progress with completion percentage and due date risk | | label_distribution | Label usage distribution (open/closed issues, open MRs per label) | | group_milestone_progress | Milestone progress across all projects in a group | | project_contributors | Rank contributors by commits, additions, and deletions |

Git workflow prompts (2)

Commit history and MR authoring quality.

| Prompt | Description | | ------------------------ | --------------------------------------------------------------------- | | audit_commit_hygiene | Commit message and history quality between two Git refs | | mr_description_quality | MR description readiness: context, linked work, tests, and risk notes |

Audit prompts (2)

Project configuration audit prompts.

| Prompt | Description | | ------------------------ | ------------------------------------------------------------- | | audit_project_workflow | Audit labels, milestones, issue/MR templates | | audit_project_full | Comprehensive audit combining all categories with a scorecard |

Using prompts

Prompts are requested via the prompts/get MCP method:

{
  "method": "prompts/get",
  "params": {
    "name": "review_mr",
    "arguments": {
      "project_id": "my-group/my-project",
      "merge_request_iid": "42"
    }
  }
}

The server returns a structured prompt with context-aware content that the LLM uses to guide its workflow.

Configuration

| Variable | Default | Description | | -------------------- | ------- | --------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- | | CAPABILITY_SURFACE | full | full registers resources, workflow guides, prompts, and gitlab://tools; minimal keeps workspace roots plus gitlab://tools |

Tip

Resources are particularly useful for providing project context at the start of a conversation. By reading the project resource, the LLM gains immediate understanding of the repository’s purpose, team, and current state.