GitLab MCP Server (Swift)

A Model Context Protocol (MCP) server that wraps the GitLab CLI (glab) to provide GitLab functionality to AI assistants like Claude Desktop.

Features

• 🚀 Native Swift implementation using the official MCP Swift SDK
• 🔧 Full GitLab CLI integration - supports all glab commands
• 🎯 Smart prompts for common workflows (merge requests, CI/CD, daily standup)
• 📊 JSON output parsing with fallback to plain text
• 🔐 Secure authentication via system glab credentials
• ⚡ High performance with Swift's async/await concurrency

Prerequisites

• macOS (Swift 5.9+ installed via Xcode)
• glab CLI installed and authenticated
• Claude Desktop or another MCP-compatible client

Installation

Quick Install

# Clone the repository
git clone https://github.com/yourusername/gitlab-mcp-swift.git
cd gitlab-mcp-swift

# Run the install script
./install.sh

The install script will:

1. Build the server using Swift Package Manager
2. Install it to ~/.swiftpm/bin/git-lab-mcp
3. Display the configuration for Claude Desktop

Manual Installation

# Build the project
swift build -c release

# Install to a location in your PATH
cp .build/release/git-lab-mcp ~/.swiftpm/bin/

Configuration

Add to your Claude Desktop configuration (~/Library/Application Support/Claude/claude_desktop_config.json):

{
  "mcpServers": {
    "gitlab": {
      "command": "/Users/YOUR_USERNAME/.swiftpm/bin/git-lab-mcp",
      "args": ["--log-level", "info"],
      "env": {
        "PATH": "/opt/homebrew/bin:/usr/local/bin:/usr/bin:/bin"
      }
    }
  }
}

Authentication

The server uses your existing glab CLI authentication:

# Login to GitLab
glab auth login

# Check authentication status
glab auth status

Available Tools

Core Tools

• glab_mr - Merge request operations (list, create, view, merge, approve)
• glab_issue - Issue management (list, create, view, close, update)
• glab_ci - CI/CD pipeline operations (view, list, run, retry)
• glab_repo - Repository operations (clone, fork, view, archive)
• glab_api - Direct GitLab API access
• glab_auth - Authentication management
• glab_version - Version information
• glab_raw - Execute any glab command directly

Prompts

The server includes intelligent prompts for common workflows:

• my-mrs - Check your merge requests
• create-mr - Create a merge request with guided parameters
• daily-standup - Gather GitLab activity for daily standups
• review-pipeline - Review CI/CD pipeline status

Usage Examples

Check Your Merge Requests

Use the prompt "my-mrs" to see all your open merge requests

Create a Merge Request

Use the prompt "create-mr" with:
- title: "Fix: Memory leak in user service"
- source_branch: "fix/memory-leak"
- target_branch: "main"

Run CI/CD Pipeline

Use tool "glab_ci" with:
- subcommand: "run"
- repo: "myteam/myproject"

Development

Building from Source

# Clone the repository
git clone https://github.com/yourusername/gitlab-mcp-swift.git
cd gitlab-mcp-swift

# Build in debug mode
swift build

# Run tests
swift test

# Build for release
swift build -c release

Project Structure

gitlab-mcp-swift/
├── Sources/
│   └── GitLabMCP/
│       ├── GitLabMCPServer.swift    # Main server implementation
│       ├── GitLabMCPCommand.swift   # CLI entry point
│       └── GitLabCLI.swift          # GitLab CLI wrapper
├── Package.swift                     # Swift package manifest
├── install.sh                        # Installation script
└── README.md                         # This file

Troubleshooting

Server fails to start

• Ensure glab is installed: which glab
• Check authentication: glab auth status
• Run with debug logging: --log-level debug

Commands return "not authenticated"

• Run glab auth login to authenticate
• For self-hosted instances: glab auth login --hostname your.gitlab.instance

MCP connection issues

• Restart Claude Desktop after configuration changes
• Check the logs in Claude Desktop's developer console
• Verify the executable path is correct in the configuration

Contributing

Contributions are welcome! Please:

1. Fork the repository
2. Create a feature branch
3. Make your changes
4. Add tests if applicable
5. Submit a pull request

License

MIT License - see LICENSE file for details

Acknowledgments

• Built with the Model Context Protocol Swift SDK
• Wraps the excellent GitLab CLI (glab)
• Inspired by the need for better GitLab integration in AI assistants