Gitlab Public

What the Gitlab Public MCP server does

The Gitlab Public MCP server gives MCP clients access to selected unauthenticated GitLab REST API v4 operations. It focuses on public project discovery and issue lookup rather than repository mutation, private resources, or authenticated account activity.

Three pack-specific tools are available:

• search_projects finds public GitLab projects by keyword and sorts results by popularity. Results include the project ID, name, description, star count, fork count, number of open issues, and web URL.
• get_project retrieves details for a public project using either its numeric ID or a path such as gitlab-org/gitlab. The response includes the name, description, stars, forks, default branch, topics, and last activity date.
• search_issues searches issues across public GitLab projects by keyword. Results contain the issue title, state, author, labels, project ID, and direct URL.

How it works

The Gitlab Public MCP server translates MCP tool calls into requests against GitLab's public REST API v4. No GitLab token or other authentication setting is required for the documented operations.

For get_project, pass a namespace and project name with an ordinary slash. Do not URL-encode the slash yourself; the tool handles that internally. The project search is useful when you know a topic but not a repository, while issue search can locate discussions across public projects.

The hosted endpoint is https://gateway.pipeworx.io/gitlab-public/mcp. A scoped gateway connection lists the GitLab tools along with shared Pipeworx meta-tools. Those shared tools can route broader questions through the catalog, while the standalone package exposes only the three Gitlab Public tools.

Setup and configuration

Add the hosted endpoint to an MCP client as a server URL:

{
  "mcpServers": {
    "gitlab-public": {
      "url": "https://gateway.pipeworx.io/gitlab-public/mcp"
    }
  }
}

The README names Claude Desktop, Cursor, and Windsurf as compatible clients. The hosted connection does not require a Pipeworx account for the first calls described in the documentation.

For local use, run the package as a stdio server with npx:

{
  "mcpServers": {
    "gitlab-public": {
      "command": "npx",
      "args": ["-y", "@pipeworx/mcp-gitlab-public"]
    }
  }
}

This local mode requires no Pipeworx account or gateway round trip. It responds to MCP initialize, tools/list, and tools/call requests. The hosted and local modes use the same pack tools, but only the gateway connection includes shared Pipeworx meta-tools.

Tools and capabilities

The Gitlab Public MCP server supports public GitLab research workflows such as finding popular projects for a subject, checking a known project's metadata, and locating related issues. It can also be called through the gateway's HTTP tool interface. For example, the documented project search route is POST https://gateway.pipeworx.io/v1/tools/gitlab_public_search_projects with a JSON body containing a query value.

A full Pipeworx gateway URL, https://gateway.pipeworx.io/mcp, is also available. Both gateway URLs reach the same gateway and data sources; the scoped URL lists this pack directly, while the full URL lists all packs directly.

Limitations and notes

Only public GitLab data is covered by the documented pack tools. The material does not describe authentication, private-project access, write operations, repository file access, merge-request operations, or pagination controls. Gateway tool listings may contain roughly 30 shared tools in addition to the pack tools, and the exact scope is stated by the connection's initialize response. The standalone server does not include those shared tools.