GitLab MCP Extension for Gemini CLI

April 16, 2026 ยท View on GitHub

Connects Gemini CLI to the GitLab-hosted Model Context Protocol (MCP) server (https://gitlab.com/api/v4/mcp). Exposes tools for issues, MRs, pipelines, and search without a local Ruby runtime.

Installation

gemini extensions install https://github.com/GitLab-Ecosystem/Gemini-CLI-Extensions
# or for local development: gemini extensions link .

Restart Gemini CLI after installing/linking.

Prerequisites

  • GitLab SaaS account with mcp_server and oauth_dynamic_client_generation flags enabled.
  • Gemini CLI v0.8.0+.
  • Node.js 20+ (for npx).

First run requires browser authorization for the "MCP CLI Proxy" app.

Commands

Maps custom commands to MCP tools (defined in commands/*.toml):

  • /gitlab:issue <project> <iid>
  • /gitlab:create-issue <project> | <title> | [desc]
  • /gitlab:mr <project> <iid>
  • /gitlab:create-mr <project> | <title> | <source_branch> | <target_branch>
  • /gitlab:mr-changes, /gitlab:mr-commits, /gitlab:mr-pipelines
  • /gitlab:pipeline-jobs <project> <id>, /gitlab:manage-pipeline
  • /gitlab:create-note <work_item_url> <body>, /gitlab:workitem-notes <work_item_url>
  • /gitlab:search <scope> <query>, /gitlab:semantic-search <project> <query>
  • /gitlab:search-labels <full_path> <is_project> [search]
  • /gitlab:server-version

Development

  • Manifest: gemini-extension.json (defines npx mcp-remote).
  • Commands: commands/*.toml.
  • Build: npm install && npm run build (required for standard structure compliance).
  • Test: npm test.

Distribution

This repo follows the Gemini CLI extension releasing guidelines. The gemini-extension.json manifest lives at the repository root so users can install directly with gemini extensions install benvenker/gitlab-gemini-extension or by referencing specific branches/tags using --ref.

License

Apache 2.0