GitHub Copilot Setup Guide

July 16, 2026 ยท View on GitHub

This guide explains how to use @zereight/mcp-gitlab with GitHub Copilot in VS Code.

Important note

GitHub Copilot in VS Code uses the same VS Code MCP server configuration model.

That means you configure the server in:

  • .vscode/mcp.json for workspace scope, or
  • your user-profile mcp.json for global scope

Install the server once:

brew tap zereight/gitlab-mcp https://github.com/zereight/gitlab-mcp
brew install zereight/gitlab-mcp/zereight-mcp-gitlab

Or with npm:

npm install -g @zereight/mcp-gitlab

If VS Code cannot find zereight-mcp-gitlab, use the absolute path from which zereight-mcp-gitlab.

PAT setup

Recommended secure example:

{
  "inputs": [
    {
      "type": "promptString",
      "id": "gitlab-token",
      "description": "GitLab Personal Access Token",
      "password": true
    }
  ],
  "servers": {
    "gitlab": {
      "type": "stdio",
      "command": "zereight-mcp-gitlab",
      "env": {
        "GITLAB_PERSONAL_ACCESS_TOKEN": "${input:gitlab-token}",
        "GITLAB_API_URL": "https://gitlab.com/api/v4",
        "GITLAB_READ_ONLY_MODE": "false"
      }
    }
  }
}

OAuth setup

{
  "inputs": [
    {
      "type": "promptString",
      "id": "gitlab-oauth-client-id",
      "description": "GitLab OAuth Client ID"
    }
  ],
  "servers": {
    "gitlab": {
      "type": "stdio",
      "command": "zereight-mcp-gitlab",
      "env": {
        "GITLAB_USE_OAUTH": "true",
        "GITLAB_OAUTH_CLIENT_ID": "${input:gitlab-oauth-client-id}",
        "GITLAB_OAUTH_REDIRECT_URI": "http://127.0.0.1:8888/callback",
        "GITLAB_API_URL": "https://gitlab.com/api/v4"
      }
    }
  }
}

How to verify it loaded

After adding the server:

  1. Reload VS Code if needed
  2. Open Chat
  3. Use MCP or chat customization commands to confirm the server is present
  4. Ask a simple prompt such as:
List my GitLab projects.

Troubleshooting

1. The server does not appear in chat

Check the MCP server list and output logs in VS Code.

2. The server exists but tools are missing

Make sure the server actually started and that trust was granted.

3. ${input:...} does not resolve

Add the matching inputs entry with the exact same id.

4. OAuth does not open correctly

Check:

  • client ID
  • redirect URI
  • whether the app is confidential and needs a secret
  • API URL format

5. PAT works in GitLab but not here

Verify the token scope and make sure you used the API URL with /api/v4.

Show me my GitLab projects and recent merge requests.

See also