MCP servers in the AI Catalog

  • Tier: Premium, Ultimate
  • Offering: GitLab.com
  • Status: Experiment

The availability of this feature is controlled by a feature flag. For more information, see the history. This feature is available for testing, but not ready for production use.

Custom agents in the AI Catalog can connect to external data sources and third-party services (such as Jira or Google Drive) through the Model Context Protocol (MCP).

This feature is an experiment. Share your feedback in issue 593219.

With MCP servers in the AI Catalog, you can:

  • Add MCP servers to your organization’s catalog (name, URL, and transport type).
  • Associate MCP servers with custom agents.
  • View which MCP servers are connected to each agent.
  • Authenticate with OAuth-enabled MCP servers.

A dedicated MCP tab appears in the AI Catalog navigation alongside Agents and Flows. MCP servers associated with agents enabled in your namespace are also available under Automate > MCP servers at both the group and project level.

Prerequisites

Add an MCP server to the AI Catalog

To add an MCP server to the AI Catalog:

  1. In the left sidebar, select Search or go to and find your group.
  2. Select Build > AI Catalog.
  3. Select the MCP tab.
  4. Select New MCP server.
  5. Complete the fields:
    • Name: A descriptive name for the MCP server (for example, Jira).
    • Description (optional): A brief description of what the server provides.
    • URL: The HTTP endpoint of the MCP server.
    • Homepage URL (optional): The homepage or documentation URL for the MCP server.
    • Transport: Select HTTP. Only HTTP transport is supported. SSE and stdio transports are not available.
    • Authentication type: Select one of the following:
      • None: No authentication required.
      • OAuth: Authenticate with OAuth 2.0. If the server supports OAuth 2.0 Dynamic Client Registration, GitLab automatically registers itself as an OAuth client on first connection.
  6. Select Create MCP server.

The MCP server is now available in your organization’s catalog and can be associated with agents.

Edit an MCP server

To edit an MCP server:

  1. In the left sidebar, select Search or go to and find your group.
  2. Select Build > AI Catalog.
  3. Select the MCP tab.
  4. Select the MCP server you want to edit.
  5. Select Edit.
  6. Update the fields as needed.
  7. Select Save changes.

Associate an MCP server with an agent

To give a custom agent access to an MCP server:

  1. In the left sidebar, select Search or go to and find your group.
  2. Select Build > AI Catalog.
  3. Select the Agents tab.
  4. Select the agent you want to configure, then select Edit.
  5. In the MCP servers section, select the MCP servers to associate with this agent.
  6. Select Save changes.

The agent can now use all tools provided by the associated MCP server during execution.

You cannot restrict an agent from using specific MCP server tools.

View MCP servers connected to an agent

To view which MCP servers are connected to an agent:

  1. In the left sidebar, select Search or go to and find your group.
  2. Select Build > AI Catalog.
  3. Select the Agents tab.
  4. Select the agent.

The agent detail page lists all connected MCP servers.

View MCP servers for a namespace

The Automate > MCP servers page shows all MCP servers associated with agents enabled in your namespace. Each server displays the number of agents that use it, with agent names shown in a tooltip on hover.

This page is available at both the group and project level:

  • Group level shows MCP servers associated with agents across the group.
  • Project level shows MCP servers associated with agents configured in the project.

To view MCP servers at the group or project level:

  1. In the left sidebar, select Search or go to and find your group or project.
  2. Select Automate > MCP servers.

For OAuth-enabled servers that you have not yet authenticated with, an option to Connect is displayed.

Authenticate with an MCP server

To authenticate with an OAuth-enabled MCP server:

  1. In the left sidebar, select Search or go to and find your group or project.
  2. Select Automate > MCP servers.
  3. Find the MCP server and select Connect.
  4. Review and approve the authorization request on the MCP server’s authorization page.
  5. GitLab stores the access token securely for future requests.

If the server supports OAuth 2.0 Dynamic Client Registration, GitLab automatically registers itself as an OAuth client on first connection. You do not need to provide OAuth credentials manually.