GitLab MCP Server with progressive disclosure - 5 meta-tools, 90% token reduction
Efficient MCP server is a hosted integration for AI assistants that speak the Model Context Protocol. GitLab MCP Server with progressive disclosure - 5 meta-tools, 90% token reduction.
If your agent's first turn against an MCP server costs ~20K tokens of tool definitions before you've asked anything, this fork is for you.
Being a remote server, there is no local install. You register the endpoint with your client, authorise it once, and the tools appear.
Once Efficient is connected, these are the calls the assistant has available:
Prerequisites — The Prerequisites tool exposed by this serverVariants — The Variants tool exposed by this serverYou will need 8 environment variables: GITLAB_PERSONAL_ACCESS_TOKEN, GITLAB_API_URL, GITLAB_PROJECT_ID, GITLAB_ALLOWED_PROJECT_IDS, GITLAB_READ_ONLY_MODE, CI_JOB_TOKEN, CI_PROJECT_ID, ENABLE_DYNAMIC_API_URL. The server will not start without them, which is usually why the tools fail to appear on a first run. Keep credentials in your client's env block or a secrets manager rather than in a file you might commit.
api scope (or read_api for read-only). Create one → - Node.js 18+ (for npx) or Bun 1.0+ (for bunx)This sits in the developer tooling group, where several servers overlap in what they claim to do but differ sharply once you actually set them up. Efficient's toolset — Prerequisites, Variants — is a fair guide to whether it matches your workflow. It is maintained by detailobsessed; worth a glance at recent repository activity before you build anything load-bearing on it.
This entry was verified against Efficient's own documentation before publication; SyncDev keeps the directory reviewed rather than auto-generated.
| Tool | What it does |
|---|---|
| Prerequisites | The Prerequisites tool exposed by this server. |
| Variants | The Variants tool exposed by this server. |
{
"mcpServers": {
"gitlab": {
"command": "npx",
"args": ["efficient-gitlab-mcp-server@latest"],
"env": {
"GITLAB_PERSONAL_ACCESS_TOKEN": "glpat-xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx",
"GITLAB_API_URL": "https://gitlab.com"
}
}
}
}Configuration as documented by the project. Restart the client after saving.
api scope (or read_api for read-only). Create one → - Node.js 18+ (for npx) or Bun 1.0+ (for bunx)| Variable | Description | Required |
|---|---|---|
| GITLAB_PERSONAL_ACCESS_TOKEN | Credential the server authenticates with. | Yes |
| GITLAB_API_URL | Endpoint or connection string the server talks to. | Yes |
| GITLAB_PROJECT_ID | Configuration value read at startup. | Optional |
| GITLAB_ALLOWED_PROJECT_IDS | Configuration value read at startup. | Optional |
| GITLAB_READ_ONLY_MODE | Configuration value read at startup. | Optional |
| CI_JOB_TOKEN | Credential the server authenticates with. | Yes |
| CI_PROJECT_ID | Configuration value read at startup. | Optional |
| ENABLE_DYNAMIC_API_URL | Endpoint or connection string the server talks to. | Yes |
Kill hallucinated APIs — version-accurate, up-to-date library documentation injected straight into context.
Microsoft's official browser automation server — drive a real browser through the accessibility tree, no screenshots needed.
GitHub's official server — repos, issues, pull requests, Actions and code security, straight from your assistant.
Issue tracking at the speed of conversation — Linear's official hosted server with OAuth and zero install.
Local repository surgery — status, diffs, commits, branches and history for any repo on disk.
Timezone sanity for AI — current time anywhere and correct conversions, without the model doing date math.