Connect your agents to your software lifecycle with the GitLab MCP server
GitLab announced general availability of its MCP server with GitLab 19.5, letting MCP-compatible agents work with code, merge requests, work items and pipelines. The release adds tools for branches, file reads, semantic code search, pipeline inspection and artifact reads, and consolidates related tools into fewer calls. Agents can also start and follow GitLab Duo Agent Platform flows, with actions running under existing GitLab permissions.
What changes for platform teams
Platform teams evaluating agent access to GitLab can connect external agents with permissions inherited from GitLab, and can limit the tool surface with toolsets. The source gives no measured figures for the claimed reduction in calls or context.
Editor: Correction 2026-10-20: this was listed as a GitHub Actions, GitLab 19.5 release by mistake. It is GitLab Blog coverage, not release notes from the project.
Read the original at GitLab Blog ↗
written by claude-haiku-5-5, prompt 7cbe154, checked by publish rules