How to integrate Gitlab MCP with Pydantic AI

This guide walks you through connecting Gitlab to Pydantic AI using the Composio tool router. By the end, you'll have a working Gitlab agent that can create new gitlab group for qa team, open bug issue in frontend project, create branch from latest main commit through natural language commands. This guide will help you understand how to give your Pydantic AI agent real control over a Gitlab account through Composio's Gitlab MCP server. Before we dive in, let's take a quick look at the key ideas and tools involved.

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Gitlab

Oauth2

Gitlab is a web-based DevOps platform for managing source code, issues, and CI/CD pipelines. It streamlines software development with integrated collaboration and automation tools.

58 Tools

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Introduction

This guide will help you understand how to give your Pydantic AI agent real control over a Gitlab account through Composio's Gitlab MCP server.

Before we dive in, let's take a quick look at the key ideas and tools involved.

Also integrate Gitlab with

ChatGPT OpenAI Agents SDK Claude Agent SDK Claude Code Claude Cowork Codex OpenCode Cursor VS Code OpenClaw Hermes CLI Google ADK LangChain Vercel AI SDK Mastra AI LlamaIndex CrewAI

TL;DR

Here's what you'll learn:

How to set up your Composio API key and User ID
How to create a Composio Tool Router session for Gitlab
How to attach an MCP Server to a Pydantic AI agent
How to stream responses and maintain chat history
How to build a simple REPL-style chat interface to test your Gitlab workflows

What is Pydantic AI?

Pydantic AI is a Python framework for building AI agents with strong typing and validation. It leverages Pydantic's data validation capabilities to create robust, type-safe AI applications.

Key features include:

Type Safety: Built on Pydantic for automatic data validation
MCP Support: Native support for Model Context Protocol servers
Streaming: Built-in support for streaming responses
Async First: Designed for async/await patterns

What is the Gitlab MCP server, and what's possible with it?

The Gitlab MCP server is an implementation of the Model Context Protocol that connects your AI agent and assistants like Claude, Cursor, etc directly to your Gitlab account. It provides structured and secure access to your repositories, projects, and issues, so your agent can perform actions like creating projects, managing issues, handling branches, and automating DevOps workflows on your behalf.

Project and group automation: Instantly create new Gitlab projects or organize your workspaces by setting up project groups—all without manual clicks.
Issue creation and tracking: Have your agent report bugs, request features, or open new issues in specific projects to keep your team on top of tasks.
Branch management: Let your agent create repository branches from any commit or base branch, making it easy to streamline your development process.
Project lifecycle management: Archive completed projects or delete unneeded ones, keeping your workspace clean and up to date with minimal effort.
Commit and job insights: Retrieve commit references, determine commit sequence in project history, or erase job artifacts and logs for deeper CI/CD control.

What is the Composio tool router, and how does it fit here?

What is Composio SDK?

Composio's Composio SDK helps agents find the right tools for a task at runtime. You can plug in multiple toolkits (like Gmail, HubSpot, and GitHub), and the agent will identify the relevant app and action to complete multi-step workflows. This can reduce token usage and improve the reliability of tool calls. Read more here: Getting started with Composio SDK

The tool router generates a secure MCP URL that your agents can access to perform actions.

How the Composio SDK works

The Composio SDK follows a three-phase workflow:

Discovery: Searches for tools matching your task and returns relevant toolkits with their details.
Authentication: Checks for active connections. If missing, creates an auth config and returns a connection URL via Auth Link.
Execution: Executes the action using the authenticated connection.

Step-by-step Guide

Step by step09 STEPS

Prerequisites

Before starting, make sure you have:

Python 3.9 or higher
A Composio account with an active API key
Basic familiarity with Python and async programming

Getting API Keys for OpenAI and Composio

OpenAI API Key

Go to the OpenAI dashboard and create an API key. You'll need credits to use the models, or you can connect to another model provider.
Keep the API key safe.

Composio API Key

Log in to the Composio dashboard.
Navigate to your API settings and generate a new API key.
Store this key securely as you'll need it for authentication.

Install dependencies

bash

pip install composio pydantic-ai python-dotenv

Install the required libraries.

What's happening:

composio connects your agent to external SaaS tools like Gitlab
pydantic-ai lets you create structured AI agents with tool support
python-dotenv loads your environment variables securely from a .env file

Set up environment variables

bash

COMPOSIO_API_KEY=your_composio_api_key_here
USER_ID=your_user_id_here
OPENAI_API_KEY=your_openai_api_key

Create a .env file in your project root.

What's happening:

COMPOSIO_API_KEY authenticates your agent to Composio's API
USER_ID associates your session with your account for secure tool access
OPENAI_API_KEY to access OpenAI LLMs

Import dependencies

python

import asyncio
import os
from dotenv import load_dotenv
from composio import Composio
from pydantic_ai import Agent
from pydantic_ai.mcp import MCPServerStreamableHTTP

load_dotenv()

What's happening:

We load environment variables and import required modules
Composio manages connections to Gitlab
MCPServerStreamableHTTP connects to the Gitlab MCP server endpoint
Agent from Pydantic AI lets you define and run the AI assistant

Create a Tool Router Session

python

async def main():
    api_key = os.getenv("COMPOSIO_API_KEY")
    user_id = os.getenv("USER_ID")
    if not api_key or not user_id:
        raise RuntimeError("Set COMPOSIO_API_KEY and USER_ID in your environment")

    # Create a Composio Tool Router session for Gitlab
    composio = Composio(api_key=api_key)
    session = composio.create(
        user_id=user_id,
        toolkits=["gitlab"],
    )
    url = session.mcp.url
    if not url:
        raise ValueError("Composio session did not return an MCP URL")

What's happening:

We're creating a Tool Router session that gives your agent access to Gitlab tools
The create method takes the user ID and specifies which toolkits should be available
The returned session.mcp.url is the MCP server URL that your agent will use

Initialize the Pydantic AI Agent

python

# Attach the MCP server to a Pydantic AI Agent
gitlab_mcp = MCPServerStreamableHTTP(url, headers={"x-api-key": COMPOSIO_API_KEY})
agent = Agent(
    "openai:gpt-5",
    toolsets=[gitlab_mcp],
    instructions=(
        "You are a Gitlab assistant. Use Gitlab tools to help users "
        "with their requests. Ask clarifying questions when needed."
    ),
)

What's happening:

The MCP client connects to the Gitlab endpoint
The agent uses GPT-5 to interpret user commands and perform Gitlab operations
The instructions field defines the agent's role and behavior

Build the chat interface

python

# Simple REPL with message history
history = []
print("Chat started! Type 'exit' or 'quit' to end.\n")
print("Try asking the agent to help you with Gitlab.\n")

while True:
    user_input = input("You: ").strip()
    if user_input.lower() in {"exit", "quit", "bye"}:
        print("\nGoodbye!")
        break
    if not user_input:
        continue

    print("\nAgent is thinking...\n", flush=True)

    async with agent.run_stream(user_input, message_history=history) as stream_result:
        collected_text = ""
        async for chunk in stream_result.stream_output():
            text_piece = None
            if isinstance(chunk, str):
                text_piece = chunk
            elif hasattr(chunk, "delta") and isinstance(chunk.delta, str):
                text_piece = chunk.delta
            elif hasattr(chunk, "text"):
                text_piece = chunk.text
            if text_piece:
                collected_text += text_piece
        result = stream_result

    print(f"Agent: {collected_text}\n")
    history = result.all_messages()

What's happening:

The agent reads input from the terminal and streams its response
Gitlab API calls happen automatically under the hood
The model keeps conversation history to maintain context across turns

Run the application

python

if __name__ == "__main__":
    asyncio.run(main())

What's happening:

The asyncio loop launches the agent and keeps it running until you exit

Complete Code

Here's the complete code to get you started with Gitlab and Pydantic AI:

python

import asyncio
import os
from dotenv import load_dotenv
from composio import Composio
from pydantic_ai import Agent
from pydantic_ai.mcp import MCPServerStreamableHTTP

load_dotenv()

async def main():
    api_key = os.getenv("COMPOSIO_API_KEY")
    user_id = os.getenv("USER_ID")
    if not api_key or not user_id:
        raise RuntimeError("Set COMPOSIO_API_KEY and USER_ID in your environment")

    # Create a Composio Tool Router session for Gitlab
    composio = Composio(api_key=api_key)
    session = composio.create(
        user_id=user_id,
        toolkits=["gitlab"],
    )
    url = session.mcp.url
    if not url:
        raise ValueError("Composio session did not return an MCP URL")

    # Attach the MCP server to a Pydantic AI Agent
    gitlab_mcp = MCPServerStreamableHTTP(url, headers={"x-api-key": COMPOSIO_API_KEY})
    agent = Agent(
        "openai:gpt-5",
        toolsets=[gitlab_mcp],
        instructions=(
            "You are a Gitlab assistant. Use Gitlab tools to help users "
            "with their requests. Ask clarifying questions when needed."
        ),
    )

    # Simple REPL with message history
    history = []
    print("Chat started! Type 'exit' or 'quit' to end.\n")
    print("Try asking the agent to help you with Gitlab.\n")

    while True:
        user_input = input("You: ").strip()
        if user_input.lower() in {"exit", "quit", "bye"}:
            print("\nGoodbye!")
            break
        if not user_input:
            continue

        print("\nAgent is thinking...\n", flush=True)

        async with agent.run_stream(user_input, message_history=history) as stream_result:
            collected_text = ""
            async for chunk in stream_result.stream_output():
                text_piece = None
                if isinstance(chunk, str):
                    text_piece = chunk
                elif hasattr(chunk, "delta") and isinstance(chunk.delta, str):
                    text_piece = chunk.delta
                elif hasattr(chunk, "text"):
                    text_piece = chunk.text
                if text_piece:
                    collected_text += text_piece
            result = stream_result

        print(f"Agent: {collected_text}\n")
        history = result.all_messages()

if __name__ == "__main__":
    asyncio.run(main())

Conclusion

You've built a Pydantic AI agent that can interact with Gitlab through Composio's Tool Router. With this setup, your agent can perform real Gitlab actions through natural language. You can extend this further by:

Adding other toolkits like Gmail, HubSpot, or Salesforce
Building a web-based chat interface around this agent
Using multiple MCP endpoints to enable cross-app workflows (for example, Gmail + Gitlab for workflow automation)

This architecture makes your AI agent "agent-native", able to securely use APIs in a unified, composable way without custom integrations.

TOOLS

Supported Tools

Every Gitlab action and event your agent gets out of the box.

Archive Project

Tool to archive a project.

Create GitLab Group

Tool to create a new group in GitLab.

Create Project

Tool to create a new project in GitLab.

Create Project Issue

Tool to create a new issue in a GitLab project.

Create Repository Branch

Tool to create a new branch in a project.

Delete Project

Tool to delete a GitLab project by its ID.

Download Project Avatar

Tool to download a project's avatar image.

Erase Job

Tool to erase the content of a specified job within a project.

Get Commit References

Tool to get all references (branches or tags) a commit is pushed to.

Get Commit Sequence

Tool to get the sequence number of a commit in a project by following parent links from the given commit.

Get Group Details

Tool to retrieve information about a specific group by its ID.

Get Group Member

Tool to retrieve details for a specific group member.

Get Groups

Get Job Details

Tool to retrieve details of a single job by its ID within a specified project.

Get Merge Request Notes

Tool to fetch comments on a merge request.

Get Project

Tool to get a single project by ID or URL-encoded path.

Get Project Languages

Tool to list programming languages used in a project with percentages.

Get Project Member

Tool to retrieve details for a specific project member.

Get Project Member All

Tool to retrieve details for a specific project member (including inherited and invited members).

Get Project Merge Request

Tool to fetch full details for a single merge request when the MR IID is known.

Get Merge Request Commits

Tool to get commits of a merge request.

Get Project Merge Requests

Tool to retrieve a list of merge requests for a specific project.

Get Projects

Tool to list all projects accessible to the authenticated user.

List Merge Request Diffs

Tool to list all diff versions of a merge request.

Get Repository Branch

Tool to retrieve information about a specific branch in a project.

Get Repository Branches

Retrieves a list of repository branches for a project.

Get Single Commit

Tool to get a specific commit identified by the commit hash or name of a branch or tag.

Get Single Pipeline

Tool to retrieve details of a single pipeline by its ID within a specified project.

Get User

Tool to retrieve information about a specific user by their ID.

Get User Preferences

Tool to get the current user's preferences.

Get Users

Tool to retrieve a list of users from GitLab.

Get User Status

Tool to get a user's status by ID.

Get User Status

Tool to get the current user's status.

Get User Support PIN

Tool to get details of the current user's Support PIN.

Import project members

Tool to import members from one project to another.

List All Group Members

Tool to list all members of a group including direct, inherited, and invited members.

List All Project Members

Tool to list all members of a project (direct, inherited, invited).

List Billable Group Members

Tool to list billable members of a top-level group (including its subgroups and projects).

List Group Members

Tool to list direct members of a group.

List Group Projects

Tool to list projects within a GitLab group by group ID or full path.

List Pending Group Members

Tool to list pending members of a group and its subgroups and projects.

List Pipeline Jobs

Tool to retrieve a list of jobs for a specified pipeline within a project.

List Project Groups

Tool to list ancestor groups of a project.

List Project Invited Groups

Tool to list groups invited to a project.

List Project Issues

Tool to list issues for a project with filtering options (state, labels, search, assignee, author, etc.

List Project Pipelines

Tool to retrieve a list of pipelines for a specified project.

List Project Shareable Groups

Tool to list groups that can be shared with a project.

List Project Repository Tags

Tool to retrieve a list of repository tags for a specified project.

List Project Transfer Locations

Tool to list namespaces available for project transfer.

List project users

Tool to list users of a project.

List Repository Commits

Tool to get a list of repository commits in a project.

List User Projects

Tool to list projects owned by a specific user.

Create Support PIN

Tool to create a support PIN for your authenticated user.

Update User Preferences

Tool to update the current user's preferences.

Set User Status

Tool to set the current user's status.

Share Project With Group

Tool to share a project with a group.

Start Housekeeping Task

Tool to start the housekeeping task for a project.

Update Project Issue

Tool to update an existing issue in a GitLab project (title, description, labels, assignees, state, etc.

FRAMEWORKS

How to build Gitlab MCP Agent with another framework

ChatGPT

Use Gitlab MCP with ChatGPT

OpenAI Agents SDK

Use Gitlab MCP with OpenAI Agents SDK

Claude Agent SDK

Use Gitlab MCP with Claude Agent SDK

Claude Code

Use Gitlab MCP with Claude Code

Claude Cowork

Use Gitlab MCP with Claude Cowork

Codex

Use Gitlab MCP with Codex

Cursor

Use Gitlab MCP with Cursor

OpenClaw

Use Gitlab MCP with OpenClaw

Hermes

Use Gitlab MCP with Hermes

CLI

Use Gitlab MCP with CLI

Google ADK

Use Gitlab MCP with Google ADK

LangChain

Use Gitlab MCP with LangChain

Vercel AI SDK

Use Gitlab MCP with Vercel AI SDK

Mastra AI

Use Gitlab MCP with Mastra AI

LlamaIndex

Use Gitlab MCP with LlamaIndex

CrewAI

Use Gitlab MCP with CrewAI

OpenCode

Use Gitlab MCP with OpenCode

VS Code

Use Gitlab MCP with VS Code

MORE TOOLKITS

Explore Other Toolkits

Toolkit marketplace

Supabase

Oauth2Api Key

Supabase is an open-source backend platform offering scalable Postgres databases, authentication, storage, and real-time APIs. It lets developers build modern apps without managing infrastructure.

Codeinterpreter

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Codeinterpreter is a Python-based coding environment with built-in data analysis and visualization. It lets you instantly run scripts, plot results, and prototype solutions inside supported platforms.

GitHub

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GitHub is a code hosting platform for version control and collaborative software development. It streamlines project management, code review, and team workflows in one place.

Ably

Api Key

Ably is a real-time messaging platform for live chat and data sync in modern apps. It offers global scale and rock-solid reliability for seamless, instant experiences.

FAQ

Frequently asked questions

With a standalone Gitlab MCP server, the agents and LLMs can only access a fixed set of Gitlab tools tied to that server. However, with the Composio Tool Router, agents can dynamically load tools from Gitlab and many other apps based on the task at hand, all through a single MCP endpoint.

Yes, you can. Pydantic AI fully supports MCP integration. You get structured tool calling, message history handling, and model orchestration while Tool Router takes care of discovering and serving the right Gitlab tools.

Yes, absolutely. You can configure which Gitlab scopes and actions are allowed when connecting your account to Composio. You can also bring your own OAuth credentials or API configuration so you keep full control over what the agent can do.

All sensitive data such as tokens, keys, and configuration is fully encrypted at rest and in transit. Composio is SOC 2 Type 2 compliant and follows strict security practices so your Gitlab data and credentials are handled as safely as possible.

Start with Gitlab.It takes 30 seconds.

Managed auth, hosted MCP servers, and every Gitlab tool your agent needs.Free to start.

Start building

Customer stories

Teams ship real agents on Composio

GET STARTED FOR FREE BOOK A DEMO

Karan skipped his own birthday party to fix our critical issue. It was 10pm and he diverted his Waymo to help us instead. This really sets the bar — it shows the commitment you need when users rely on your software.

Harsha Gaddipati

Co-founder, Slashy

A lot of students tell us that the moment their connected tools start talking to each other inside Opennote feels almost magical. The agent just knows them, and it's immensely helped keep new users on the platform.

Abhi Arya

Co-founder, Opennote

We chose Composio over Pipedream because it delivered depth where it mattered — niche tools and tricky edge cases other platforms simply ignored. That gave us confidence to scale without compromising.

Nirman Dave

CEO, Zams

As a solo builder, shipping fast is life or death. The only way I can outcompete incumbents is by outmanoeuvring them. Getting bogged down managing agent auth would have been a death sentence.

Ryan Yu

Founder, Extra Thursday

Before Composio, adding tool integrations was slow and resource-intensive. Each one could take weeks of engineering time, and maintaining them meant constantly keeping up with API changes.

Tomisin Jenrola

Founder & CEO, SwarmZero

With hands-on help from their founder, we integrated Gmail and Google Drive in just 30 minutes. This level of personal support and commitment is exactly what startups should strive for.

Jerome Leclanche

Co-Founder, Ingram Technologies

How to integrate Gitlab MCP with Pydantic AI

Connect Gitlab without auth hassles

Introduction

Also integrate Gitlab with

TL;DR

What is Pydantic AI?

What is the Gitlab MCP server, and what's possible with it?

What is the Composio tool router, and how does it fit here?

What is Composio SDK?

How the Composio SDK works

Step-by-step Guide

Prerequisites

Getting API Keys for OpenAI and Composio

Install dependencies

Set up environment variables

Import dependencies

Create a Tool Router Session

Initialize the Pydantic AI Agent

Build the chat interface

Run the application

Complete Code

Conclusion

Supported Tools

How to build Gitlab MCP Agent with another framework

ChatGPT

OpenAI Agents SDK

Claude Agent SDK

Claude Code

Claude Cowork

Codex

Cursor

OpenClaw

Hermes

CLI

Google ADK

LangChain

Vercel AI SDK

Mastra AI

LlamaIndex

CrewAI

OpenCode

VS Code

Explore Other Toolkits

Supabase

Codeinterpreter

GitHub

Ably

Frequently asked questions

What are the differences in Tool Router MCP and Gitlab MCP?+

Can I use Tool Router MCP with Pydantic AI?+

Can I manage the permissions and scopes for Gitlab while using Tool Router?+

How safe is my data with Composio Tool Router?+

Start with Gitlab.It takes 30 seconds.

Teams ship real agents on Composio