feat(mcp): MCP Ecosystem Compatibility - Graceful Startup, Static Manifest, and Release Pipeline Improvements by polaz · Pull Request #212 · structured-world/gitlab-mcp

polaz · 2026-01-25T13:49:19Z

Summary

Graceful startup without token - Server starts even without GITLAB_TOKEN, tools/list works, tool calls return clear error with setup instructions
Static MCP manifest in package.json - Full metadata with transports, feature flags, and tool list for ecosystem discovery
Automatic manifest generation - New script updates mcp.tools during release via prepare-release.sh
Enhanced /health endpoint - Now includes MCP protocol version, transports, toolCount, and authentication status

Test plan

Run yarn lint - passes
Run yarn test - 4119 tests passed
Run yarn build - successful
Verify server starts without GITLAB_TOKEN and responds to tools/list
Verify tool calls return clear error when no token configured
Verify /health endpoint returns MCP metadata

Closes #210

- Enable server startup without GITLAB_TOKEN - tools/list works, tool calls require token - Add static MCP manifest to package.json with tools metadata, transports, feature flags - Create scripts/update-mcp-manifest.js to auto-generate tools list during release - Enhance /health endpoint with MCP protocol info (version, transports, toolCount, authMode) - Update prepare-release.sh to regenerate manifest on release - Add isStaticTokenConfigured() and isAuthenticationConfigured() helpers Closes #210

github-actions · 2026-01-25T13:50:31Z

Test Coverage Report

Overall Coverage: 94.44%

Metric	Percentage
Statements	93.89%
Branches	85.53%
Functions	84.43%
Lines	94.44%

View detailed coverage report

codecov · 2026-01-25T13:50:59Z

Codecov Report

❌ Patch coverage is 90.69767% with 4 lines in your changes missing coverage. Please review.

Files with missing lines	Patch %	Lines
src/oauth/endpoints/metadata.ts	90.00%	1 Missing and 1 partial ⚠️
src/handlers.ts	91.66%	0 Missing and 1 partial ⚠️
src/server.ts	50.00%	0 Missing and 1 partial ⚠️

📢 Thoughts on this report? Let us know!

Copilot

Pull request overview

This PR implements MCP ecosystem compatibility improvements to allow the GitLab MCP server to work gracefully with automated validation systems and MCP marketplaces. The server now starts successfully without authentication credentials and provides clear error messages when tools are called without proper configuration.

Changes:

Graceful startup without GITLAB_TOKEN - server starts and responds to tools/list requests even without authentication, with tool calls returning clear setup instructions
Static MCP manifest in package.json with comprehensive metadata including 44 tools across 13 categories, feature flags, and authentication requirements
Enhanced /health endpoint now includes MCP-specific metadata (protocol version, transports, tool count, authentication status)
Automatic manifest generation script integrated into release pipeline to keep tool listings synchronized

Reviewed changes

Copilot reviewed 11 out of 12 changed files in this pull request and generated no comments.

Show a summary per file

File	Description
src/server.ts	Modified startup logic to detect authentication mode and proceed gracefully without throwing errors when GITLAB_TOKEN is missing
src/oauth/config.ts	Added `isStaticTokenConfigured()` and `isAuthenticationConfigured()` helper functions, updated `getAuthModeDescription()` to handle unauthenticated mode
src/oauth/index.ts	Exported new authentication detection functions for use throughout the codebase
src/oauth/endpoints/metadata.ts	Enhanced health endpoint to return MCP metadata including protocol version, transports, tool count, and authentication status with async handler
src/handlers.ts	Added authentication check before tool execution to return clear error messages when GITLAB_TOKEN is not configured, skips connection initialization when unauthenticated
scripts/update-mcp-manifest.js	New script to automatically update package.json mcp.tools section from registry tool definitions with categorization logic
scripts/prepare-release.sh	Integrated MCP manifest generation into release pipeline to update tool listings automatically
package.json	Added comprehensive mcp section with server metadata, authentication details, feature flags, and full tool listing with 44 tools
.gitignore	Whitelisted new update-mcp-manifest.js script
tests/unit/oauth/endpoints/metadata.test.ts	Updated health endpoint tests to verify MCP metadata presence and structure
tests/unit/oauth/config.test.ts	Added test case for unauthenticated mode description
tests/unit/handlers.test.ts	Added OAuth module mocks for authentication checks in handler tests

- Test oauth authMode when isOAuthEnabled returns true - Test token authMode when static token configured - Test none authMode when no authentication configured - Test error response when isAuthenticationConfigured returns false

Global rateLimiterMiddleware is applied before registerOAuthEndpoints, protecting all routes including /health.

Copilot

Pull request overview

Copilot reviewed 11 out of 12 changed files in this pull request and generated 8 comments.

tests/unit/oauth/endpoints/metadata.test.ts

src/oauth/endpoints/metadata.ts

tests/unit/oauth/endpoints/metadata.test.ts

src/oauth/endpoints/metadata.ts

tests/unit/handlers.test.ts

package.json

scripts/prepare-release.sh

package.json

- Define MCP_PROTOCOL_VERSION constant in metadata.ts - Use constant in OAuth metadata and health endpoint - Import constant in tests to avoid duplication - Clarify authentication.required: false for server startup - Normalize tier: "unknown" to "free" in manifest generator

Copilot

Pull request overview

Copilot reviewed 11 out of 12 changed files in this pull request and generated 2 comments.

src/server.ts

tests/unit/oauth/endpoints/metadata.test.ts

…-graceful-startu

Copilot

Pull request overview

Copilot reviewed 11 out of 12 changed files in this pull request and generated 1 comment.

src/oauth/endpoints/metadata.ts

…alue - Replace magic number 44 with dynamic read from package.json mcp.tools - Keeps in sync with manifest updates via scripts/update-mcp-manifest.js - Falls back to 0 if package.json unavailable (bundled environments)

Copilot

Pull request overview

Copilot reviewed 11 out of 12 changed files in this pull request and generated 1 comment.

src/server.ts

Avoid stale line number reference - point to function name instead.

Copilot

Pull request overview

Copilot reviewed 11 out of 12 changed files in this pull request and generated 6 comments.

src/oauth/endpoints/metadata.ts

src/oauth/config.ts

tests/unit/oauth/endpoints/metadata.test.ts

package.json

src/oauth/index.ts

tests/unit/oauth/endpoints/metadata.test.ts

…-graceful-startu

Copilot

Pull request overview

Copilot reviewed 11 out of 12 changed files in this pull request and generated no new comments.

…-graceful-startu

## [6.48.0](v6.47.1...v6.48.0) (2026-01-25) ### Features * **logging:** add LOG_FORMAT env var and improve session ID truncation ([#215](#215)) ([df655f2](df655f2)), closes [#213](#213) * **mcp:** MCP Ecosystem Compatibility - Graceful Startup, Static Manifest, and Release Pipeline Improvements ([#212](#212)) ([2ecb70d](2ecb70d)), closes [#210](#210)

sw-release-bot · 2026-01-25T16:25:51Z

🎉 This PR is included in version 6.48.0 🎉

The release is available on:

Your semantic-release bot 📦🚀

Copilot AI review requested due to automatic review settings January 25, 2026 13:49

Copilot started reviewing on behalf of polaz January 25, 2026 13:49 View session

Copilot AI reviewed Jan 25, 2026

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polaz added 2 commits January 25, 2026 15:59

test(health): verify auth mode detection in healthHandler

fe0de9a

- Test oauth authMode when isOAuthEnabled returns true - Test token authMode when static token configured - Test none authMode when no authentication configured - Test error response when isAuthenticationConfigured returns false

docs(server): clarify rate limiting scope for health endpoint

59c9977

Global rateLimiterMiddleware is applied before registerOAuthEndpoints, protecting all routes including /health.

polaz requested a review from Copilot January 25, 2026 14:01

Copilot started reviewing on behalf of polaz January 25, 2026 14:02 View session

Copilot AI reviewed Jan 25, 2026

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polaz requested a review from Copilot January 25, 2026 14:17

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polaz added 2 commits January 25, 2026 16:29

chore(merge): integrate LOG_JSON logging pattern from main

76f1cf7

Merge branch 'main' into feat/#210-feat-mcp-ecosystem-compatibility--…

a7cedb3

…-graceful-startu

polaz requested a review from Copilot January 25, 2026 14:37

Copilot started reviewing on behalf of polaz January 25, 2026 14:38 View session

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src/oauth/endpoints/metadata.ts Show resolved Hide resolved

polaz requested a review from Copilot January 25, 2026 15:11

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src/server.ts Outdated Show resolved Hide resolved

docs(server): use function reference instead of line number in comment

a130136

Avoid stale line number reference - point to function name instead.

polaz requested a review from Copilot January 25, 2026 15:31

Copilot started reviewing on behalf of polaz January 25, 2026 15:31 View session

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polaz added 2 commits January 25, 2026 17:38

Merge branch 'main' into feat/#210-feat-mcp-ecosystem-compatibility--…

81d95c6

…-graceful-startu

Merge branch 'main' into feat/#210-feat-mcp-ecosystem-compatibility--…

6945c3e

…-graceful-startu

Merge branch 'main' into feat/#210-feat-mcp-ecosystem-compatibility--…

899167f

…-graceful-startu

polaz requested a review from Copilot January 25, 2026 16:00

Copilot started reviewing on behalf of polaz January 25, 2026 16:00 View session

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Merge branch 'main' into feat/#210-feat-mcp-ecosystem-compatibility--…

3e5a4b5

…-graceful-startu

polaz enabled auto-merge (squash) January 25, 2026 16:11

polaz merged commit 2ecb70d into main Jan 25, 2026
16 checks passed

polaz deleted the feat/#210-feat-mcp-ecosystem-compatibility---graceful-startu branch January 25, 2026 16:13

sw-release-bot bot added the released label Jan 25, 2026

sw-release-bot bot mentioned this pull request Mar 29, 2026

chore(main): release gitlab-mcp 7.0.0 #368

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polaz commented Jan 25, 2026

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