GitLab MCP Server (zereight) vs Serena

A side-by-side comparison of two Developer Tools servers — tools, transport, auth, maintenance, and copy-paste config for each.

	GitLab MCP Server (zereight) Popular community GitLab MCP server for projects, MRs, issues, pipelines, wikis and releases. Verified stdio (local) API key TypeScript	Serena LSP-powered coding agent toolkit: semantic symbol search, references and structural edits. Verified stdio (local) No auth Python
Category	Developer Tools	Developer Tools
Language	TypeScript	Python
Transport	stdio (local)	stdio (local)
Auth	API key	None
GitHub stars	1.7k	12k
Last commit	26 days ago	11 days ago
Verified
Actively maintained
Install	`npx -y @zereight/mcp-gitlab`	`uvx --from git+https://github.com/oraios/serena serena start-mcp-server`
Repo	Open	Open

Verdict

Pick GitLab MCP Server (zereight) if you prefer its approach (popular community gitlab mcp server for projects, mrs, issues, pipelines, wikis and releases).

Pick Serena if you prefer the more popular, battle-tested option, and you want zero-setup with no API key.

Add GitLab MCP Server (zereight)

Install / run

npx -y @zereight/mcp-gitlab

Paste into ~/Library/Application Support/Claude/claude_desktop_config.json

{
  "mcpServers": {
    "gitlab-mcp-server-zereight": {
      "command": "npx",
      "args": [
        "-y",
        "@zereight/mcp-gitlab"
      ],
      "env": {
        "GITLAB_API_URL": "https://gitlab.com/api/v4",
        "GITLAB_PERSONAL_ACCESS_TOKEN": "<your-gitlab-token>"
      }
    }
  }
}

Add Serena

Install / run

uvx --from git+https://github.com/oraios/serena serena start-mcp-server

Paste into ~/Library/Application Support/Claude/claude_desktop_config.json

{
  "mcpServers": {
    "serena": {
      "command": "uvx",
      "args": [
        "--from",
        "git+https://github.com/oraios/serena",
        "serena",
        "start-mcp-server"
      ]
    }
  }
}

Requires `uv` (the Python package runner). Install it from https://docs.astral.sh/uv/ if `uvx` is not found.

FAQ

GitLab MCP Server (zereight) or Serena — which is better?

Pick GitLab MCP Server (zereight) if you prefer its approach (popular community gitlab mcp server for projects, mrs, issues, pipelines, wikis and releases). Pick Serena if you prefer the more popular, battle-tested option, and you want zero-setup with no API key.

Can I use both GitLab MCP Server (zereight) and Serena?

Yes — MCP clients let you enable multiple servers at once. Add both configs to your client's mcpServers and use whichever tool fits the task.

Do GitLab MCP Server (zereight) and Serena work with Claude, Cursor and Windsurf?

Both do. Copy the per-client config below into Claude Desktop, Cursor, or Windsurf.

View GitLab MCP Server (zereight) →View Serena →More comparisons →