Connect to Orbit Local via MCP

  • Tier: Free, Premium, Ultimate
  • Offering: GitLab.com, GitLab Self-Managed, GitLab Dedicated
  • Status: Experiment

Orbit Local can run as an MCP server, exposing the same two tools as Orbit Remote (query_graph, get_graph_schema) but pointed at the local DuckDB graph instead of a GitLab instance.

The MCP server is experimental. Capabilities and config shape may change before GA.

Prerequisites

  • The Orbit CLI (orbit) is installed. See Use the Orbit CLI directly.
  • A local repository has been indexed (orbit index <path> or glab orbit local index <path>).

MCP tools

Tool Description
run_sql Execute a read-only SQL query against the local DuckDB graph.
get_graph_schema Fetch the schema: table names, columns, and data types present in the local DuckDB.

Unlike Orbit Remote (which exposes a JSON query DSL), Orbit Local speaks raw DuckDB SQL — agents compose SQL directly against the property graph tables.

A planned glab orbit setup subcommand will install the Orbit skill and write the MCP config for you. Until it ships, configure your MCP client manually as shown below.

Manual config: Claude Code

Add the following to ~/.claude/mcp_servers.json or your project’s .claude/mcp_servers.json:

{
  "mcpServers": {
    "orbit-local": {
      "command": "orbit",
      "args": ["mcp", "serve"]
    }
  }
}

Or, if you prefer to drive it through glab:

{
  "mcpServers": {
    "orbit-local": {
      "command": "glab",
      "args": ["orbit", "local", "mcp", "serve"]
    }
  }
}

Manual config: other MCP clients

Any MCP client can connect by running orbit mcp serve (or glab orbit local mcp serve). The server speaks MCP over stdio and exposes query_graph and get_graph_schema.

Using the tools

Once connected, instruct your AI agent to use Orbit directly.

Discover the schema:

“Use get_graph_schema to show me what node types are in my local graph.”

Find callers of a function:

“Use Orbit to find every file that imports parseConfig and the functions that call it.”

Map a module:

“Use Orbit to list every definition declared in src/auth/ and show their kind.”

The agent composes SQL and calls run_sql on your behalf.

What’s in the local graph

Orbit Local indexes code only: files, directories, definitions, and imported symbols across all 11 supported languages. SDLC data (merge requests, pipelines, users, vulnerabilities) is not available locally - that requires Orbit Remote.

Billing

Orbit Local does not consume GitLab Credits. All MCP traffic is local.