GitLab AI

A multi-user platform that connects to GitLab, indexes repository code, and lets teams chat with AI that can cross-reference and pinpoint code across projects.

Features

• Multi-user auth with admin/member roles (first launch creates admin)
• GitLab integration via Personal Access Token -- syncs and indexes projects from a group
• Multi-provider AI -- OpenRouter, OpenAI, Google, Ollama, Open WebUI
• Code-aware chat -- AI searches indexed files with full-text search (tsvector + pg_trgm) and cites file:line
• Streaming responses with Markdown and syntax-highlighted code blocks

Tech stack

Next.js 16, TypeScript, PostgreSQL 16, Prisma 7, Auth.js v5, Vercel AI SDK v6, Tailwind CSS v4, shadcn/ui v4, Docker

---

Quick start (local development)

Prerequisites

• Node.js 22+
• Docker (for PostgreSQL)

1. Clone and install

git clone <repo-url> && cd gitlab-ai
npm install

2. Environment variables

cp .env.example .env

Generate the secrets and paste them into .env:

# NEXTAUTH_SECRET
openssl rand -base64 32

# ENCRYPTION_KEY
openssl rand -hex 32

Your .env should look like:

DATABASE_URL="postgresql://gitlab_ai:changeme@localhost:5433/gitlab_ai"
POSTGRES_PASSWORD=changeme
NEXTAUTH_URL=http://localhost:3000
NEXTAUTH_SECRET=<paste-base64-here>
ENCRYPTION_KEY=<paste-hex-here>

3. Start PostgreSQL

docker compose up db -d

This runs Postgres on port 5433 (to avoid conflicts with any local Postgres on 5432). Wait a few seconds for the healthcheck.

4. Run migrations and generate Prisma client

npx prisma migrate deploy
npx prisma generate

5. Start the dev server

npm run dev

Open http://localhost:3000. You'll be redirected to /setup to create the initial admin account.

---

Fresh start (reset everything)

To wipe the database and start over:

# Stop the app if running, then:
docker compose down -v          # removes the DB container AND its data volume
docker compose up db -d          # start a fresh DB
npx prisma migrate deploy       # re-create all tables + indexes
npm run dev                      # app starts, redirects to /setup

If you also want to regenerate your secrets:

# New NEXTAUTH_SECRET -- all existing sessions will be invalidated
openssl rand -base64 32

# New ENCRYPTION_KEY -- any previously stored API keys / PATs become unreadable
openssl rand -hex 32

Update .env with the new values before starting the app.

---

Docker (full stack)

Run the entire platform (app + database) with a single command.

1. Environment variables

cp .env.example .env

Edit .env and fill in NEXTAUTH_SECRET and ENCRYPTION_KEY (see commands above).

Note: When running fully in Docker, the app connects to the DB container internally, so DATABASE_URL is set automatically in docker-compose.yml. The one in .env is only used for local development.

2. Build and start

docker compose up --build -d

The app will be available at http://localhost:3000.

3. Fresh start (Docker)

docker compose down -v           # stop everything, delete DB volume
docker compose up --build -d     # rebuild and start fresh

The app auto-runs prisma migrate deploy on startup (see Dockerfile CMD), so tables are created automatically.

---

After setup

1. Create admin -- first visit redirects to /setup
2. Configure AI -- Admin > Settings > pick provider, model, and API key
3. Connect GitLab -- Admin > GitLab > enter URL, PAT (read_api scope), and Group ID
4. Index projects -- include the repos you want, click Index (runs in background)
5. Chat -- select indexed repos from the dropdown and ask about your code

---

Project structure

src/
  app/
    setup/                      First-time admin setup
    login/                      Login page
    (authenticated)/
      chat/                     Chat interface + conversations
      admin/
        users/                  User management
        gitlab/                 GitLab connection + indexing
        settings/               AI provider config
    api/                        All API routes
  lib/
    auth.ts / auth.config.ts    Auth.js (split for Edge compatibility)
    prisma.ts                   Prisma client singleton (PrismaPg adapter)
    crypto.ts                   AES-256-GCM encrypt/decrypt
    ai/
      providers.ts              AI provider factory
      code-context.ts           Three-tier code search (FTS + trigram + ILIKE)
      system-prompt.ts          System prompt builder with code context
    gitlab/
      client.ts                 GitLab API wrapper
      indexer.ts                Repository indexing pipeline
      file-filter.ts            File inclusion rules + language detection
  components/
    chat/                       ChatInterface, MessageBubble, ProjectSelector
    layout/                     Sidebar
    ui/                         shadcn/ui components
prisma/
  schema.prisma                 Database schema
  migrations/                   All migrations (including FTS indexes)