GitLab (Archived) vs handoff-engineering
GitLab (Archived) is an MCP server published by modelcontextprotocol. Marketplaces we read that list it: 1 (Docker MCP Catalog). handoff-engineering is a plugin bundle for AI coding tools published by Alireza Rezvani. Marketplaces we read that list it: 1 (Community GitHub marketplaces). As of our marketplace pass on 2026-10-18. This pair was picked by a reader, not by our comparison rule, so search engines are asked not to index the page.
Where each is published
| Marketplace |   GitLab (Archived) | |
|---|---|---|
| Docker MCP Catalog | Listed Version: sha256:a1b8571a210a Forks (GitHub): 11 807 Pulls (Docker Hub): 81 798 Stars (Docker Hub): 25 Stars (GitHub): 91 346 Not marked · First seen |
Not listed |
| Community marketplace alirezarezvani/claude-skills | Not listed | Listed Version: 2.9.0 Forks (GitHub): 4 018 Stars (GitHub): 28 319 Not marked · First seen |
Each figure is the marketplace's own and is never added up across marketplaces. A marketplace that publishes no figure shows none: no number is not zero.
The facts side by side
| Fact | GitLab (Archived) | handoff-engineering |
|---|---|---|
| Marketplaces that list it | 1 | 1 |
| Stars (GitHub) (differs) | 91 346 (better) | 28 319 (worse) |
| Pulls (Docker Hub) (differs) | 81 798 | No figure on Docker Hub |
| Forks (GitHub) (differs) | 11 807 (better) | 4 018 (worse) |
| Last release | Not published | Not published |
| Where it runs (differs) | On your machine (mcp/gitlab) | Installs as a plugin bundle |
| Transport (differs) | stdio | Not stated |
| Tools it declares (differs) | 9 | Not published |
| Environment variables it asks for (differs) | 2, secrets among them: 1 | Not published |
| Parts of the bundle (differs) | Not a bundle | 3 |
| Licence (differs) | NOASSERTION | MIT |
| Repository (differs) | github.com/modelcontextprotocol/servers | github.com/alirezarezvani/claude-skills |
| Changes in the last 7 days (differs) | 0 | 2 |
| First seen (differs) | 2026-10-11 | 2026-10-14 |
Lines where the two differ have a tinted background and bold values. Where the data itself says which value is better (more marketplaces, a larger figure of the same marketplace, a fresher release, a verified mark on a marketplace that lists both), the better one is also marked green with ▲ and the worse one red with ▼. Where it runs, the transport, the tools, the settings, hooks, the bundle's parts, the licence and the week's changes are marked only as different: more or fewer is not better in itself.
What each says it does
GitLab (Archived)
MCP Server for the GitLab API, enabling project management, file operations, and more.
handoff-engineering
Conversation-handoff document generator. Compacts the current session into a markdown handoff for a fresh agent — references existing artifacts (PRDs, plans, ADRs, issues, commits) by path/URL instead of duplicating them. Derived from Matt Pocock's MIT-licensed handoff with: (1) 3 stdlib Python tools (template generator tailored to 5 next-session emphases, artifact deduplicator across 5 categories of duplication, skill recommender matching content to 14 skills in this repo), (2) 4 references citing 7-8 sources (handoff structure, deduplication discipline, next-session skill matching, companion tooling), (3) cs-handoff-author persona agent + /cs:handoff slash command. Matt's no-duplication discipline + mktemp convention preserved verbatim per MIT.
How to run each
GitLab (Archived) As a local MCP server: Docker image
claude mcp add --env "GITLAB_PERSONAL_ACCESS_TOKEN=<YOUR_GITLAB_PERSONAL_ACCESS_TOKEN>" --transport stdio gitlab -- docker run -i --rm -e GITLAB_PERSONAL_ACCESS_TOKEN mcp/gitlabRequires: GITLAB_PERSONAL_ACCESS_TOKEN (secret)
handoff-engineering As a Claude Code plugin
/plugin marketplace add alirezarezvani/claude-skills
/plugin install handoff-engineering@claude-code-skillsCommands built only from what the marketplaces declare; the full set for every client is on each card.
Tools each declares
The marketplaces of handoff-engineering publish no list of tools, so we do not compare tools.
Settings each asks for
The marketplaces of handoff-engineering publish no settings it asks for, so we do not compare settings.
What it can do: GitLab (Archived) · What it can do: handoff-engineering · Compare two other plugins
Data comes from the Docker MCP Catalog (desktop.docker.com/mcp/catalog) and Docker Hub. Data comes from public marketplace files in GitHub repositories of their authors. Figures come from our own regular passes over the marketplaces, last read on . We publish no contact details for plugin publishers.