GitLab CLI (glab) Skill

Provides guidance for using glab , the official GitLab CLI, to perform GitLab operations from the terminal.

When to Use This Skill

Invoke when the user needs to:

Create, review, or manage merge requests
Work with GitLab issues
Monitor or trigger CI/CD pipelines
Clone or manage repositories
Perform any GitLab operation from the command line

Prerequisites

Verify glab installation before executing commands:

glab --version

If not installed, inform the user and provide platform-specific installation guidance.

Authentication Quick Start

Most glab operations require authentication:

Interactive authentication

glab auth login

Check authentication status

glab auth status

For self-hosted GitLab

glab auth login --hostname gitlab.example.org

Using environment variables

export GITLAB_TOKEN=your-token export GITLAB_HOST=gitlab.example.org # for self-hosted

Core Workflows

Creating a Merge Request

1. Ensure branch is pushed

git push -u origin feature-branch

2. Create MR

glab mr create --title "Add feature" --description "Implements X"

With reviewers and labels

glab mr create --title "Fix bug" --reviewer=alice,bob --label="bug,urgent"

Reviewing Merge Requests

1. List MRs awaiting your review

glab mr list --reviewer=@me

2. Checkout MR locally to test

glab mr checkout <mr-number>

3. After testing, approve

glab mr approve <mr-number>

4. Add review comments

glab mr note <mr-number> -m "Please update tests"

Managing Issues

Create issue with labels

glab issue create --title "Bug in login" --label=bug

Link MR to issue

glab mr create --title "Fix login" --description "Closes #<issue-number>"

List your assigned issues

glab issue list --assignee=@me

Monitoring CI/CD

Watch pipeline in progress

glab pipeline ci view

Check pipeline status

glab ci status

View logs if failed

glab ci trace

Retry failed pipeline

glab ci retry

Lint CI config before pushing

glab ci lint

Common Patterns

Working Outside Repository Context

When not in a Git repository, specify the repository:

glab mr list -R owner/repo glab issue list -R owner/repo

Self-Hosted GitLab

Set hostname for all commands:

export GITLAB_HOST=gitlab.example.org

or per-command

glab repo clone gitlab.example.org/owner/repo

Listing Unresolved MR Comments

glab api "projects/:id/merge_requests/{mr}/discussions?per_page=100" | jq '[.[] | select(.notes[0].resolvable == true and .notes[0].resolved == false) | {id: .notes[0].id, body: .notes[0].body[0:100], path: .notes[0].position.new_path, line: .notes[0].position.new_line}]'

Automation and Scripting

Use JSON output for parsing:

glab mr list --output=json | jq '.[] | .title'

Replying to MR Notes/Threads

glab mr note creates standalone comments. To reply within a discussion thread, use the API:

1. Find the discussion_id containing the note

glab api "projects/:id/merge_requests/{mr}/discussions" | jq '.[] | select(.notes[].id == {note_id}) | .id'

2. Post reply to the discussion thread

glab api --method POST "projects/:id/merge_requests/{mr}/discussions/{discussion_id}/notes" --field body="Your reply"

Example:

Get discussion_id for note 13698970

glab api "projects/:id/merge_requests/1013/discussions" | jq '.[] | select(.notes[].id == 13698970) | {id}'

Returns: {"id": "5356c3552e72e7b4c49276eb4dacfe3efe5c2c5c"}

Reply to that thread

glab api --method POST "projects/:id/merge_requests/1013/discussions/5356c3552e72e7b4c49276eb4dacfe3efe5c2c5c/notes" --field body="Thanks for the review!"

Using the API Command

The glab api command provides direct GitLab API access:

Basic API call

glab api projects/:id/merge_requests

IMPORTANT: Pagination uses query parameters in URL, NOT flags

❌ WRONG: glab api --per-page=100 projects/:id/jobs

✓ CORRECT: glab api "projects/:id/jobs?per_page=100"

Auto-fetch all pages

glab api --paginate "projects/:id/pipelines/123/jobs?per_page=100"

POST with data

glab api --method POST projects/:id/issues --field title="Bug" --field description="Details"

Best Practices

Verify authentication before executing commands: glab auth status
Use --help to explore command options: glab <command> --help
Link MRs to issues using "Closes #123" in MR description
Lint CI config before pushing: glab ci lint
Check repository context when commands fail: git remote -v

Common Commands Quick Reference

Merge Requests:

glab mr list --assignee=@me
Your assigned MRs
glab mr list --reviewer=@me
MRs for you to review
glab mr create
Create new MR
glab mr checkout <number>
Test MR locally
glab mr approve <number>
Approve MR
glab mr merge <number>
Merge approved MR

Issues:

glab issue list
List all issues
glab issue create
Create new issue
glab issue close <number>
Close issue

CI/CD:

glab pipeline ci view
Watch pipeline
glab ci status
Check status
glab ci lint
Validate .gitlab-ci.yml
glab ci retry
Retry failed pipeline

Repository:

glab repo clone owner/repo
Clone repository
glab repo view
View repo details
glab repo fork
Fork repository

Progressive Disclosure

For detailed command documentation, refer to:

references/commands-detailed.md - Comprehensive command reference with all flags and options
references/quick-reference.md - Condensed command cheat sheet
references/troubleshooting.md - Detailed error scenarios and solutions

Load these references when:

User needs specific flag or option details
Troubleshooting authentication or connection issues
Working with advanced features (API, schedules, variables, etc.)

Common Issues Quick Fixes

"command not found: glab" - Install glab or verify PATH

"401 Unauthorized" - Run glab auth login

"404 Project Not Found" - Verify repository name and access permissions

"not a git repository" - Navigate to repo or use -R owner/repo flag

"source branch already has a merge request" - Use glab mr list to find existing MR

For detailed troubleshooting, load references/troubleshooting.md.

Notes

glab auto-detects repository context from Git remote
Most commands have --web flag to open in browser
Use --output=json for scripting and automation
Multiple GitLab accounts can be authenticated simultaneously
Commands respect Git configuration and current repository context

glab

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