glab

SKILL.md

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

Automation and Scripting

Use JSON output for parsing:

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

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

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