glab-schedule

name	glab-schedule
description	Manage GitLab CI/CD pipeline schedules using the glab CLI. Use this skill whenever the user wants to create, list, run, update, or delete scheduled pipelines (cron jobs). Trigger on phrases like "schedule a pipeline", "create a cron job for CI", "run pipeline every night", "list scheduled pipelines", "delete a schedule", or any GitLab pipeline scheduling task.

GitLab Pipeline Schedule Management

Use glab schedule to manage scheduled pipeline runs (cron-based triggers).

Create a Schedule

glab schedule create \
  --description "Nightly build" \
  --ref main \
  --cron "0 1 * * *"

# With timezone
glab schedule create \
  --description "Business hours sync" \
  --ref main \
  --cron "0 8 * * 1-5" \
  --cronTimeZone "Asia/Shanghai"

# With pipeline variables
glab schedule create \
  --description "Weekly report" \
  --ref main \
  --cron "0 9 * * 1" \
  --variable REPORT_TYPE:weekly \
  --variable NOTIFY:true

Required flags:

• --description human-readable name (required)
• --ref branch or tag to run on (required)
• --cron cron expression (required)

Optional flags:

• --cronTimeZone timezone (default: UTC)
• --active enable schedule (default: true)
• --variable KEY:value pipeline variable (repeatable)

Cron Expression Reference

┌─── minute (0-59)
│ ┌─── hour (0-23)
│ │ ┌─── day of month (1-31)
│ │ │ ┌─── month (1-12)
│ │ │ │ ┌─── day of week (0-7, 0=Sun)
│ │ │ │ │
* * * * *

Common patterns:
0 1 * * *      daily at 01:00 UTC
0 8 * * 1-5    weekdays at 08:00
0 */6 * * *    every 6 hours
0 0 * * 0      weekly on Sunday midnight
0 0 1 * *      first day of every month

List Schedules

glab schedule list
glab schedule list -O json

Run a Schedule Immediately

glab schedule run <schedule-id>

Triggers the scheduled pipeline right now, regardless of the cron time.

Update a Schedule

glab schedule update <schedule-id> --cron "0 2 * * *"
glab schedule update <schedule-id> --description "Updated name"
glab schedule update <schedule-id> --active false   # disable

Delete a Schedule

glab schedule delete <schedule-id>

Behavior Guidelines

1. Timezone: Default is UTC — always ask or confirm the user's intended timezone for schedules that should run at business hours.
2. Testing: After creating a schedule, offer to run it immediately with glab schedule run <id> to verify it works.
3. Variables: Use --variable to pass schedule-specific values (e.g., ENV:production) that differ from the default pipeline variables.
4. Disabling: Use --active false to temporarily disable a schedule without deleting it.
5. IDs: Use glab schedule list -O json | jq '.[].id' to get schedule IDs for scripting.