glab-release

name	glab-release
description	Manage GitLab releases including create, list, view, delete, download, and upload release assets. Use when publishing software versions, managing release notes, uploading binaries/artifacts, downloading release files, or viewing release history. Triggers on release, version, tag, publish release, release notes, download release.

glab release

Overview

  Manage GitLab releases.
  USAGE
    glab release <command> [command] [--flags]
  COMMANDS
    create <tag> [<files>...] [--flags]  Create a new GitLab release, or update an existing one.
    delete <tag> [--flags]               Delete a GitLab release.
    download [<tag>] [--flags]           Download asset files from a GitLab release.
    list [--flags]                       List releases in a repository.
    upload <tag> [<files>...] [--flags]  Upload release asset files or links to a GitLab release.
    view [<tag>] [--flags]               View information about a GitLab release.
  FLAGS
    -h --help                            Show help for this command.
    -R --repo                            Select another repository. Can use either `OWNER/REPO` or `GROUP/NAMESPACE/REPO` format. Also accepts full URL or Git URL.

Quick start

glab release --help

Structured output

glab release list and glab release view support --output json / -F json for structured output, which is useful for agent automation.

--notes and --notes-file are optional for glab release create and glab release update.

The tag is optional for glab release view and glab release download; omit it to target the latest release. Pass an explicit tag in release automation when reproducibility matters.

# List releases with JSON output
glab release list --output json
glab release list -F json

# View a release with JSON output
glab release view v1.2.0 --output json
glab release view v1.2.0 -F json

# Create a release without notes
glab release create v1.2.0

# Update a release without notes
glab release update v1.2.0 --name "My Release"

Creating releases in GitLab CI/CD

For a pipeline job, prefer the predefined CI_JOB_TOKEN with glab CI auto-login; see glab-auth for the general mechanism and environment-variable precedence. The Releases API accepts that credential in the JOB-TOKEN header:

GLAB_ENABLE_CI_AUTOLOGIN=true \
  glab release create "$CI_COMMIT_TAG" \
  --notes-file CHANGELOG.md \
  --ref "$CI_COMMIT_SHA"

Do not assign CI_JOB_TOKEN to GITLAB_TOKEN: glab sends GITLAB_TOKEN as PRIVATE-TOKEN, which the Releases API rejects for a job token and can surface as 404 Not Found. When job-token access is insufficient, use an approved project or group access token with api scope through GITLAB_TOKEN; never print that token.

Subcommands

See references/commands.md for full --help output.