| name | populate-db |
| description | Populate the gitlab-history SQLite database by fetching MRs, discussions, and file snapshots from GitLab via glab CLI. Use when the database is empty or stale and needs refreshing. |
| license | MIT |
Populate Database
Fetches data from GitLab via glab CLI into the project's SQLite database.
Prerequisites
glab CLI authenticated: glab auth login- uv installed
- Project dependencies synced:
uv sync
Steps
1. Fetch merge requests
Fetches MRs where the configured user is assignee or reviewer.
uv run python -m mr_history.fetch_mrs [--db DB_PATH] [--since YYYY-MM-DD] [--role assignee|reviewer|both] [--repo group/project]
--db — SQLite path (default: mr_history.db)--since — fetch MRs created after this date (default: 2025-10-01)--role — which role to fetch (default: both)--repo — GitLab repo path (default: auto-detected from git remote or env var)
Idempotent: re-running upserts new/changed records only.
2. Fetch discussions with diff positions
Fetches all discussions for each MR, including inline diff comment positions (file path, line numbers, commit SHAs).
uv run python -m mr_history.fetch_discussions [--db DB_PATH] [--skip-system] [--repo group/project]
--skip-system — exclude system-generated notes (label changes, commit pushes, etc.)--repo — GitLab repo path
Must run after step 1 (needs MRs in DB).
3. Fetch file snapshots
For each unique (commit_sha, file_path) from diff comments, fetches the full file content at that commit. Used by the web UI to show code context around inline comments.
uv run python -m mr_history.fetch_file_snapshots [--db DB_PATH] [--repo group/project]
--repo — GitLab repo path
Must run after step 2 (needs diff comment positions in DB).
4. Verify
uv run python -c "
from mr_history.models import get_session, Comment, Discussion, FileSnapshot, MergeRequest, User
s = get_session()
print(f'MRs: {s.query(MergeRequest).count()}')
print(f'Discussions:{s.query(Discussion).count()}')
print(f'Comments: {s.query(Comment).count()}')
print(f' Human: {s.query(Comment).filter(Comment.system == False).count()}')
print(f' Diff: {s.query(Comment).filter(Comment.diff_new_path.isnot(None)).count()}')
print(f'Snapshots: {s.query(FileSnapshot).count()}')
print(f'Users: {s.query(User).count()}')
s.close()
"
Configuration
Project and user IDs are resolved automatically:
- Env vars (explicit override):
MR_HISTORY_PROJECT_ID, MR_HISTORY_USER_ID
--repo flag: --repo hugo-systems/practice-manager-orthodontics (resolves project ID via glab API)- Git remote auto-detect: if run from inside a GitLab-cloned repo, derives
group/project from origin remote
- User: derived from
glab auth (the authenticated glab user)
If none resolve, scripts exit with an error message.
Typical full refresh
rm -f mr_history.db
uv run python -m mr_history.fetch_mrs
uv run python -m mr_history.fetch_discussions
uv run python -m mr_history.fetch_file_snapshots
Expected volumes (as of 2025-10 to 2026-04)
| Metric | Count |
|---|
| MRs | ~623 |
| Discussions | ~7,200 |
| Comments (human) | ~1,000 |
| Diff comments | ~700 |
| File snapshots | ~300 |
| Fetch time (total) | ~15-20 min |
