glab-release

name	glab-release
description	Manage GitLab Releases using the glab CLI. Use this skill whenever the user wants to create a release, publish a new version, upload release assets, download release binaries, or view release history. Trigger on phrases like "create a release", "publish v1.2.0", "upload release assets", "download the latest release", "list releases", or any GitLab release/versioning task.

GitLab Release Management

Use glab CLI to create and manage GitLab releases (version tags with release notes and assets).

Create a Release

glab release create <tag>
glab release create v1.2.0 --description "Release notes here"
glab release create v1.2.0 --notes-file CHANGELOG.md     # read notes from file
glab release create v1.2.0 --ref <branch-or-sha>          # commit to tag
glab release create v1.2.0 --milestone "v1.2"             # link milestone
glab release create v1.2.0 --released-at "2025-06-01T10:00:00Z"

Key flags:

• <tag> the git tag name (e.g., v1.2.0)
• --description / --notes release body (markdown supported)
• --notes-file <file> read description from a file
• --ref branch or SHA to create the tag from (if tag doesn't exist yet)
• --milestone associate a milestone
• --released-at ISO 8601 timestamp for scheduled releases

List Releases

glab release list
glab release list -O json

View a Release

glab release view <tag>
glab release view v1.2.0

Upload Release Assets

glab release upload <tag> <file>
glab release upload v1.2.0 ./dist/app-linux-amd64
glab release upload v1.2.0 ./dist/app-linux-amd64 --name "app-linux-amd64"

Upload multiple assets by running the command multiple times.

Download Release Assets

glab release download <tag>                          # download all assets
glab release download v1.2.0 --asset-name <name>    # specific asset

Delete a Release

glab release delete <tag>

Note: This deletes the release record but does NOT delete the git tag.

Behavior Guidelines

1. Release notes: Recommend --notes-file CHANGELOG.md when the project maintains a changelog. This produces professional release notes automatically.
2. Tag creation: If the specified tag doesn't exist, use --ref <branch> to create it from the right commit. Without --ref, GitLab defaults to the project's default branch HEAD.
3. Asset naming: Use descriptive --name values like app-linux-amd64, app-darwin-arm64 to make assets easy to identify.
4. Milestones: Link releases to milestones so closed issues in that milestone appear in the release automatically.
5. Deletion warning: Remind users that deleting a release is separate from deleting the git tag — they may need git push --delete origin <tag> to fully clean up.