glab

name	glab
description	Operate GitLab through the `glab` CLI for GitLab merge requests, issues, pipelines, discussions, repos, and MR descriptions. Use when the user gives a GitLab URL, asks about a GitLab MR/issue/pipeline, mentions `glab`, or asks to draft/update an MR description. Not for GitHub URLs or purely local git tasks that do not need GitLab issue, MR, pipeline, discussion, or repo data.
context	fork
allowed-tools	["Bash(glab:*)","Bash(git:*)","Bash(jq:*)","Read"]

Use glab for GitLab operations. Verify command syntax with glab <command> --help before relying on flags that affect writes, JSON output, or pipelines.

Do not run glab auth status unless a glab command fails with an auth or host error.

Mode Picker

User intent	Default action	Write allowed?
View MR, issue, discussions, repo, pipeline list	Read with glab ... -F json or glab api	No
Draft MR title or description	Produce text in chat	No
Update MR, create issue, comment, approve, merge, retry or cancel CI	Run only after explicit user request	Yes

URL Parsing

• https://<host>/group/project/-/merge_requests/123 -> glab mr view 123 -R group/project
• https://<host>/group/project/-/issues/456 -> glab issue view 456 -R group/project

Treat bare !123, #123, or MR 123 as ambiguous unless the current repo or user text identifies GitLab.

Structured Reads

Use -F json only for commands whose help lists -F --output. Use jq for extraction.

glab mr list -R group/project -F json | jq -r '
  (["!","title","author","updated"],
  (.[] | [.iid, .title, .author.username, .updated_at[:10]])) | @tsv'

For API endpoints, use placeholders that glab api --help supports. Use :fullpath for the current project and literal IID values from the user URL or glab mr view. For raw glab api paths, percent-encode the project path and any ref containing / (group%2Fproject, feature%2Fbranch), or use :fullpath/-R instead.

glab api projects/:fullpath/merge_requests/<iid>/notes | jq -r '
  (["author","date","body"],
  (.[] | select(.system == false) | [.author.username, .created_at[:10], .body[:80]])) | @tsv'

Pipelines

Use glab ci list -F json for machine-readable pipeline data. Do not assume glab ci view supports JSON; check glab ci view --help before using flags.

glab ci list -F json | jq -r '
  (["id","status","ref","created"],
  (.[] | [.id, .status, .ref, .created_at[:10]])) | @tsv'

To inspect failed jobs without opening the interactive view, resolve a pipeline ID from glab ci list -F json, then use the GitLab API path for that project:

glab api projects/:fullpath/pipelines/<pipeline_id>/jobs | jq -r '
  (.[] | select(.status == "failed") | [.name, .stage, .failure_reason]) | @tsv'

Merge Requests

When asked to draft or update an MR title and description:

1. Resolve the MR and target branch from glab mr view <id> -F json or the user's URL.

2. If there is no MR yet, resolve the base from the target branch, repo default branch, or user-provided base. Do not hardcode master.

3. Analyze all branch changes against the base:

   git log <base>...HEAD --oneline
   git diff <base>...HEAD --stat
   

4. Draft a title and description from actual branch changes. Use the user's requested structure. Do not invent release, rollback, or testing claims.

5. If the user explicitly asked to update the MR, run:

   glab mr update <iid> --title "<title>" --description "<description>"
   

6. Return the MR URL or the draft text.

Write Operations

GitLab writes include creating or updating issues/MRs, comments, approvals, labels, merges, pipeline retries, pipeline cancels, and MR metadata updates. Run them only after explicit user request.

Troubleshooting

• Unknown flag: run glab <command> --help and adjust to the installed version.
• Auth or host error: run glab auth status and report the failing host without printing tokens.
• API endpoint mismatch: run glab api --help and use documented placeholders such as :fullpath.