glab

name	glab
description	Interact with GitLab through the glab CLI tool. Covers merge requests, issues, CI/CD pipelines, runners, pipeline schedules, repositories, releases, API requests, variables, labels, milestones, snippets, access tokens, deploy keys, incidents, and changelogs. Use when the user needs to create or manage merge requests, check CI pipeline status, manage runners or schedules, manage GitLab issues or incidents, create releases, generate changelogs, manage access tokens or deploy keys, query the GitLab API, or perform any GitLab operation from the command line. Trigger on mentions of glab, GitLab CLI, merge requests, MR workflows, CI pipelines, runners, pipeline schedules, access tokens, deploy keys, incidents, GitLab issues, or GitLab API.
metadata	{"type":"reference"}

glab CLI Reference

glab is GitLab's official command-line tool for working with merge requests, issues, CI/CD pipelines, repositories, releases, and more. It works with both gitlab.com and self-managed GitLab instances. This skill provides practical guidance for constructing correct glab commands.

Prerequisites

Before running glab commands, verify the tool is available and authenticated:

# Check installation
glab version

# Check authentication status
glab auth status

If glab is not authenticated, read references/auth-config.md for setup instructions.

Quick Patterns

These cover the most common operations. For simple tasks matching these patterns, execute directly without loading reference files.

Merge Requests

glab mr create --fill --yes                    # Create MR from current branch, auto-fill title/description
glab mr create --draft --fill --yes            # Create draft MR
glab mr list --assignee=@me                    # List your open MRs
glab mr view 42                                # View MR details
glab mr checkout 42                            # Check out MR branch locally
glab mr merge 42 --squash --remove-source-branch --yes  # Squash merge

Issues

glab issue create --title "Bug: ..." --label bug --assignee @me  # Create issue
glab issue list --assignee=@me                 # List your issues
glab issue view 15                             # View issue details
glab issue close 15                            # Close an issue

CI/CD

glab ci status                                 # Current pipeline status
glab ci view                                   # Interactive pipeline viewer
glab ci lint                                   # Validate .gitlab-ci.yml
glab ci trace                                  # Stream job logs in real-time
glab ci run -b main                            # Trigger a pipeline on main

Repository & API

glab repo clone namespace/project              # Clone a repo
glab repo view                                 # View current project info
glab api projects/:id/merge_requests           # REST API call

Runners & Schedules

glab runner list                               # List project runners
glab schedule create --cron "0 2 * * *" --description "Nightly" --ref main   # Create schedule
glab schedule run 42                           # Trigger schedule now
glab job artifact main build                    # Download job artifacts

Tokens & Keys

glab token create ci --scope api --duration "90d"            # Create access token
glab token list                                # List project tokens
glab deploy-key add key.pub --title "CI"                     # Add deploy key
glab deploy-key list                           # List deploy keys

Cross-Cutting Patterns

These patterns apply across all glab command groups.

Machine-Readable Output

Many list and view commands support --output json for structured output that can be parsed programmatically:

glab mr list --output json
glab issue list --output json

When piping glab output to other commands, use JSON output and parse with jq:

glab mr list --output json | jq '.[].iid'

Targeting a Different Repository

Use -R (or --repo) to run commands against a repo other than the current directory's:

glab mr list -R gitlab-org/cli
glab issue view 42 -R team/backend-service

Accepts formats: OWNER/REPO, GROUP/NAMESPACE/REPO, or a full GitLab URL.

Suppressing Interactive Prompts

For non-interactive (scripted or automated) usage:

glab mr create --fill --yes                    # --yes skips confirmation prompts
NO_PROMPT=1 glab mr merge 42                   # Environment variable alternative

Error Handling

• Check exit codes: glab returns non-zero on failure
• Auth errors: re-run glab auth status to verify credentials
• 404 errors: verify the project path with glab repo view or check -R value
• Rate limiting: the API may throttle requests; back off and retry

Command Aliases

Some commands have aliases for convenience:

Command	Aliases
glab ci	glab pipe, glab pipeline
glab config	glab conf
glab mr create	glab mr new
glab mr merge	glab mr accept
glab mr view	glab mr show
glab issue create	glab issue new
glab issue list	glab issue ls
glab mr list	glab mr ls
glab repo	glab project
glab runner list	glab runner ls
glab schedule list	glab schedule ls
glab incident list	glab incident ls

Command Reference Index

Load the relevant reference file when a task requires flags, workflows, or subcommands not shown in Quick Patterns above.

Task	Reference File	Key Commands
Authentication, configuration, environment variables	references/auth-config.md	auth login, config set, GITLAB_TOKEN
Merge requests (create, review, merge)	references/merge-requests.md	mr create, mr list, mr approve, mr merge, mr checkout
Issues (create, triage, track)	references/issues.md	issue create, issue list, issue close, issue board
CI/CD pipelines and jobs	references/ci-cd.md	ci status, ci view, ci trace, ci run, ci lint
Repository management	references/repositories.md	repo clone, repo fork, repo create, repo view
Release management	references/releases.md	release create, release download, release upload
GitLab API (REST and GraphQL)	references/api.md	api with REST paths or GraphQL queries
Variables, labels, milestones, snippets	references/project-management.md	variable set, label create, milestone create, snippet create
Runners, schedules, job artifacts	references/runners-schedules.md	runner list, schedule create, job artifact
Access tokens, deploy keys, SSH/GPG keys	references/tokens-keys.md	token create, token rotate, deploy-key add
Incidents, changelog generation	references/incidents-changelog.md	incident list, incident close, changelog generate

Additional Commands

These commands have smaller surface areas or are experimental. They are not covered in dedicated reference files.

Command	Status	Description
glab duo	Stable	GitLab Duo AI features (ask, chat)
glab alias	Stable	Create command shortcuts
glab user	Stable	View user profiles and activity
glab ssh-key	Stable	Manage account SSH keys (see tokens-keys.md)
glab gpg-key	Stable	Manage account GPG keys (see tokens-keys.md)
glab completion	Stable	Generate shell completion scripts (bash/zsh/fish/powershell)
glab check-update	Stable	Check for glab updates
glab cluster	Stable	Manage Kubernetes cluster integrations
glab securefile	Stable	Manage CI/CD secure files
glab iteration	Stable	Manage group iterations
glab work-items	Stable	Manage work items
glab mcp	Stable	Model Context Protocol server for GitLab
glab opentofu	Stable	OpenTofu state management
glab stack	Experimental	Manage stacked diffs
glab attestation	Experimental	Verify artifact attestations
glab runner-controller	Experimental	Self-hosted runner controller management

When to Load References

• Simple tasks: If the command matches a Quick Pattern above, execute directly.
• Complex tasks: Load the relevant reference file when the task involves flags, multi-step workflows, or subcommands not listed above.
• Auth issues: Load references/auth-config.md if glab auth status shows no authenticated host or if commands fail with 401/403 errors.
• Infrastructure tasks: Load references/runners-schedules.md for runner management, pipeline schedules, or job artifact downloads.
• Security & credentials: Load references/tokens-keys.md for access token management, deploy keys, or SSH/GPG key operations.
• Incident response: Load references/incidents-changelog.md for incident management or changelog generation.
• Multiple areas: Load only the reference files needed — avoid loading all references at once.