glab

glab - GitLab CLI

Command-line interface for GitLab. Binary name: glab.

Repository Context

glab auto-detects the GitLab project from the git remote in the current directory. Override with --repo (-R):

glab mr list                              # auto-detected from git remote
glab mr list -R group/project             # explicit project
glab mr list -R group/namespace/project

Identifying MRs

MR commands accept an MR IID number, a branch name, or nothing (current branch):

glab mr view 123           # by MR IID
glab mr view feature-x     # by branch name
glab mr view               # current branch's MR

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Temp Files

When writing content to temp files (MR descriptions, job logs, etc.), use filenames unique to the MR or job — include the MR number, branch name, or job name as a slug (e.g., /tmp/mr-desc-123.md, /tmp/mr-desc-feature-auth.md, /tmp/glab-job-build-123.log).

Reuse the same file for the same MR/entity across multiple edits — the Write tool shows diffs, so the user can see exactly what changed between revisions.

Never use generic fixed filenames like /tmp/mr-description.md — they collide across different MRs.

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Creating a Merge Request

glab mr create --fill --fill-commit-body --yes -b main --draft -a user1 --reviewer user2 -l bug

Flag	Short	Description
--title	-t	MR title
--description	-d	Description ("-" opens editor)
--fill	-f	Use commit info, auto-push branch
--fill-commit-body		Include all commit bodies (with --fill)
--draft		Create as draft
--assignee	-a	Assign by username (comma-separated or repeated)
--reviewer		Request review by username
--label	-l	Add labels
--milestone	-m	Assign milestone
--target-branch	-b	Target branch
--source-branch	-s	Source branch (default: current)
--push		Push branch before creating
--remove-source-branch		Remove source branch on merge
--squash-before-merge		Squash commits on merge
--related-issue	-i	Link to issue IID
--copy-issue-labels		Copy labels from linked issue
--yes	-y	Skip confirmation prompt
--web	-w	Continue in browser

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Viewing Current MR

glab mr view --comments -F json

Flag	Short	Description
--comments	-c	Include comments and activities
--system-logs	-s	Include system activities
--output	-F	Format: text, json
--web	-w	Open in browser
--page	-p	Page number for comments
--per-page	-P	Items per page (default 20)

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Updating MR Title and Description

glab mr update 123 --title "New title" --description "New description" --ready -l bug --reviewer +user2

Assignee/reviewer prefix modifiers: + to add, ! or - to remove. No prefix replaces all.

Flag	Short	Description
--title	-t	MR title
--description	-d	Description ("-" opens editor)
--draft		Mark as draft
--ready	-r	Mark as ready
--label	-l	Add labels
--unlabel	-u	Remove labels
--assignee	-a	Set assignees (+ add, ! remove, bare replaces all)
--unassign		Remove all assignees
--reviewer		Set reviewers (+ add, ! remove, bare replaces all)
--milestone	-m	Set milestone ("" or 0 to unset)
--target-branch		Change target branch
--remove-source-branch		Toggle remove source branch on merge
--squash-before-merge		Toggle squash on merge
--lock-discussion		Lock discussion
--unlock-discussion		Unlock discussion
--yes	-y	Skip confirmation

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MR Discussions and Notes

glab mr note can add comments, but listing discussions and replying to threads requires the API.

Add a Comment

glab mr note 123 -m "Looks good!"

Flag	Short	Description
--message	-m	Comment text
--unique		Skip if identical comment already exists

List MR Discussions (API)

Discussions are threaded conversations. Each discussion has an id and contains notes.

glab api projects/:id/merge_requests/123/discussions --paginate

Reply to a Discussion Thread (API)

glab api -X POST projects/:id/merge_requests/123/discussions/<discussion_id>/notes \
  -f body="Reply text"

Create a New Discussion Thread (API)

glab api -X POST projects/:id/merge_requests/123/discussions \
  -f body="Starting a new thread"

Resolve / Unresolve a Discussion (API)

glab api -X PUT projects/:id/merge_requests/123/discussions/<discussion_id> \
  -F resolved=true

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MR Pipeline and Job Logs

View Pipeline Status

glab ci status --compact
glab ci get --with-job-details -F json

Command	Description
glab ci status	Current branch pipeline status
glab ci status --live	Real-time updates until done
glab ci status --compact	Compact view
glab ci get	Pipeline details with job list
glab ci get --with-job-details	Extended job info
glab ci get -F json	JSON output

View Job Logs

Always redirect job logs to a temp file — the output can be thousands of lines and will waste context tokens.

glab ci trace <job-name> > /tmp/glab-job-<job-name>-$(date +%s).log 2>&1

DO NOT run glab ci trace without redirecting to a file.

Flag	Short	Description
--branch	-b	Branch to search for the job
--pipeline-id	-p	Pipeline ID to search for the job

Retry / Trigger Jobs

glab ci retry <job-name>           # retry a failed job
glab ci trigger <job-name>         # trigger a manual job

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API (Raw HTTP Requests)

Direct GitLab API access for anything not covered by dedicated commands.

glab api projects/:id/members                                    # GET (default)
glab api projects/:id/labels -f name=bug -f color=#FF0000        # POST (default when params present)
glab api -X PUT projects/:id -f name="new-name"                  # explicit method

Pagination

--paginate fetches all pages sequentially. Without it, you only get the first page.

glab api projects/:id/issues --paginate --output ndjson | jq 'select(.state == "opened")'

Output formats:

• json (default) — pretty-printed, arrays merged into a single JSON array
• ndjson — one JSON object per line, memory-efficient, works with jq

Endpoint Placeholders

Auto-resolved from the git remote: :id, :fullpath, :group, :namespace, :repo, :branch, :user, :username

Parameter Flags

Flag	Short	Description
--raw-field	-f	String parameter
--field	-F	Typed parameter (true/false/integers auto-converted, @file reads from file)
--method	-X	HTTP method (default: GET without params, POST with)
--paginate		Fetch all pages
--output		Format: json (default), ndjson
--header	-H	Additional HTTP header
--hostname		Override GitLab host
--include	-i	Include response headers
--input		Request body from file (- for stdin)
--silent		Don't print response body

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Other Commands

Discover flags with --help:

Group	Description
mr list, mr diff, mr merge, mr approve, mr rebase, mr checkout	MR management
issue list, issue view, issue create, issue update, issue close	Issues
ci list, ci run, ci lint, ci cancel	CI/CD pipelines
job artifact	Download job artifacts
repo view, repo list, repo clone	Repositories
release list, release view, release create	Releases
variable list, variable get, variable set	CI/CD variables
schedule list, schedule create, schedule run	Pipeline schedules
label list, label create	Labels
milestone list, milestone create	Milestones
glab-search-code <query>	Code search

glab <command> --help
glab <command> <subcommand> --help