glab-cli

GLAB CLI Command Reference

Quick-reference for the GitLab CLI (glab). Covers authentication, issues, merge requests, CI/CD pipelines, releases, repo management, labels, variables, snippets, and milestones.

Core Principles

1. Authenticate first: Verify auth status before running commands
2. Use -R for cross-repo: Target any repo with -R OWNER/REPO or GROUP/NAMESPACE/REPO
3. Output format matters: Use --output json for scripting, default for readability
4. Prefer flags over interactive: Use flags (-t, -d, -l) for reproducible, non-interactive commands
5. Current branch context: Many mr and ci commands auto-detect the current branch's MR or pipeline

Authentication

Authenticate before running any glab command.

# Interactive login (browser-based OAuth flow)
glab auth login

# Login to a self-managed instance
glab auth login --hostname gitlab.example.com

# Login with token from stdin
echo "glpat-xxxxxxxxxxxx" | glab auth login --stdin --hostname gitlab.example.com

# Check current auth status
glab auth status

# Log out
glab auth logout

Issues

Create

# Interactive creation
glab issue create

# Create with inline fields
glab issue create -t "Implement feature X" -d "Detailed description here"

# Create with labels, milestone, and assignee
glab issue create -t "Fix login bug" -l "bug,critical" -m "v2.0" -a "username"

# Create with linked merge request
glab issue create -t "Fix CVE-YYYY-XXXX" -l security --linked-mr 123

# Create and open in browser
glab issue create -t "New feature" --web

# Recover a previously started issue creation
glab issue create --recover

View

# View issue details
glab issue view 42

# View with comments and activity
glab issue view 42 --comments --system-logs

# Open issue in browser
glab issue view 42 --web

# View from a different repo
glab issue view 42 -R group/project

List

# List open issues
glab issue list

# List closed issues
glab issue list --closed

# List all issues (open + closed)
glab issue list -A

# Filter by labels
glab issue list -l "bug,critical"

# Filter by assignee
glab issue list --assignee "username"

# Filter by milestone
glab issue list -m "v2.0"

# Search by keyword
glab issue list --search "login"

# Output as JSON
glab issue list --output json

# Paginate results
glab issue list --per-page 50 --page 2

Close / Reopen

# Close an issue
glab issue close 42

# Reopen an issue
glab issue reopen 42

Note (Comment)

# Add a comment
glab issue note 42 -m "This is fixed in MR !123"

# Open editor to compose a multi-line comment
glab issue note 42

Board

# View project issue board
glab issue board view

# Filter board by assignee
glab issue board view --assignee "username"

# Filter board by labels
glab issue board view --labels "bug,frontend"

# Filter board by milestone
glab issue board view --milestone "v2.0"

Merge Requests

Create

# Interactive creation
glab mr create

# Create with title and description
glab mr create -t "Add user authentication" -d "Implements OAuth2 login flow"

# Create with auto-fill from commits
glab mr create --fill

# Create as draft
glab mr create -t "WIP: New feature" --draft

# Create with labels, assignee, and reviewer
glab mr create -t "Fix bug" -l "bugfix" -a "dev" --reviewer "reviewer1,reviewer2"

# Create with specific source and target branches
glab mr create --source-branch feature/auth --target-branch main

# Create with squash on merge
glab mr create -t "Feature" --squash-before-merge

# Create and remove source branch on merge
glab mr create -t "Feature" --remove-source-branch

# Create with milestone
glab mr create -t "Feature" -m "v2.0"

# Create and open in browser
glab mr create -t "Feature" --web

List

# List open MRs
glab mr list

# List merged MRs
glab mr list --merged

# List MRs by assignee
glab mr list --assignee "username"

# List MRs by reviewer
glab mr list --reviewer "username"

# List MRs by label
glab mr list -l "needs-review"

# Search by keyword
glab mr list --search "auth"

# Output as JSON
glab mr list --output json

View

# View MR details
glab mr view 123

# View MR from current branch
glab mr view

# Open MR in browser
glab mr view 123 --web

Checkout

# Checkout MR by ID
glab mr checkout 123

# Checkout MR by branch name
glab mr checkout feature-branch

# Checkout MR by URL
glab mr checkout "https://gitlab.com/group/project/-/merge_requests/123"

Diff

# View MR diff
glab mr diff 123

# View diff from current branch's MR
glab mr diff

# View raw diff (for piping)
glab mr diff 123 --raw

# View diff without color
glab mr diff 123 --color=never

Merge

# Merge MR
glab mr merge 123

# Merge with squash
glab mr merge 123 --squash

# Merge and remove source branch
glab mr merge 123 --remove-source-branch

# Merge when pipeline succeeds
glab mr merge 123 --when-pipeline-succeeds

# Merge current branch's MR
glab mr merge

Approve / Revoke

# Approve MR
glab mr approve 123

# Approve multiple MRs
glab mr approve 123 345

# Approve MR matching specific SHA
glab mr approve 123 --sha abc123def

# Approve current branch's MR
glab mr approve

# Revoke approval
glab mr revoke 123

Rebase

# Rebase MR source branch
glab mr rebase 123

# Rebase current branch's MR
glab mr rebase

# Rebase and skip CI
glab mr rebase 123 --skip-ci

Note (Comment)

# Add a comment to MR
glab mr note 123 -m "Looks good to me!"

# Open editor for multi-line comment
glab mr note 123

Update

# Update MR title
glab mr update 123 --title "Updated title"

# Update MR description
glab mr update 123 --description "New description"

# Mark MR as draft
glab mr update 123 --draft

# Mark MR as ready
glab mr update 123 --ready

# Add labels
glab mr update 123 --label "reviewed,approved"

# Set assignee
glab mr update 123 --assignee "username"

# Lock discussion
glab mr update 123 --lock-discussion

Close / Reopen / Delete

# Close MR
glab mr close 123

# Reopen MR
glab mr reopen 123

# Delete MR
glab mr delete 123

Other MR Operations

# List approvers for MR
glab mr approvers 123

# List issues closed by MR
glab mr issues 123

# Subscribe to MR notifications
glab mr subscribe 123

# Unsubscribe from MR
glab mr unsubscribe 123

# Add MR to your todo list
glab mr todo 123

CI/CD Pipelines & Jobs

Pipeline Status

# View current branch pipeline status (interactive)
glab ci status

# View pipeline status with live updates
glab ci status --live

# View pipeline in browser
glab ci status --web

List Pipelines

# List recent pipelines
glab ci list

# List pipelines for a specific branch
glab ci list --branch main

# Output as JSON
glab ci list --output json

View Pipeline / Job

# View pipeline details (interactive job selection)
glab ci view

# View specific branch pipeline
glab ci view main

Retry Jobs

# Interactively select a job to retry
glab ci retry

# Retry specific job by ID
glab ci retry 224356863

# Retry job by name
glab ci retry lint

# Retry job on specific branch
glab ci retry lint --branch main

Run Pipeline

# Run pipeline on current branch
glab ci run

# Run pipeline on specific branch
glab ci run --branch main

Trigger Pipeline

# Trigger pipeline with token
glab ci run-trig -t <CI_JOB_TOKEN>

# Trigger on specific branch with variables
glab ci run-trig -t <CI_JOB_TOKEN> -b main --variables key1:val1,key2:val2

# Trigger with typed inputs
glab ci run-trig -t <CI_JOB_TOKEN> -b main --input "replicas:int(3)" --input "debug:bool(false)"

Lint CI Config

# Lint .gitlab-ci.yml
glab ci lint

# Lint a specific file
glab ci lint path/to/.gitlab-ci.yml

Releases

Create

# Create release with tag
glab release create v1.0.0

# Create with release notes
glab release create v1.0.0 -n "Release notes here"

# Create with notes from file
glab release create v1.0.0 -F changelog.md

# Create with asset files
glab release create v1.0.0 ./build/app.zip ./build/app.tar.gz

# Create with milestone association
glab release create v1.0.0 -m "v1.0.0"

# Create with custom name
glab release create v1.0.0 --name "Production Release 1.0"

# Create with tag message (annotated tag)
glab release create v1.0.0 --tag-message "Version 1.0.0"

# Create with custom release date
glab release create v1.0.0 --released-at "2026-03-30T12:00:00Z"

List

# List releases
glab release list

View

# View latest release
glab release view

# View specific release
glab release view v1.0.0

# View in browser
glab release view v1.0.0 --web

Delete

# Delete a release
glab release delete v1.0.0

Repository

Clone

# Clone a repository
glab repo clone group/project

# Clone to specific directory
glab repo clone group/project my-local-dir

Fork

# Fork current repo
glab repo fork

# Fork a specific repo
glab repo fork group/project

# Fork and clone
glab repo fork group/project --clone

# Fork with custom name and path
glab repo fork group/project --name "my-fork" --path "my-fork-path"

View

# View repo details
glab repo view

# View specific repo
glab repo view group/project

# Open in browser
glab repo view --web

Labels

# Create a label
glab label create "bug" --color "#ff0000" --description "Bug reports"

# List all labels
glab label list

# Get label details
glab label get 1234

# Edit a label
glab label edit "bug" --color "#cc0000" --description "Updated description"

# Delete a label
glab label delete "bug"

Variables

# Set a variable
glab variable set MY_VAR "my_value"

# Set with description
glab variable set MY_VAR "my_value" --description "API key for service X"

# Set a masked variable
glab variable set SECRET_TOKEN "s3cret" --masked

# Set a protected variable
glab variable set PROD_KEY "value" --protected

# Set a hidden variable
glab variable set HIDDEN_VAR "value" --hidden

# Set variable with environment scope
glab variable set DB_HOST "prod-db.example.com" --scope "production"

# Set variable for a group
glab variable set GROUP_VAR "value" -g mygroup

# Set variable from file
glab variable set SERVER_CERT < cert.pem

# Set variable from stdin
cat token.txt | glab variable set API_TOKEN

# List project variables
glab variable list

# List group variables
glab variable list -g mygroup

# List as JSON
glab variable list --output json

# Get a specific variable
glab variable get MY_VAR

# Delete a variable
glab variable delete MY_VAR

Snippets

# Create a snippet from file
glab snippet create --title "My snippet" --filename "main.go"

# Create a personal snippet
glab snippet create --title "Notes" --filename "notes.md" --personal

# Set visibility
glab snippet create --title "Public snippet" --filename "example.sh" --visibility public

Milestones

# Create a milestone
glab milestone create --title "v2.0" --description "Version 2.0 release"

# Create with dates
glab milestone create --title "v2.0" --start-date "2026-04-01" --due-date "2026-06-30"

# List milestones
glab milestone list

Common Flag Patterns

Flag	Short	Purpose
--output json		Output as JSON
--web	-w	Open in browser
--help	-h	Show command help
--repo OWNER/REPO	-R	Target a different repository
--page	-p	Page number for pagination
--per-page	-P	Items per page
--title	-t	Set title (issues, MRs)
--description	-d	Set description
--label	-l	Add labels (comma-separated)
--milestone	-m	Set milestone
--assignee	-a	Set assignee
--branch	-b	Target branch
--draft		Mark MR as draft
--squash		Squash commits on merge
--remove-source-branch		Delete source branch after merge

Common Workflows

Create MR from Current Branch

# Push branch and create MR in one flow
git push -u origin HEAD
glab mr create --fill --draft

Review and Merge an MR

# Checkout the MR locally
glab mr checkout 123

# View the diff
glab mr diff 123

# Approve and merge
glab mr approve 123
glab mr merge 123 --squash --remove-source-branch

Triage Issues

# List unassigned bugs
glab issue list -l "bug" --assignee ""

# Assign and label
glab issue update 42 --assignee "dev" --label "priority::high"

Check Pipeline and Retry

# Check current pipeline status
glab ci status

# If a job failed, retry it
glab ci retry lint

# Or run a fresh pipeline
glab ci run

Create a Release

# Tag, create release, attach assets
git tag -a v1.2.0 -m "Release v1.2.0"
git push origin v1.2.0
glab release create v1.2.0 -F CHANGELOG.md ./dist/app.zip

Work with Issues and MRs Together

# Create issue, then create MR that closes it
glab issue create -t "Add dark mode" -l "feature"
# ... implement on branch ...
glab mr create -t "Add dark mode" -d "Closes #42" --fill

Output Formatting Tips

Use --output json for scripting/piping. Default output is human-readable. Add --per-page and --page for pagination. The --web flag opens any resource in your browser.

JSON + jq Piping

# Extract MR IDs
glab mr list --output json | jq '.[].iid'

# Get issue titles and states
glab issue list --output json | jq '.[] | {title, state}'

# Count open MRs by author
glab mr list --output json | jq 'group_by(.author.username) | map({author: .[0].author.username, count: length})'