gitlab-cli-skills

---
name: gitlab-cli-skills
description: Comprehensive GitLab CLI (glab) command reference and workflows for all GitLab operations via terminal. Use when user mentions GitLab CLI, glab commands, GitLab automation, MR/issue management via CLI, CI/CD pipeline commands, Artifact Registry token exchange, repo operations, authentication setup, or any GitLab terminal operations. Routes to specialized sub-skills for auth, CI, MRs, issues, releases, repos, and 30+ other glab commands. Triggers on glab, GitLab CLI, GitLab commands, GitLab terminal, GitLab automation.
license: MIT
---

# GitLab CLI Skills

Comprehensive GitLab CLI (glab) command reference and workflows.

## Quick start

```bash
# First time setup
glab auth login

# Common operations
glab mr create --fill              # Create MR from current branch
glab issue create                  # Create issue
glab ci view                       # View pipeline status
glab repo view --web              # Open repo in browser
```

## Multi-agent identity note

When you want different agents to appear as different GitLab users, give each agent its own GitLab bot/service account. Multiple personal access tokens on the same GitLab user still act as that same visible identity.

Use the **Actor identity** for actor-authored GitLab comments, replies, approvals, and other writes. Use an **agent identity** only when the GitLab action is explicitly that agent's own work product. Choose the intended visible actor **before the first GitLab write**.

Treat shell identity as sticky and unsafe by default. If another env file was sourced earlier in the same shell/session, `glab` may still write as that previously loaded identity unless you deliberately switch and verify first.

A practical pattern is one env file per actor, for example `~/.config/openclaw/env/gitlab-actor.env`, `~/.config/openclaw/env/gitlab-reviewer.env`, and `~/.config/openclaw/env/gitlab-release.env`. Keep these env files outside version control, restrict their permissions (for example `chmod 600`), be mindful of backup exposure, and use least-privilege bot/service-account tokens. In a reused shell, clear stale GitLab auth vars first or start a fresh shell. If those files use plain `KEY=value` lines, load them with exported vars before running `glab`:

```bash
unset GITLAB_TOKEN GITLAB_ACCESS_TOKEN OAUTH_TOKEN GITLAB_HOST
set -a
source ~/.config/openclaw/env/gitlab-<actor>.env
set +a
```

Plain `source` updates the current shell but may not export variables to child processes such as `glab`. If the token/host vars are not exported, `glab` may silently fall back to shared stored auth from the active global glab config file, which can make the wrong account appear to perform the action.

### Required pre-flight before any GitLab write

Run this immediately before any GitLab write, including `glab mr note`, review replies/approvals, and any `glab api` `POST`/`PATCH`/`PUT`/`DELETE` call:

```bash
glab auth status --hostname "$GITLAB_HOST"
glab api --hostname "$GITLAB_HOST" user
```

This assumes the target actor env file set `GITLAB_HOST` for the exact GitLab instance you intend to modify. Do not write until both commands clearly show the intended visible actor on that host.

### Wrong-identity remediation

If a comment or reply was posted under the wrong identity:

1. Stop posting.
2. Delete the mistaken comment or reply if cleanup is needed.
3. `unset GITLAB_TOKEN GITLAB_ACCESS_TOKEN OAUTH_TOKEN GITLAB_HOST` or start a fresh shell.
4. Source the correct env file with `set -a; source ...; set +a`.
5. Rerun `glab auth status --hostname "$GITLAB_HOST"` and `glab api --hostname "$GITLAB_HOST" user`.
6. Repost under the correct actor.
7. Verify the thread no longer shows the wrong visible author for the replacement message.

If the wrong-identity write changed state beyond a comment or reply, do not treat the comment cleanup steps as sufficient. Re-auth as above, then use the matching GitLab reversal for that write under the correct actor and host, such as unapproving an MR or sending the compensating `glab api --hostname "$GITLAB_HOST"` mutation for the exact resource that was changed.

## Skill organization

This skill routes to specialized sub-skills by GitLab domain. Each is a
standalone skill in a sibling directory; open its `SKILL.md` for full details.

**Core Workflows:**
- [`glab-mr`](../glab-mr/SKILL.md) - Merge requests: create, review, approve, merge
- [`glab-issue`](../glab-issue/SKILL.md) - Issues: create, list, update, close, comment
- [`glab-ci`](../glab-ci/SKILL.md) - CI/CD: pipelines, jobs, logs, artifacts
- [`glab-repo`](../glab-repo/SKILL.md) - Repositories: clone, create, fork, manage

**Project Management:**
- [`glab-milestone`](../glab-milestone/SKILL.md) - Release planning and milestone tracking
- [`glab-iteration`](../glab-iteration/SKILL.md) - Sprint/iteration management
- [`glab-label`](../glab-label/SKILL.md) - Label management and organization
- [`glab-release`](../glab-release/SKILL.md) - Software releases and versioning
- [`glab-packages`](../glab-packages/SKILL.md) - Project package registry listing, filtering, and generic package uploads

**Authentication & Config:**
- [`glab-auth`](../glab-auth/SKILL.md) - Login, logout, Docker registry auth
- [`glab-config`](../glab-config/SKILL.md) - CLI configuration and defaults
- [`glab-ssh-key`](../glab-ssh-key/SKILL.md) - SSH key management
- [`glab-gpg-key`](../glab-gpg-key/SKILL.md) - GPG keys for commit signing
- [`glab-token`](../glab-token/SKILL.md) - Personal and project access tokens
- [`glab-todo`](../glab-todo/SKILL.md) - Personal GitLab to-do triage and completion

**CI/CD Management:**
- [`glab-job`](../glab-job/SKILL.md) - Individual job operations
- [`glab-schedule`](../glab-schedule/SKILL.md) - Scheduled pipelines and cron jobs
- [`glab-variable`](../glab-variable/SKILL.md) - CI/CD variables and secrets
- [`glab-securefile`](../glab-securefile/SKILL.md) - Secure files for pipelines
- [`glab-runner`](../glab-runner/SKILL.md) - Runner management: list, assign/unassign, inspect jobs/managers, pause/unpause, delete
- [`glab-runner-controller`](../glab-runner-controller/SKILL.md) - Runner controller, scope, and token management (EXPERIMENTAL, admin-only)

**Collaboration:**
- [`glab-user`](../glab-user/SKILL.md) - User profiles and information
- [`glab-snippet`](../glab-snippet/SKILL.md) - Code snippets (GitLab gists)
- [`glab-incident`](../glab-incident/SKILL.md) - Incident management
- [`glab-workitems`](../glab-workitems/SKILL.md) - Work items: tasks, OKRs, key results, next-gen epics

**Advanced:**
- [`glab-api`](../glab-api/SKILL.md) - Direct REST API calls
- [`glab-artifact-registry`](../glab-artifact-registry/SKILL.md) - Experimental short-lived Artifact Registry token exchange and access checks
- [`glab-cluster`](../glab-cluster/SKILL.md) - Kubernetes cluster integration
- [`glab-container-registry`](../glab-container-registry/SKILL.md) - Container registry repositories and tags
- [`glab-dependency-firewall`](../glab-dependency-firewall/SKILL.md) - Beta local package-manager registry policy configuration and CI activity summaries
- [`glab-deploy-key`](../glab-deploy-key/SKILL.md) - Deploy keys for automation
- [`glab-orbit`](../glab-orbit/SKILL.md) - GitLab Knowledge Graph / Orbit discovery, schema inspection, and remote query workflows (EXPERIMENTAL)
- [`glab-quick-actions`](../glab-quick-actions/SKILL.md) - GitLab slash command quick actions for batching state changes
- [`glab-security`](../glab-security/SKILL.md) - Project security scan profile enable/disable/status management (EXPERIMENTAL)
- [`glab-stack`](../glab-stack/SKILL.md) - Stacked/dependent merge requests
- [`glab-opentofu`](../glab-opentofu/SKILL.md) - Terraform/OpenTofu state management

**Utilities:**
- [`glab-alias`](../glab-alias/SKILL.md) - Custom command aliases
- [`glab-completion`](../glab-completion/SKILL.md) - Shell autocompletion
- [`glab-help`](../glab-help/SKILL.md) - Command help and documentation
- [`glab-version`](../glab-version/SKILL.md) - Version information
- [`glab-check-update`](../glab-check-update/SKILL.md) - Update checker
- [`glab-whatsnew`](../glab-whatsnew/SKILL.md) - Release notes since the last viewed or post-upgrade baseline
- [`glab-changelog`](../glab-changelog/SKILL.md) - Changelog generation
- [`glab-attestation`](../glab-attestation/SKILL.md) - Software supply chain security
- [`glab-duo`](../glab-duo/SKILL.md) - GitLab Duo AI assistant
- [`glab-mcp`](../glab-mcp/SKILL.md) - Model Context Protocol server for AI assistant integration (EXPERIMENTAL)
- [`glab-skills`](../glab-skills/SKILL.md) - Install and manage bundled agent skills (EXPERIMENTAL)

## When to use glab vs web UI

**Use glab when:**
- Automating GitLab operations in scripts
- Working in terminal-centric workflows
- Batch operations (multiple MRs/issues)
- Integration with other CLI tools
- CI/CD pipeline workflows
- Faster navigation without browser context switching

**Use web UI when:**
- Complex diff review with inline comments
- Visual merge conflict resolution
- Configuring repo settings and permissions
- Advanced search/filtering across projects
- Reviewing security scanning results
- Managing group/instance-level settings

## Common workflows

### Daily development

```bash
# Start work on issue
glab issue view 123
git checkout -b 123-feature-name

# Create MR when ready
glab mr create --fill --draft

# Mark ready for review
glab mr update --ready

# Merge after approval
glab mr merge --when-pipeline-succeeds --remove-source-branch
```

### Code review

```bash
# List your review queue
glab mr list --reviewer=@me --state=opened

# Review an MR
glab mr checkout 456
glab mr diff
npm test

# Approve
glab mr approve 456
glab mr note 456 -m "LGTM! Nice work on the error handling."
```

### CI/CD debugging

```bash
# Check pipeline status
glab ci status

# View failed jobs
glab ci view

# Get job logs
glab ci trace <job-id>

# Retry failed job
glab ci retry <job-id>
```

## Decision Trees

### "Should I create an MR or work on an issue first?"

```
Need to track work?
├─ Yes → Create issue first (glab issue create)
│         Then: glab mr for <issue-id>
└─ No → Direct MR (glab mr create --fill)
```

**Use `glab issue create` + `glab mr for` when:**
- Work needs discussion/approval before coding
- Tracking feature requests or bugs
- Sprint planning and assignment
- Want issue to auto-close when MR merges

**Use `glab mr create` directly when:**
- Quick fixes or typos
- Working from existing issue
- Hotfixes or urgent changes

### "Which CI command should I use?"

```
What do you need?
├─ Overall pipeline status → glab ci status
├─ Visual pipeline view → glab ci view
├─ Specific job logs → glab ci trace <job-id>
├─ Download build artifacts → glab ci artifact <ref> <job-name>
├─ Validate config file → glab ci lint
├─ Trigger new run → glab ci run
└─ List all pipelines → glab ci list
```

**Quick reference:**
- Pipeline-level: `glab ci status`, `glab ci view`, `glab ci run`
- Job-level: `glab ci trace`, `glab job retry`, `glab job view`
- Artifacts: `glab ci artifact` (by pipeline) or job artifacts via `glab job`

### "Clone or fork?"

```
What's your relationship to the repo?
├─ You have write access → glab repo clone group/project
├─ Contributing to someone else's project:
│   ├─ One-time contribution → glab repo fork + work + MR
│   └─ Ongoing contributions → glab repo fork, then sync regularly
└─ Just reading/exploring → glab repo clone (or view --web)
```

**Fork when:**
- You don't have write access to the original repo
- Contributing to open source projects
- Experimenting without affecting the original
- Need your own copy for long-term work

**Clone when:**
- You're a project member with write access
- Working on organization/team repositories
- No need for a personal copy

### "Project vs group labels?"

```
Where should the label live?
├─ Used across multiple projects → glab label create --group <group>
└─ Specific to one project → glab label create (in project directory)
```

**Group-level labels:**
- Consistent labeling across organization
- Examples: priority::high, type::bug, status::blocked
- Managed centrally, inherited by projects

**Project-level labels:**
- Project-specific workflows
- Examples: needs-ux-review, deploy-to-staging
- Managed by project maintainers

## Related Skills

**MR and Issue workflows:**
- Start with `glab-issue` to create/track work
- Use `glab-mr` to create MR that closes issue
- Script: `scripts/create-mr-from-issue.sh` automates this

**CI/CD debugging:**
- Use `glab-ci` for pipeline-level operations
- Use `glab-job` for individual job operations
- Script: `scripts/ci-debug.sh` for quick failure diagnosis

**Repository operations:**
- Use `glab-repo` for repository management
- Use `glab-auth` for authentication setup
- Script: `scripts/sync-fork.sh` for fork synchronization

**Configuration:**
- Use `glab-auth` for initial authentication
- Use `glab-config` to set defaults and preferences
- Use `glab-alias` for custom shortcuts