GitLab Merge Request Workflow

Complete guide for managing the MR lifecycle. Each section shows the glab way first, then the git + curl fallback for machines without glab.

Prerequisites

• Authenticated with GitLab (see gitlab-auth skill)
• Inside a git repository with a GitLab remote

Quick Auth Detection

# Determine which method to use throughout this workflow
if command -v glab &>/dev/null && glab auth status &>/dev/null; then
  AUTH="glab"
else
  AUTH="git"
  # Ensure we have a token for API calls
  if [ -z "$GITLAB_TOKEN" ]; then
    if _alice_env="${ALICE_HOME:-$HOME/.alice}/.env"; [ -f "$_alice_env" ] && grep -q "^GITLAB_TOKEN=" "$_alice_env"; then
      GITLAB_TOKEN=$(grep "^GITLAB_TOKEN=" "$_alice_env" | head -1 | cut -d= -f2 | tr -d '\n\r')
    elif grep -q "github.com" ~/.git-credentials 2>/dev/null; then
      GITLAB_TOKEN=$(grep "${GITLAB_HOST:-gitlab\.com}" ~/.git-credentials 2>/dev/null | head -1 | sed 's|https://[^:]*:\([^@]*\)@.*|\1|')
    fi
  fi
fi
echo "Using: $AUTH"

Extracting Owner/Repo from the Git Remote

Many curl commands need owner/repo. Extract it from the git remote:

# Works for both HTTPS and SSH remote URLs
REMOTE_URL=$(git remote get-url origin)
OWNER_REPO=$(echo "$REMOTE_URL" | sed -E 's|.*${GITLAB_HOST:-gitlab\.com}[:/]||; s|\.git$||')
OWNER=$(echo "$OWNER_REPO" | cut -d/ -f1)
REPO=$(echo "$OWNER_REPO" | cut -d/ -f2)
echo "Owner: $OWNER, Repo: $REPO"

1. Branch Creation

This part is pure git — identical either way:

# Make sure you're up to date
git fetch origin
git checkout main && git pull origin main

# Create and switch to a new branch
git checkout -b feat/add-user-authentication

Branch naming conventions:

• feat/description — new features
• fix/description — bug fixes
• refactor/description — code restructuring
• docs/description — documentation
• ci/description — CI/CD changes

2. Making Commits

Use the agent's file tools (write_file, patch) to make changes, then commit:

# Stage specific files
git add src/auth.py src/models/user.py tests/test_auth.py

# Commit with a conventional commit message
git commit -m "feat: add JWT-based user authentication

- Add login/register endpoints
- Add User model with password hashing
- Add auth middleware for protected routes
- Add unit tests for auth flow"

Commit message format (Conventional Commits):

type(scope): short description

Longer explanation if needed. Wrap at 72 characters.

Types: feat, fix, refactor, docs, test, ci, chore, perf

3. Pushing and Creating an MR

Push the Branch (same either way)

git push -u origin HEAD

Create the MR

With glab:

glab mr create \
  --title "feat: add JWT-based user authentication" \
  --body "## Summary
- Adds login and register API endpoints
- JWT token generation and validation

## Test Plan
- [ ] Unit tests pass

Closes #42"

Options: --draft, --reviewer user1,user2, --label "enhancement", --base develop

With git + curl:

BRANCH=$(git branch --show-current)

curl -s -X POST \
  -H "PRIVATE-TOKEN: $GITLAB_TOKEN" \
  -H "Accept: application/vnd.github.v3+json" \
  https://\${GITLAB_HOST:-gitlab.com}/api/v4/projects/$OWNER/$REPO/merge_requests \
  -d "{
    \"title\": \"feat: add JWT-based user authentication\",
    \"body\": \"## Summary\nAdds login and register API endpoints.\n\nCloses #42\",
    \"head\": \"$BRANCH\",
    \"base\": \"main\"
  }"

The response JSON includes the MR number — save it for later commands.

To create as a draft, add "draft": true to the JSON body.

4. Monitoring CI Status

Check CI Status

With glab:

# One-shot check
glab mr ci

# Watch until all checks finish (polls every 10s)
glab mr ci --watch

With git + curl:

# Get the latest commit SHA on the current branch
SHA=$(git rev-parse HEAD)

# Query the combined status
curl -s \
  -H "PRIVATE-TOKEN: $GITLAB_TOKEN" \
  https://\${GITLAB_HOST:-gitlab.com}/api/v4/projects/$OWNER/$REPO/repository/commits/$SHA/status \
  | python3 -c "
import sys, json
data = json.load(sys.stdin)
print(f\"Overall: {data['state']}\")
for s in data.get('statuses', []):
    print(f\"  {s['context']}: {s['state']} - {s.get('description', '')}\")"

# Also check GitLab CI check runs (separate endpoint)
curl -s \
  -H "PRIVATE-TOKEN: $GITLAB_TOKEN" \
  https://\${GITLAB_HOST:-gitlab.com}/api/v4/projects/$OWNER/$REPO/repository/commits/$SHA/check-runs \
  | python3 -c "
import sys, json
data = json.load(sys.stdin)
for cr in data.get('check_runs', []):
    print(f\"  {cr['name']}: {cr['status']} / {cr['conclusion'] or 'pending'}\")"

Poll Until Complete (git + curl)

# Simple polling loop — check every 30 seconds, up to 10 minutes
SHA=$(git rev-parse HEAD)
for i in $(seq 1 20); do
  STATUS=$(curl -s \
    -H "PRIVATE-TOKEN: $GITLAB_TOKEN" \
    https://\${GITLAB_HOST:-gitlab.com}/api/v4/projects/$OWNER/$REPO/repository/commits/$SHA/status \
    | python3 -c "import sys,json; print(json.load(sys.stdin)['state'])")
  echo "Check $i: $STATUS"
  if [ "$STATUS" = "success" ] || [ "$STATUS" = "failure" ] || [ "$STATUS" = "error" ]; then
    break
  fi
  sleep 30
done

5. Auto-Fixing CI Failures

When CI fails, diagnose and fix. This loop works with either auth method.

Step 1: Get Failure Details

With glab:

# List recent workflow runs on this branch
glab ci list --branch $(git branch --show-current) --limit 5

# View failed logs
glab ci view <RUN_ID> --log-failed

With git + curl:

BRANCH=$(git branch --show-current)

# List workflow runs on this branch
curl -s \
  -H "PRIVATE-TOKEN: $GITLAB_TOKEN" \
  "https://\${GITLAB_HOST:-gitlab.com}/api/v4/projects/$OWNER/$REPO/actions/runs?branch=$BRANCH&per_page=5" \
  | python3 -c "
import sys, json
runs = json.load(sys.stdin)['workflow_runs']
for r in runs:
    print(f\"Run {r['id']}: {r['name']} - {r['conclusion'] or r['status']}\")"

# Get failed job logs (download as zip, extract, read)
RUN_ID=<run_id>
curl -s -L \
  -H "PRIVATE-TOKEN: $GITLAB_TOKEN" \
  https://\${GITLAB_HOST:-gitlab.com}/api/v4/projects/$OWNER/$REPO/actions/runs/$RUN_ID/logs \
  -o /tmp/ci-logs.zip
cd /tmp && unzip -o ci-logs.zip -d ci-logs && cat ci-logs/*.txt

Step 2: Fix and Push

After identifying the issue, use file tools (patch, write_file) to fix it:

git add <fixed_files>
git commit -m "fix: resolve CI failure in <check_name>"
git push

Step 3: Verify

Re-check CI status using the commands from Section 4 above.

Auto-Fix Loop Pattern

When asked to auto-fix CI, follow this loop:

1. Check CI status → identify failures
2. Read failure logs → understand the error
3. Use read_file + patch/write_file → fix the code
4. git add . && git commit -m "fix: ..." && git push
5. Wait for CI → re-check status
6. Repeat if still failing (up to 3 attempts, then ask the user)

6. Merging

With glab:

# Squash merge + delete branch (cleanest for feature branches)
glab mr merge --squash --delete-branch

# Enable auto-merge (merges when all checks pass)
glab mr merge --auto --squash --delete-branch

With git + curl:

MR_NUMBER=<number>

# Merge the MR via API (squash)
curl -s -X PUT \
  -H "PRIVATE-TOKEN: $GITLAB_TOKEN" \
  https://\${GITLAB_HOST:-gitlab.com}/api/v4/projects/$OWNER/$REPO/merge_requests/$MR_NUMBER/merge \
  -d "{
    \"merge_method\": \"squash\",
    \"commit_title\": \"feat: add user authentication (#$MR_NUMBER)\"
  }"

# Delete the remote branch after merge
BRANCH=$(git branch --show-current)
git push origin --delete $BRANCH

# Switch back to main locally
git checkout main && git pull origin main
git branch -d $BRANCH

Merge methods: "merge" (merge commit), "squash", "rebase"

Enable Auto-Merge (curl)

# Auto-merge requires the repo to have it enabled in settings.
# This uses the GraphQL API since REST doesn't support auto-merge.
PR_NODE_ID=$(curl -s \
  -H "PRIVATE-TOKEN: $GITLAB_TOKEN" \
  https://\${GITLAB_HOST:-gitlab.com}/api/v4/projects/$OWNER/$REPO/merge_requests/$MR_NUMBER \
  | python3 -c "import sys,json; print(json.load(sys.stdin)['node_id'])")

curl -s -X POST \
  -H "PRIVATE-TOKEN: $GITLAB_TOKEN" \
  https://\${GITLAB_HOST:-gitlab.com}/api/v4/graphql \
  -d "{\"query\": \"mutation { enablePullRequestAutoMerge(input: {pullRequestId: \\\"$PR_NODE_ID\\\", mergeMethod: SQUASH}) { clientMutationId } }\"}"

7. Complete Workflow Example

# 1. Start from clean main
git checkout main && git pull origin main

# 2. Branch
git checkout -b fix/login-redirect-bug

# 3. (Agent makes code changes with file tools)

# 4. Commit
git add src/auth/login.py tests/test_login.py
git commit -m "fix: correct redirect URL after login

Preserves the ?next= parameter instead of always redirecting to /dashboard."

# 5. Push
git push -u origin HEAD

# 6. Create MR (picks glab or curl based on what's available)
# ... (see Section 3)

# 7. Monitor CI (see Section 4)

# 8. Merge when green (see Section 6)

Useful MR Commands Reference