GitLab CLI

Use glab for GitLab issue and merge request operations. Run commands from the repository root so glab can infer the project.

Merge requests

Create one feature branch and one commit before opening its merge request.

git switch -c feat/short-description
git add <files>
git commit -m "feat: short description"
git push -u origin feat/short-description

Create the merge request with an explicit target branch and self-assignment:

glab mr create \
  --title "feat: short description" \
  --description "$(cat <<'EOF'
## Summary
- What changed and why
EOF
)" \
  --target-branch main \
  --assignee @me

Use branch names:

• feat/short-desc
• fix/short-desc
• chore/short-desc

Use conventional commit prefixes in MR titles: feat:, fix:, chore:, refactor:, or docs:.

Use --draft for draft MRs. Never force-push to main.

Read or inspect MRs:

glab mr list
glab mr view <mr-number> --comments
glab mr diff <mr-number>

Issues

Create and inspect issues:

glab issue create --title "Short title" --description "Description"
glab issue view <issue-number> --comments
glab issue list -F json

Use glab issue note <issue-number> --message "..." for comments. Apply labels with glab issue update <issue-number> --label "label"; remove labels with --unlabel. Close an issue with glab issue close <issue-number>.

Authentication

Check authentication before write operations:

glab auth status

If authentication fails, stop. Keep tokens out of commands and output.

Verification

Before opening an MR:

git status --short --branch

After opening an MR, record its URL and inspect its pipeline status with glab mr view <mr-number>.