GitLab CLI (glab) Integration

Manage GitLab repositories, merge requests, CI/CD, variables, and runners with glab CLI.

Prerequisites

glab auth status

If authentication fails, see [Authentication Setup](#authentication-setup).

General Rules

1. Prefer native glab commands over glab api — native commands handle URL encoding via -R <repo>.
2. Strip ANSI codes when analyzing job logs: | sed 's/\x1b\[[0-9;]*m//g'
3. Avoid TUI commands (glab ci view) — crashes in non-interactive environments.
4. URL encoding: When using glab api, encode / as %2F in project paths.
5. JSON output: Use --output=json or -F json with jq for scripting and automation.
6. API pagination: Use glab api --paginate "endpoint?per_page=100" to auto-fetch all pages.
7. Repo context: glab auto-detects repo from git remote; use -R owner/repo when outside a repo directory.

Quick Reference

Authentication Setup

Check Status

glab auth status

Token Expired or Not Initialized

If you see token expired, unauthorized, or failed to authenticate:

Step 1: Create a Personal Access Token

1. Open: https://gitlab.domain.com/-/usersettings/personalaccess_tokens
2. Create token with scopes: api and write_repository
3. Copy the token immediately

Step 2: Authenticate

echo "<YOUR_TOKEN>" | glab auth login --hostname gitlab.domain.com --stdin --git-protocol ssh

Step 3: Verify

glab auth status

Token Rotation (Auto-Renew Before Expiry)

IMPORTANT — Proactive Token Rotation: When any glab command fails with token expired, 401 Unauthorized, or failed to authenticate, first attempt to rotate the token automatically before asking the user to manually create one.

Check token expiry:

glab api personal_access_tokens/self --hostname gitlab.domain.com | jq '{name, expires_at, active, scopes}'

Rotate using the bundled script:

~/.claude/skills/glab-cli/scripts/rotate-gitlab-token --hostname gitlab.domain.com --yes

• The --yes flag skips the interactive confirmation (required for agent use).
• The script rotates the current token, sets a new expiry date 1 year from today, and automatically updates glab auth.
• The old token is immediately revoked after rotation.
• Requires GitLab 16.0+ for the Rotation API.

When rotation fails (token already expired or GitLab < 16.0), fall back to the manual flow above.

Refresh OAuth Token

glab auth refresh --hostname gitlab.domain.com

Note: Only works for OAuth (interactive login), not PAT (--stdin).

Repository Management

Create Repository

IMPORTANT: Correct syntax for nested groups

# CORRECT: Use --group for the full group path, repo name separately
glab repo create my-project --group parent/child/subgroup --private

# WRONG: Don't put the full path as the repo name
glab repo create parent/child/subgroup/my-project  # Will fail

Examples:

# In user namespace
glab repo create my-project

# In a group
glab repo create my-project --group my-group

# In nested group with options
glab repo create packer-lab \
  --group my-org/my-team/my-subgroup \
  --description "Project description" \
  --private \
  --defaultBranch main

After creating, glab initializes a new git repo in ./my-project/. If you already have a local repo:

rm -rf ./my-project
git remote add origin [email protected]:group/my-project.git
git push -u origin main

Visibility: --private | --public | --internal

Find Available Groups

glab api "groups?search=devops" | jq -r '.[] | "\(.full_path) (id: \(.id))"'
glab api groups --paginate | jq -r '.[] | .full_path'

Clone Repository

glab repo clone owner/repo
glab repo clone owner/repo target-dir
glab repo clone -g group-name  # Clone all in group

Fork & View

glab repo fork owner/repo
glab repo view
glab repo view --web

Merge Request Operations

Create MR

glab mr create
glab mr create --title "feat: add feature" --description "desc"
glab mr for 123  # From issue

List MRs

glab mr list
glab mr list --assignee=@me
glab mr list --reviewer=@me
glab mr list --state merged --author @me

View & Checkout

glab mr view 123
glab mr view 123 --web
glab mr diff 123
glab mr checkout 123

Code Review (CE Compatible)

glab mr note 123 -m "LGTM! Nice work."
glab mr merge 123
glab mr merge 123 --squash
glab mr merge 123 --when-pipeline-succeeds  # Auto-merge after CI passes
glab mr close 123
glab mr reopen 123

Inline Comment (via API)

glab api projects/:fullpath/merge_requests/123/discussions \
  --method POST \
  -f body="Comment here" \
  -f "position[base_sha]=<base>" \
  -f "position[head_sha]=<head>" \
  -f "position[start_sha]=<start>" \
  -f "position[position_type]=text" \
  -f "position[new_path]=file.go" \
  -f "position[new_line]=42"

Get SHA values: glab mr view 123 --json diffRefs

Premium/EE Only

glab mr approve 123    # Premium/EE only
glab mr revoke 123     # Premium/EE only

CI/CD Pipeline & Jobs

For complete reference including all commands, monitoring patterns, artifacts, and debugging workflows, see [references/cicd-pipelines.md](references/cicd-pipelines.md).

Triggering Jobs — Correct Workflow

IMPORTANT: Do NOT use glab ci run to trigger jobs. glab ci run creates a brand new pipeline via API, which is commonly blocked by workflow:rules (e.g., rules that only allow push or schedule sources). This results in 400 Pipeline filtered out by workflow rules errors.

Instead, always follow this sequence:

1. Check if a pipeline already exists (push events auto-create pipelines):

``bash glab ci list --per-page 3 -F json | jq '.[] | {id, status, ref}' ``

1. Find the target job in the latest pipeline:

``bash glab ci get -p <pipeline-id> --with-job-details -F json | jq '.jobs[] | {id, name, status, stage}' ``

1. Trigger the manual job by job ID:

``bash glab ci trigger <job-id> ``

When to use glab ci run: Only when you need to create a pipeline on a branch that has no recent pipeline AND the project's workflow:rules allow API-triggered pipelines. This is rare — most projects restrict pipeline creation to push/schedule/MR events.

Most Common Operations

# List recent pipelines
glab ci list --per-page 5

# Get pipeline info as JSON
glab ci get -p <pipeline-id> -R <repo> -F json

# Get pipeline jobs
glab ci get -p <pipeline-id> -R <repo> --with-job-details -F json | jq '.jobs[] | {id, name, status, stage}'

# View job logs (strip ANSI codes)
glab ci trace <job-id> -R <repo> | sed 's/\x1b\[[0-9;]*m//g'

# Trigger manual job
glab ci trigger <job-id> -R <repo>

# Retry failed job
glab ci retry <job-id> -R <repo>

# Download artifacts (latest pipeline)
glab job artifact <branch> <job-name> -R <repo>

# Download artifacts (specific job ID, via API)
glab api /projects/<url-encoded-path>/jobs/<job-id>/artifacts > artifacts.zip

# CI lint
glab ci lint

Note: glab job artifact only downloads from the latest pipeline of a branch. For specific job IDs, use the API.

CI/CD Variables

glab variable list
glab variable get MY_VAR
glab variable set MY_VAR "value"
glab variable delete MY_VAR

# Advanced options
glab variable set MY_VAR "value" --protected   # Only on protected branches
glab variable set MY_VAR "value" --masked      # Hidden in logs
glab variable set MY_VAR "value" --scope production
glab variable set MY_CERT --value-file /path/to/cert.pem

# Backup and restore
glab variable export > variables.json
glab variable import < variables.json

Runner Status (via API)

No native runner command exists. Use glab api.

# List project runners
glab api projects/:fullpath/runners | jq '.[] | {id, description, status, is_shared}'

# Online only
glab api projects/:fullpath/runners --field status=online

# Runner details
glab api runners/<runner-id>
glab api runners/<runner-id>/jobs

# Group runners
glab api groups/<group-id>/runners

Errors & Debugging

For common error solutions (401, HTTP 405, namespace not found, TUI panic, URL encoding), see [references/troubleshooting.md](references/troubleshooting.md).

For CI/CD failure debugging workflow (list pipelines -> find failed jobs -> view logs -> retry), see [references/cicd-pipelines.md](references/cicd-pipelines.md#debugging-ci-failures-workflow).