Merge Request Skill

Merge request operations for GitLab using the glab CLI.

Quick Reference

Operation	Command	Risk
List MRs	glab mr list	-
View MR	glab mr view <id>	-
Create MR	glab mr create	⚠️
Checkout MR	glab mr checkout <id>	-
Approve MR	glab mr approve <id>	⚠️
Merge MR	glab mr merge <id>	⚠️⚠️
Update MR	glab mr update <id>	⚠️
Close MR	glab mr close <id>	⚠️
Reopen MR	glab mr reopen <id>	⚠️
Delete MR	glab mr delete <id>	⚠️⚠️
Rebase MR	glab mr rebase <id>	⚠️

Risk Legend: - Safe | ⚠️ Caution | ⚠️⚠️ Warning | ⚠️⚠️⚠️ Danger

When to Use This Skill

ALWAYS use when:

• User wants to work with merge requests
• User mentions "MR", "merge request", "pull request", or related terms
• User wants to review, approve, or merge code

NEVER use when:

• User wants bulk operations on 10+ MRs (use gitlab-bulk instead)
• User is only searching/filtering MRs (use gitlab-search instead)

Available Commands

List Merge Requests

glab mr list [options]

Options:

Flag	Description
--assignee=@me	Filter by assignee (use @me for yourself)
--reviewer=@me	Filter by reviewer
--author=<username>	Filter by author
--label=<labels>	Filter by comma-separated labels
--state=<state>	Filter by state: opened, closed, merged, all
--source-branch=<branch>	Filter by source branch
--target-branch=<branch>	Filter by target branch
-P, --per-page=<n>	Number of items per page

Examples:

# List MRs assigned to you
glab mr list --assignee=@me

# List review requests for you
glab mr list --reviewer=@me

# List open MRs with specific label
glab mr list --state=opened --label=bug

# List MRs targeting main branch
glab mr list --target-branch=main

View Merge Request Details

glab mr view <id> [options]

Options:

Flag	Description
-w, --web	Open MR in browser
-c, --comments	Show MR comments and notes
-s, --system-logs	Show system activities/logs

Examples:

# View MR details in terminal
glab mr view 123

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

# View MR with comments
glab mr view 123 --comments

Create Merge Request

glab mr create [options]

Options:

Flag	Description
-t, --title=<title>	MR title
-d, --description=<desc>	MR description
-b, --target-branch=<branch>	Target branch (default: default branch)
-f, --fill	Use commit messages for title/description
--draft	Create as draft MR
-a, --assignee=<users>	Comma-separated assignees
-r, --reviewer=<users>	Comma-separated reviewers
-l, --label=<labels>	Comma-separated labels
-m, --milestone=<milestone>	Milestone title
--squash-on-merge	Squash commits on merge
--remove-source-branch	Remove source branch on merge
-w, --web	Open created MR in browser
-y, --yes	Skip confirmation prompts

Examples:

# Create MR with title and description
glab mr create -t "Add new feature" -d "This MR adds..."

# Create MR from commit messages
glab mr create --fill

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

# Create MR with reviewers and labels
glab mr create -t "Fix bug" -r "reviewer1,reviewer2" -l "bug,urgent"

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

Checkout Merge Request Branch

glab mr checkout <id> [options]

Shortcut: glab co <id>

Options:

Flag	Description
-b, --branch=<name>	Local branch name
-t, --track	Set up tracking for the remote branch

Examples:

# Checkout MR branch
glab mr checkout 123

# Checkout with custom local branch name
glab mr checkout 123 -b my-local-branch

# Shortcut
glab co 123

Approve/Revoke Merge Request

# Approve MR
glab mr approve <id>

# Revoke approval
glab mr revoke <id>

# View approvers
glab mr approvers <id>

Merge/Close/Reopen

# Merge MR
glab mr merge <id> [options]

# Close MR
glab mr close <id>

# Reopen closed MR
glab mr reopen <id>

Merge Options:

Flag	Description
-s, --squash	Squash commits
-d, --remove-source-branch	Delete source branch after merge
--when-pipeline-succeeds	Merge when pipeline succeeds
-m, --message=<msg>	Custom merge commit message
-y, --yes	Skip confirmation

Examples:

# Merge with squash
glab mr merge 123 --squash

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

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

Update Merge Request

glab mr update <id> [options]

Options:

Flag	Description
-t, --title=<title>	Update title
-d, --description=<desc>	Update description
-a, --assignee=<users>	Update assignees
-r, --reviewer=<users>	Update reviewers
-l, --label=<labels>	Update labels
--unlabel=<labels>	Remove labels
--draft	Mark as draft
--ready	Mark as ready (remove draft status)
--lock-discussion	Lock discussion
--unlock-discussion	Unlock discussion

Examples:

# Update title
glab mr update 123 -t "New title"

# Add reviewers
glab mr update 123 -r "user1,user2"

# Mark as ready (remove draft)
glab mr update 123 --ready

# Add and remove labels
glab mr update 123 -l "approved" --unlabel "needs-review"

Add Note/Comment

glab mr note <id> -m "<message>"

Examples:

# Add comment
glab mr note 123 -m "LGTM!"

# Add closing note
glab mr note 123 -m "Closing because !456 supersedes this"

Rebase Merge Request

glab mr rebase <id>

View Diff

glab mr diff <id> [options]

Options:

Flag	Description
--color=<when>	When to show color: always, never, auto

Subscribe/Unsubscribe

# Subscribe to MR notifications
glab mr subscribe <id>

# Unsubscribe
glab mr unsubscribe <id>

Add to Todo

glab mr todo <id>

Common Workflows

Workflow 1: Review and Approve

# 1. List MRs assigned for review
glab mr list --reviewer=@me

# 2. View MR details
glab mr view 123

# 3. Checkout to test locally
glab mr checkout 123

# 4. Run tests, review code...

# 5. Approve if good
glab mr approve 123

# 6. Add comment
glab mr note 123 -m "Reviewed and approved. Great work!"

Workflow 2: Create Feature MR

# 1. Create branch and make changes
git checkout -b feature/my-feature

# 2. Commit changes
git add . && git commit -m "Add new feature"

# 3. Push branch
git push -u origin feature/my-feature

# 4. Create MR
glab mr create -t "Add new feature" -d "Description..." --draft

# 5. Mark ready when done
glab mr update <id> --ready

Workflow 3: Quick Fix

# Create MR from current branch with commit info
glab mr create --fill --yes

Troubleshooting

Issue	Cause	Solution
Authentication failed	Invalid/expired token	Run glab auth login
MR not found	Invalid ID or no access	Verify ID with glab mr list
Permission denied	Insufficient rights	Check project permissions
Cannot merge	Conflicts or pipeline failed	Resolve conflicts, wait for pipeline
Branch not found	Source branch deleted	Check if branch exists

Related Documentation

• Safeguards
• Quick Reference