glab-issue

glab issue

Create, view, update, and manage GitLab issues.

Quick start

# Create an issue
glab issue create --title "Fix login bug" --label bug

# Create or update with a multi-line description from a file
glab issue create --title "Fix login bug" --description-file description.md
glab issue update 123 --description-file description.md

# Upload a screenshot and append its Markdown reference
glab issue create --title "Fix login bug" --description "See below." --attach ./repro.png
glab issue update 123 --attach ./after.png

# List open issues
glab issue list --state opened

# View issue details
glab issue view 123

# View or comment on an issue/work item from a GitLab URL
glab issue view https://gitlab.com/group/project/-/work_items/123

glab issue note https://gitlab.com/group/project/-/issues/123 -m "Working on this now"

# Add comment
glab issue note 123 -m "Working on this now"

# Close issue
glab issue close 123

Common workflows

Issue and work item URL inputs

Issue argument parsing accepts GitLab work item URLs in addition to issue URLs where the glab issue subcommand resolves an issue argument. This is URL compatibility for issue-style operations such as view, note, update, close, and related commands; use glab work-items when you need dedicated work item fields or work-item-specific lifecycle behavior.

glab issue view https://gitlab.com/group/project/-/work_items/123
glab issue note https://gitlab.com/group/project/-/work_items/123 -m "Follow-up note"
glab issue update https://gitlab.com/group/project/-/work_items/123 --label needs-triage

Bug reporting workflow

1. Create bug issue:

   glab issue create \
     --title "Login fails with 500 error" \
     --label bug \
     --label priority::high \
     --assignee @dev-lead
   

   If your project keeps reusable issue templates in-repo, use --template to start from a template file instead of pasting recurring boilerplate:

   glab issue create \
     --title "Login fails with 500 error" \
     --template .gitlab/issue_templates/bug.md \
     --label bug
   

   For one-off multi-line descriptions, use --description-file <path> or --description-file - for stdin. It is mutually exclusive with --description; on create, it is also mutually exclusive with --template. A file containing exactly - is rejected because --description - means "open an editor".

   Use the experimental --attach <path> repeatedly to upload one or more local files and append GitLab-provided Markdown references to the description. --attach - reads one attachment from standard input; do not combine it with --description-file -, because both would consume stdin. On create, --title plus an attachment is enough for non-interactive operation. On update, attachments append to the existing description unless --description or --description-file supplies a replacement body.

2. Add reproduction steps:

   glab issue note 456 -m "Steps to reproduce:
   1. Navigate to /login
   2. Enter valid credentials
   3. Click submit
   Expected: Dashboard loads
   Actual: 500 error"
   
   # A file can accompany a message or be the entire comment
   glab issue note 456 -m "Screenshot from production" --attach ./repro.png
   

   Repeat --attach to preserve multiple uploads in argument order. An attachment-only note skips the editor; use --attach - when piping a single file through stdin.

Issue triage

1. List untriaged issues:

   glab issue list --label needs-triage --state opened
   

2. Update labels and assignee:

   glab issue update 789 \
     --label backend,priority::medium \
     --assignee @backend-team \
     --milestone "Sprint 23"
   
   glab issue update 789 --description-file triage-summary.md
   

3. Remove triage label:

   glab issue update 789 --unlabel needs-triage
   

Batch labeling:

For applying labels to multiple issues at once, use the script bundled with this skill under scripts/ (paths below are relative to the skill's own directory):

scripts/batch-label-issues.sh "priority::high" 100 101 102
scripts/batch-label-issues.sh bug 200 201 202 203

Sprint planning

View current sprint issues:

glab issue list --milestone "Sprint 23" --assignee @me

Add to sprint:

glab issue update 456 --milestone "Sprint 23"

Board view:

glab issue board view

# Retrieve every project/group board issue instead of only the first API page
glab issue board view --paginate

Use --paginate for complete board triage when a board can exceed one API page. Without it, the interactive board uses the first page returned by GitLab. The option works for both project and group board issue retrieval and can be combined with --assignee, --labels, or --milestone filters.

Linking issues to work

Create MR for issue:

glab mr for 456  # Creates MR that closes issue #456

Automated workflow (create branch + draft MR):

scripts/create-mr-from-issue.sh 456 --create-mr

This automatically: creates branch from issue title → empty commit → pushes → creates draft MR.

Close via commit/MR:

git commit -m "Fix login bug

Closes #456"

Related Skills

Creating MRs from issues:

• See glab-mr for merge request operations
• Use glab mr for <issue-id> to create MR that closes issue
• Script: scripts/create-mr-from-issue.sh automates branch creation + draft MR

Label management:

• See glab-label for creating and managing labels
• Script: scripts/batch-label-issues.sh for bulk labeling operations

Project planning:

• See glab-milestone for release planning
• See glab-iteration for sprint/iteration management

Command reference

For complete command documentation and all flags, see references/commands.md.

Available commands:

• create - Create new issue
• list - List issues with filters
• view - Display issue details
• note - Add comment to issue
• update - Update title, labels, assignees, milestone
• close - Close issue
• reopen - Reopen closed issue
• delete - Delete issue
• subscribe / unsubscribe - Manage notifications
• board - Work with issue boards