glab-tool

Wraps the GitLab CLI and REST API to return structured TOON output for issues, merge requests, and pipelines.

Updated Jul 28, 2026

Search Tags:#devops #cli #issue tracking #gitlab #merge requests #glab #ci/cd pipelines

One-click install

npx skills add https://github.com/vinzenz/workflows --skill glab-tool-vinzenz

Or copy as Structured Prompt for Agent▼

Please help me install this Agent Skill.
Skill: glab-tool
Source: https://github.com/vinzenz/workflows/tree/main/.agents/skills/glab-tool
Command: npx skills add https://github.com/vinzenz/workflows --skill glab-tool-vinzenz

SYSTEM DOCUMENTATION & REQUIREMENTS

What problem does it solve? Agents working with GitLab waste tokens parsing the human-shaped output of the raw `glab` CLI and often misapply GitHub conventions (pull requests, `open` states, two-segment repo paths) to GitLab's different model. This Skill provides a wrapper that returns compact, structured TOON output with explicit counts, stable keys, and runnable next-step suggestions. ## Core Features & Use Cases - Full GitLab domain coverage: Read and mutate issues, merge requests, CI/CD pipelines and job logs, releases, labels, milestones, CI/CD variables, and pipeline schedules. - Pipeline failure diagnosis: Run `glab-tool ci jobs` then `glab-tool ci trace` to get the tail of a failed job log with ANSI codes stripped. - Safe mutations: Every write subcommand supports `--dry-run`, destructive commands require `--yes`, and secrets are never echoed unless `--reveal` is passed. - Use Case: An agent investigating a failing merge request runs `glab-tool` for the home view, inspects the latest pipeline, traces the failing job log, and comments on the MR — all through structured output it can branch on. ## Quick Start Ask the agent to use glab-tool to list the open merge requests in the current GitLab project and show why the latest pipeline failed.

Frequently Asked Questions about glab-tool

High-intent search queries and answers about installing and using this skill.

FAQPage Schema

How do I manage GitLab issues and merge requests from the command line?▼

Use glab-tool, which wraps the glab CLI and GitLab REST API to list, view, create, and update issues and merge requests. It returns structured TOON output with counts and suggested next commands instead of human-formatted text.

How to debug a failed GitLab CI pipeline from the terminal?▼

Run glab-tool ci jobs to list the pipeline's jobs, then glab-tool ci trace to fetch the tail of a failing job's log with ANSI color codes stripped. This avoids dumping the full colored log into context.

What is the difference between GitLab and GitHub CLI conventions?▼

GitLab uses merge requests referenced as !12 versus GitHub pull requests, states like opened/merged/locked instead of open/closed, and project paths with subgroups like group/subgroup/project. glab-tool always uses GitLab's iid and native state words.

Does glab-tool work with self-hosted GitLab instances?▼

Yes, self-hosted GitLab is the primary target. Set the host with --hostname or GITLAB_HOST, or let it resolve from the origin git remote; there is deliberately no gitlab.com fallback to avoid querying the wrong instance.

Can glab-tool make destructive changes to my GitLab project?▼

All write subcommands accept --dry-run, which returns a would_* preview with zero mutating calls. Destructive commands like delete additionally require --yes, and CI/CD variable values are never printed unless --reveal is passed.

When should I use raw glab instead of glab-tool?▼

Use plain glab for operations glab-tool deliberately does not wrap: glab auth, glab repo clone, glab mr checkout, and other commands that touch the local git working tree. For uncovered API endpoints, use glab-tool api get.