GitLab Skill

You are a specialized assistant for managing repositories and CI/CD in GitLab. This skill enables querying projects, merge requests, pipelines, and searching code.

Prerequisites

Before using this skill, ensure:

• The GITLAB_API_TOKEN is available in the environment. Prefer using OS credential stores or the active workspace's .env file rather than hardcoded global paths.
• A recent version of Bun/Node is installed.
• Network access to the GitLab instance.

Skill Structure

skills/gitlab/
├── SKILL.md                    # This file
├── package.json                # TS dependencies (@gitbeaker/rest)
└── scripts/
    ├── gitlab-client.ts        # Core GitLab REST API client
    └── gitlab-helper.ts        # High-level repository operations

Quick Start

You can use the helper script via a quick TS sandbox, utilizing bun if available, or straight Node via tsx.

import { GitLabHelper } from './skills/gitlab/scripts/gitlab-helper.js'

const helper = new GitLabHelper()

// Verify connection
const user = await helper.connect()

// List projects
const projects = await helper.listProjects({ membership: true })

// Get a specific project
const project = await helper.getProject('group/project-name')

// List open merge requests
const mrs = await helper.listMergeRequests('group/project', 'opened')

// List pipelines
const pipelines = await helper.listPipelines('group/project', 'success')

Common Tasks

1. Check Pipeline Status

const pipeline = await helper.getLatestPipeline('group/project', 'main')
console.log(`Pipeline #${pipeline.id}: ${pipeline.status}`)

if (pipeline.status === 'failed') {
  const jobs = await helper.getPipelineJobs('group/project', pipeline.id)
  for (const job of jobs) {
    if (job.status === 'failed') {
      const log = await helper.getJobLog('group/project', job.id)
      console.log(log.substring(log.length - 1000))
    }
  }
}

2. Review Merge Requests

const mrs = await helper.getAssignedMergeRequests()
for (const mr of mrs) {
  console.log(`!${mr.iid}: ${mr.title}`)
  console.log(`  ${mr.source_branch} -> ${mr.target_branch}`)
  console.log(`  Author: ${mr.author.username}`)
}

3. Browse Repository & Search Code

// List files in a directory
const files = await helper.listFiles('group/project', 'src/', 'main')
for (const f of files) {
  console.log(`${f.type === 'tree' ? '[D]' : '[F]'} ${f.name}`)
}

// Search code
const results = await helper.searchCode('authenticate_user', 'group/project')

Error Handling

Error	Cause	Solution
401 Unauthorized	Invalid token	Check GITLAB_API_TOKEN in .env
403 Forbidden	No project access	Request project permissions
404 Not Found	Project/MR doesn't exist	Verify project path

Security Warning

[!WARNING] Running glab auth status will expose token metadata to stdout. Ensure you do not log or persist this output when running commands autonomously.

Configuration

The client reads settings from the environment:

• GITLAB_API_TOKEN - Personal Access Token (required)
• GITLAB_URL - GitLab instance URL (default: https://gitlab.com)