glab issue

Create, view, update, and manage GitLab issues.

Template selection

For create --template, a bare name (with optional .md) resolves under the repository's .gitlab/issue_templates/ directory. An absolute path or a path containing a separator is read directly; relative paths use the current directory and ~/ is supported. Use ./template.md for a file in the current directory, rather than a bare template name. Read and approve the file contents before posting them; --description-file remains mutually exclusive with --template.

Assignment, dates, and internal notes

issue list --assignee @none selects unassigned issues; --assignee @any selects assigned issues, while @me selects your issues. Date filters are --created-after, --created-before, --updated-after, and --updated-before, with RFC 3339 timestamps including the timezone. Group listing preserves --confidential and --iteration filters.

glab issue list --assignee @none --updated-after 2026-10-01T00:00:00Z
glab issue note 123 --internal --message "Investigation details for project members"

--internal requests an internal note visible only to project members; confirm the target and audience before posting, and never include credentials. issue view displays human-readable time spent and estimated time when available; prefer JSON for automation.

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

# Stable machine-readable output
glab issue list --output json

# 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
   

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   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
   

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   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
   

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   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

The text list header uses the API's total issue count for project and group lists, separately from the number of rows on the current page. When the API omits the total, or when listing client-filtered epic issues, glab does not invent a total from the page length. JSON output still contains the fetched issue rows; the corrected header does not fetch additional pages.

glab issue list validates both output selectors before making the request: --output accepts only text or json, while --output-format accepts only details, ids, or urls. The two selectors are mutually exclusive. Treat an immediate “must be one of” error as invalid local input rather than a GitLab API failure.

1. List untriaged issues:

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

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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
   

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3. Remove triage label:

   glab issue update 789 --unlabel needs-triage
   

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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

Time tracking

# Set an estimate and add spent time
glab issue update 42 --estimate 2d --spend 1h30m

# Reset both values after confirming the intended issue
glab issue update 42 --remove-estimate --remove-time-spent

Durations use GitLab's time tracking format, such as 1mo 2w 3d 4h 5m. --estimate sets the estimate; --spend adds to existing spent time. Each reset flag conflicts with its corresponding set/add flag. These are update flags; issue creation uses --time-estimate and --time-spent.

Time-only updates skip the general issue-update request. When combined with other edits, those edits run first, followed by separate time-tracking requests. A later failure can leave earlier changes applied. Inspect the issue before retrying, especially before repeating additive --spend.

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, and time tracking
• close - Close issue
• reopen - Reopen closed issue
• delete - Delete issue
• subscribe / unsubscribe - Manage notifications
• board - Work with issue boards