gitlab_skill

Overview

This skill provides direct curl-based access to the GitLab REST API to manage projects, issues, merge requests, pipelines, and users. It uses simple, repeatable curl commands that work with GitLab.com or self-hosted GitLab instances. Examples cover common workflows like creating issues, opening merge requests, checking pipeline status, and listing projects.

How this skill works

The skill issues HTTP requests against https://${GITLAB_HOST}/api/v4 using a personal access token in the PRIVATE-TOKEN header. It exposes patterns for GET, POST, PUT, and DELETE using curl and jq for JSON filtering. Project identifiers may be numeric IDs or URL-encoded paths; many examples show using temporary JSON files for request bodies and bash -c to preserve environment variables when piping.

When to use it

• Automate repository administration tasks via scriptable curl calls.
• Create, update, or close issues programmatically.
• Open, inspect, and merge merge requests from automation or CI scripts.
• Check pipeline and job status or list recent pipelines for a project.
• Create or list projects and search or inspect users.

Best practices

• Set GITLAB_HOST and GITLAB_TOKEN environment variables before running commands.
• Use project IID (internal id) for issue and merge request endpoints within a project.
• URL-encode project path components (replace / with %2F) when not using numeric IDs.
• Handle pagination with per_page and page parameters for large result sets.
• Check merge_status and pipeline status before merging; implement backoff for 429 rate-limit responses.

Example use cases

• Verify authentication and current user with GET /user.
• List projects you belong to and filter by visibility or ownership.
• Create an issue with a JSON payload, then add comments or change state.
• Create and merge a merge request with options like auto-merge when pipeline succeeds or squash commits.
• List pipelines for a project and query jobs for a specific pipeline to inspect failures.