glab-quick-actions

glab quick-actions

Use GitLab quick actions (slash commands) via the glab CLI to batch multiple state changes in a single API call.

Quick start

# Post a single quick action on an issue
glab issue note 123 -m "/assign @alice"

# Batch multiple quick actions in one comment
glab issue note 123 -m "/assign @alice
/label ~bug ~priority::high
/milestone %\"Sprint 5\""

# Post quick actions on a merge request
glab mr note 456 -m "/assign_reviewer @bob
/label ~needs-review
/estimate 2h"

Key concept: batching via CLI

While glab has native commands for many individual operations (glab issue update, glab mr update, etc.), posting quick actions via glab issue note or glab mr note lets you batch multiple state changes atomically in a single API call.

# Native commands — 3 separate API calls
glab issue update 123 --assignee @alice
glab issue update 123 --label bug,priority::high
glab issue update 123 --milestone "Sprint 5"

# Quick actions — 1 API call, same result
glab issue note 123 -m "/assign @alice
/label ~bug ~priority::high
/milestone %\"Sprint 5\""

When batching is the right choice:

• Applying 3+ changes to a single issue/MR
• Scripting triage workflows across multiple items
• Triggering actions not exposed by glab update flags (e.g., /spend, /epic, /promote_to)

Syntax rules

Rule	Detail
Prefix	Every quick action starts with /
Case	Case-insensitive (/Assign = /assign)
Placement	One command per line; can appear anywhere in a comment/description
Parameters	Separated by space after the command name
Labels	Prefix with ~ (e.g., ~bug, ~"priority::high")
Milestones	Prefix with % (e.g., %"Sprint 5")
Users	Prefix with @ (e.g., @alice, @me)
MR/Issue refs	Prefix with # for same-project, group/project#IID for cross-project
Epics	Prefix with & (e.g., &42)
Quoting	Use quotes for multi-word values: ~"priority::high", %"Sprint 5"
Ignored text	Non-quick-action lines are posted as normal comment text

---

Issue quick actions

Assignment

Command	Parameters	Description
/assign	@user [@user2 ...]	Assign one or more users
/unassign	@user [@user2 ...] or none	Remove specific assignees or clear all
/reassign	@user [@user2 ...]	Replace all assignees with given users

glab issue note 123 -m "/assign @alice @bob"
glab issue note 123 -m "/reassign @charlie"
glab issue note 123 -m "/unassign"

Labels

Command	Parameters	Description
/label	~label1 ~label2 ...	Add labels
/unlabel	~label1 ... or none	Remove specific labels or clear all
/relabel	~label1 ...	Replace all labels with given ones

glab issue note 123 -m "/label ~bug ~\"priority::high\""
glab issue note 123 -m "/relabel ~\"type::feature\""
glab issue note 123 -m "/unlabel ~needs-triage"

Milestone & scheduling

Command	Parameters	Description
/milestone	%milestone	Set milestone
/remove_milestone	—	Remove milestone
/due	<date>	Set due date (YYYY-MM-DD, tomorrow, next week)
/remove_due_date	—	Remove due date

glab issue note 123 -m "/milestone %\"Sprint 5\""
glab issue note 123 -m "/due 2024-03-31"
glab issue note 123 -m "/due next week"

Time tracking

Command	Parameters	Description
/estimate	<time>	Set time estimate (e.g., 1h30m, 3d)
/remove_estimate	—	Remove time estimate
/spend	<time> [<date>]	Log time spent (e.g., 2h, -30m to subtract)
/remove_time_spent	—	Remove all time spent

glab issue note 123 -m "/estimate 4h"
glab issue note 123 -m "/spend 1h30m 2024-03-15"
glab issue note 123 -m "/spend -30m"

State changes

Command	Parameters	Description
/close	—	Close the issue
/reopen	—	Reopen a closed issue
/confidential	—	Make issue confidential
/done	—	Mark as done (for todos)
/todo	—	Add to your to-do list

glab issue note 123 -m "/close"
glab issue note 123 -m "/reopen"

Relations

Command	Parameters	Description
/duplicate	#issue	Mark as duplicate of another issue
/relate	#issue [#issue2 ...]	Add related issue links
/blocks	#issue [#issue2 ...]	This issue blocks others
/blocked_by	#issue [#issue2 ...]	This issue is blocked by others
/unrelate	#issue	Remove relation to another issue

glab issue note 123 -m "/duplicate #456"
glab issue note 123 -m "/relate #789 #790"
glab issue note 123 -m "/blocks #800"

Planning & hierarchy

Command	Parameters	Description
/epic	&epic or group&epic	Add to epic
/remove_epic	—	Remove from epic
/iteration	*iteration:"name"	Set iteration/sprint
/remove_iteration	—	Remove iteration
/weight	<number>	Set issue weight
/clear_weight	—	Clear issue weight
/health_status	on_track, needs_attention, at_risk	Set health status
/clear_health_status	—	Remove health status
/board_move	~list-label	Move issue to board list

glab issue note 123 -m "/epic &42"
glab issue note 123 -m "/iteration *iteration:\"Sprint 7\""
glab issue note 123 -m "/weight 3"
glab issue note 123 -m "/health_status on_track"

Advanced

Command	Parameters	Description
/copy_metadata	#issue or !mr	Copy labels and milestone from another item
/clone	[path/to/project]	Clone issue to another project
/move	path/to/project	Move issue to another project
/create_merge_request	[branch-name]	Create MR from this issue
/promote_to	incident or epic	Promote issue to another type

glab issue note 123 -m "/copy_metadata #456"
glab issue note 123 -m "/move group/other-project"
glab issue note 123 -m "/create_merge_request 123-my-feature"
glab issue note 123 -m "/promote_to incident"

---

MR quick actions

Approval

Command	Parameters	Description
/approve	—	Approve the MR
/unapprove	—	Remove your approval

glab mr note 456 -m "/approve"

Assignment

Command	Parameters	Description
/assign	@user [@user2 ...]	Assign MR to one or more users
/unassign	@user ... or none	Remove assignees
/reassign	@user ...	Replace all assignees
/assign_reviewer	@user [@user2 ...]	Add reviewer(s)
/unassign_reviewer	@user ... or none	Remove reviewer(s)
/reassign_reviewer	@user ...	Replace all reviewers
/request_review	@user [@user2 ...]	Request review from user(s)

glab mr note 456 -m "/assign_reviewer @alice @bob
/label ~needs-review"

Labels & milestone

Command	Parameters	Description
/label	~label1 ...	Add labels
/unlabel	~label1 ... or none	Remove labels
/relabel	~label1 ...	Replace all labels
/milestone	%milestone	Set milestone
/remove_milestone	—	Remove milestone

Time tracking

Command	Parameters	Description
/estimate	<time>	Set time estimate
/remove_estimate	—	Remove time estimate
/spend	<time> [<date>]	Log time spent
/remove_time_spent	—	Remove all time spent

Merge control

Command	Parameters	Description
/merge	—	Merge when pipeline succeeds
/draft	—	Mark MR as draft
/ready	—	Mark MR as ready for review
/rebase	—	Rebase source branch on target
/squash	—	Enable squash on merge
/target_branch	<branch>	Change target branch

glab mr note 456 -m "/approve
/merge"

glab mr note 456 -m "/draft"
glab mr note 456 -m "/ready
/assign_reviewer @lead"

State & other

Command	Parameters	Description
/close	—	Close the MR
/reopen	—	Reopen a closed MR
/copy_metadata	#issue or !mr	Copy labels and milestone from another item
/react	:emoji:	Add emoji reaction
/title	<new title>	Change MR title
/todo	—	Add to your to-do list
/done	—	Mark todo as done
/subscribe	—	Subscribe to MR notifications
/unsubscribe	—	Unsubscribe from MR notifications
/relate	#issue [#issue2 ...]	Add related issue links
/blocks	#issue [#issue2 ...]	This MR blocks issues
/blocked_by	#issue [#issue2 ...]	This MR is blocked by issues

---

When to use quick actions vs native glab commands

Scenario	Recommended approach
Single field update	glab issue update / glab mr update (explicit flags)
3+ changes at once	Quick actions batch in one comment
Action not in update flags	Quick actions (e.g., /spend, /epic, /promote_to, /rebase)
Scripting triage of many items	Loop with glab issue note quick actions
Need flag autocomplete	Native glab update commands
Audit trail via comment	Quick actions (visible in activity feed)
Approve + merge atomically	/approve then /merge in same comment

Decision guide

Do you need to update a single field?
├─ Yes → Use native glab command (e.g., glab issue update --label)
│
├─ No, multiple fields at once?
│   ├─ 2-3 fields supported by --flags → native glab update
│   └─ 3+ fields OR unsupported fields → quick actions batch
│
└─ Is the action not available in glab update?
    └─ Yes → Quick actions only (e.g., /spend, /epic, /promote_to, /rebase, /merge)

---

Automation examples

Triage script: label + assign + milestone in one pass

#!/usr/bin/env bash
# triage-issues.sh — apply triage metadata to a list of issue IDs
# Usage: ./triage-issues.sh 123 456 789

ASSIGNEE="${ASSIGNEE:-@me}"
LABEL="${LABEL:-~needs-triage}"
MILESTONE="${MILESTONE:-%\"Sprint 5\"}"

for IID in "$@"; do
  glab issue note "$IID" -m "/assign $ASSIGNEE
/label $LABEL
/milestone $MILESTONE"
  echo "Triaged #$IID"
done

Bulk close stale issues

#!/usr/bin/env bash
# close-stale.sh — close all issues with label ~stale
glab issue list --label stale --state opened --output json \
  | jq -r '.[].iid' \
  | while read -r IID; do
      glab issue note "$IID" -m "/close
/unlabel ~stale"
      echo "Closed #$IID"
    done

MR ready for review + assign reviewer

#!/usr/bin/env bash
# ready-for-review.sh — mark current branch MR ready and request review
MR_IID=$(glab mr list --source-branch "$(git branch --show-current)" --output json | jq -r '.[0].iid')

glab mr note "$MR_IID" -m "/ready
/assign_reviewer @team-lead
/label ~needs-review"
echo "MR !$MR_IID marked ready"

Time tracking: log spent time from CLI

#!/usr/bin/env bash
# log-time.sh — log time spent on an issue
# Usage: ./log-time.sh 123 2h30m "2024-03-15"
IID="$1"
TIME="$2"
DATE="${3:-}"

if [[ -n "$DATE" ]]; then
  glab issue note "$IID" -m "/spend $TIME $DATE"
else
  glab issue note "$IID" -m "/spend $TIME"
fi
echo "Logged $TIME on #$IID"

Sprint rotation: move issues to next milestone

#!/usr/bin/env bash
# rotate-sprint.sh — move open issues from one milestone to the next
OLD_MILESTONE="Sprint 5"
NEW_MILESTONE="Sprint 6"

glab issue list --milestone "$OLD_MILESTONE" --state opened --output json \
  | jq -r '.[].iid' \
  | while read -r IID; do
      glab issue note "$IID" -m "/milestone %\"$NEW_MILESTONE\""
      echo "Moved #$IID to $NEW_MILESTONE"
    done

Approve and queue merge

# Approve an MR and queue it to merge when pipeline passes
glab mr note 456 -m "/approve
/merge"

---

Notes & limitations

• Quick actions that require specific permissions (e.g., /merge, /approve) will silently fail if you lack the role.
• /merge queues the MR to merge when the pipeline succeeds — it does not force-merge immediately.
• Quick actions in issue/MR descriptions are processed on creation and on edit.
• Some quick actions are only available on specific GitLab tiers (e.g., /epic, /iteration, /weight, /health_status require GitLab Premium or Ultimate).
• Quick actions posted as comments are not editable after the fact — post a corrective comment if needed.
• The glab CLI does not validate quick action syntax before posting — check for typos in user/label names.

Related sub-skills

• glab-issue — native issue create/update/close commands
• glab-mr — native MR create/update/approve/merge commands
• glab-label — manage labels before using /label
• glab-milestone — manage milestones before using /milestone
• glab-iteration — manage iterations before using /iteration

References

• GitLab Quick Actions documentation
• glab issue note --help
• glab mr note --help