Skip to content

GitLab quick actions

DETAILS: Tier: Free, Premium, Ultimate Offering: GitLab.com, Self-managed, GitLab Dedicated

Quick actions are text-based shortcuts for common actions that are usually done by selecting buttons or dropdowns in the GitLab user interface. You can enter these commands in the descriptions or comments of issues, epics, merge requests, and commits. Quick actions are executed from both new comments and description, and when you edit existing ones.

Many quick actions are context-aware, requiring certain conditions be met. For example, to remove an issue due date with /remove_due_date, the issue must have a due date set.

Be sure to enter each quick action on a separate line to allow GitLab to properly detect and execute the commands.

Parameters

Many quick actions require a parameter. For example, the /assign quick action requires a username. GitLab uses autocomplete characters with quick actions to help users enter parameters, by providing a list of available values.

If you manually enter a parameter, it must be enclosed in double quotation marks ("), unless it contains only these characters:

  • ASCII letters
  • Numbers (0-9)
  • Underscore (_), hyphen (-), question mark (?), dot (.), ampersand (&) or at (@)

Parameters are case-sensitive. Autocomplete handles this, and the insertion of quotation marks, automatically.

Issues, merge requests, and epics

The following quick actions are applicable to descriptions, discussions, and threads. Some quick actions might not be available to all subscription tiers.

Command Issue Merge request Epic Action
/add_contacts [contact:email1@example.com] [contact:email2@example.com] {check-circle} Yes {dotted-circle} No {dotted-circle} No Add one or more active CRM contacts (introduced in GitLab 14.6).
/add_email email1 email2 {check-circle} Yes {dotted-circle} No {dotted-circle} No Add up to six email participants. This action is behind feature flag issue_email_participants and is not yet supported in issue templates.
/approve {dotted-circle} No {check-circle} Yes {dotted-circle} No Approve the merge request.
/assign @user1 @user2 {check-circle} Yes {check-circle} Yes {dotted-circle} No Assign one or more users.
/assign me {check-circle} Yes {check-circle} Yes {dotted-circle} No Assign yourself.
/assign_reviewer @user1 @user2 or /reviewer @user1 @user2 or /request_review @user1 @user2 {dotted-circle} No {check-circle} Yes {dotted-circle} No Assign one or more users as reviewers.
/assign_reviewer me or /reviewer me or /request_review me {dotted-circle} No {check-circle} Yes {dotted-circle} No Assign yourself as a reviewer.
/blocked_by <issue1> <issue2> {check-circle} Yes {dotted-circle} No {dotted-circle} No Mark the issue as blocked by other issues. The <issue> value should be in the format of #issue, group/project#issue, or the full issue URL. (Introduced in GitLab 16.0).
/blocks <issue1> <issue2> {check-circle} Yes {dotted-circle} No {dotted-circle} No Mark the issue as blocking other issues. The <issue> value should be in the format of #issue, group/project#issue, or the full issue URL. (Introduced in GitLab 16.0).
/cc @user {check-circle} Yes {check-circle} Yes {check-circle} Yes Mention a user. This command performs no action. You can instead type CC @user or only @user.
/child_epic <epic> {dotted-circle} No {dotted-circle} No {check-circle} Yes Add child epic to <epic>. The <epic> value should be in the format of &epic, group&epic, or a URL to an epic.
/clear_health_status {check-circle} Yes {dotted-circle} No {dotted-circle} No Clear health status
/clear_weight {check-circle} Yes {dotted-circle} No {dotted-circle} No Clear weight.
/clone <path/to/project> [--with_notes] {check-circle} Yes {dotted-circle} No {dotted-circle} No Clone the issue to given project, or the current one if no arguments are given. Copies as much data as possible as long as the target project contains equivalent objects like labels, milestones, or epics. Does not copy comments or system notes unless --with_notes is provided as an argument.
/close {check-circle} Yes {check-circle} Yes {check-circle} Yes Close.
/confidential {check-circle} Yes {dotted-circle} No {check-circle} Yes Mark issue or epic as confidential. Support for epics introduced in GitLab 15.6.
/convert_to_ticket <email address> {check-circle} Yes {dotted-circle} No {dotted-circle} No Convert an issue into a Service Desk ticket. Introduced in GitLab 16.9
/copy_metadata <!merge_request> {check-circle} Yes {check-circle} Yes {dotted-circle} No Copy labels and milestone from another merge request in the project.
/copy_metadata <#issue> {check-circle} Yes {check-circle} Yes {dotted-circle} No Copy labels and milestone from another issue in the project.
/create_merge_request <branch name> {check-circle} Yes {dotted-circle} No {dotted-circle} No Create a new merge request starting from the current issue.
/done {check-circle} Yes {check-circle} Yes {check-circle} Yes Mark to-do item as done.
/draft {dotted-circle} No {check-circle} Yes {dotted-circle} No Set the draft status.
/due <date> {check-circle} Yes {dotted-circle} No {dotted-circle} No Set due date. Examples of valid <date> include in 2 days, this Friday and December 31st. See Chronic for more examples.
/duplicate <#issue> {check-circle} Yes {dotted-circle} No {dotted-circle} No Close this issue. Mark as a duplicate of, and related to, issue <#issue>.
/epic <epic> {check-circle} Yes {dotted-circle} No {dotted-circle} No Add to epic <epic>. The <epic> value should be in the format of &epic, group&epic, or a URL to an epic.
/estimate <time> or /estimate_time <time> {check-circle} Yes {check-circle} Yes {dotted-circle} No Set time estimate. For example, /estimate 1mo 2w 3d 4h 5m. For more information, see Time tracking. Alias /estimate_time introduced in GitLab 15.6.
/health_status <value> {check-circle} Yes {dotted-circle} No {dotted-circle} No Set health status. Valid options for <value> are on_track, needs_attention, and at_risk (introduced in GitLab 14.7).
/iteration *iteration:<iteration ID> or <iteration name> {check-circle} Yes {dotted-circle} No {dotted-circle} No Set iteration. For example, to set the Late in July iteration: /iteration *iteration:"Late in July".
/iteration [cadence:<iteration cadence ID> or <iteration cadence name>] <--current or --next> {check-circle} Yes {dotted-circle} No {dotted-circle} No Set iteration to the current or next upcoming iteration of the referenced iteration cadence. For example, /iteration [cadence:"Team cadence"] --current sets the iteration to the current iteration of the iteration cadence named "Team cadence". Introduced in GitLab 16.9.
/iteration <--current or --next> {check-circle} Yes {dotted-circle} No {dotted-circle} No Set iteration to the current or next upcoming iteration when a group has one iteration cadence. For example, /iteration --current sets the iteration to the current iteration of the iteration cadence. Introduced in GitLab 16.9.
/label ~label1 ~label2 or /labels ~label1 ~label2 {check-circle} Yes {check-circle} Yes {check-circle} Yes Add one or more labels. Label names can also start without a tilde (~), but mixed syntax is not supported.
/link {check-circle} Yes {dotted-circle} No {dotted-circle} No Add a link and description to linked resources in an incident (introduced in GitLab 15.5).
/lock {check-circle} Yes {check-circle} Yes {dotted-circle} No Lock the discussions.
/merge {dotted-circle} No {check-circle} Yes {dotted-circle} No Merge changes. Depending on the project setting, this may be when the pipeline succeeds, or adding to a Merge Train.
/milestone %milestone {check-circle} Yes {check-circle} Yes {dotted-circle} No Set milestone.
/move <path/to/project> {check-circle} Yes {dotted-circle} No {dotted-circle} No Move this issue to another project. Be careful when moving an issue to a project with different access rules. Before moving the issue, make sure it does not contain sensitive data.
/page <policy name> {check-circle} Yes {dotted-circle} No {dotted-circle} No Start escalations for the incident.
/parent_epic <epic> {dotted-circle} No {dotted-circle} No {check-circle} Yes Set parent epic to <epic>. The <epic> value should be in the format of &epic, group&epic, or a URL to an epic.
/promote_to_incident {check-circle} Yes {dotted-circle} No {dotted-circle} No Promote issue to incident. In GitLab 15.8 and later, you can also use the quick action when creating a new issue.
/promote {check-circle} Yes {dotted-circle} No {dotted-circle} No Promote issue to epic.
/publish {check-circle} Yes {dotted-circle} No {dotted-circle} No Publish issue to an associated Status Page.
/react :emoji: {check-circle} Yes {check-circle} Yes {check-circle} Yes Toggle an emoji reaction. Renamed from /award in GitLab 16.7. /award is still available as an aliased command.
/ready {dotted-circle} No {check-circle} Yes {dotted-circle} No Set the ready status (Introduced in GitLab 15.1).
/reassign @user1 @user2 {check-circle} Yes {check-circle} Yes {dotted-circle} No Replace current assignees with those specified.
/reassign_reviewer @user1 @user2 {dotted-circle} No {check-circle} Yes {dotted-circle} No Replace current reviewers with those specified.
/rebase {dotted-circle} No {check-circle} Yes {dotted-circle} No Rebase source branch on the latest commit of the target branch. For help, see troubleshooting information.
/relabel ~label1 ~label2 {check-circle} Yes {check-circle} Yes {check-circle} Yes Replace current labels with those specified.
/relate #issue1 #issue2 {check-circle} Yes {dotted-circle} No {dotted-circle} No Mark issues as related.
/remove_child_epic <epic> {dotted-circle} No {dotted-circle} No {check-circle} Yes Remove child epic from <epic>. The <epic> value should be in the format of &epic, group&epic, or a URL to an epic.
/remove_contacts [contact:email1@example.com] [contact:email2@example.com] {check-circle} Yes {dotted-circle} No {dotted-circle} No Remove one or more CRM contacts
/remove_due_date {check-circle} Yes {dotted-circle} No {dotted-circle} No Remove due date.
/remove_epic {check-circle} Yes {dotted-circle} No {dotted-circle} No Remove from epic.
/remove_estimate or /remove_time_estimate {check-circle} Yes {check-circle} Yes {dotted-circle} No Remove time estimate. Alias /remove_time_estimate introduced in GitLab 15.6.
/remove_iteration {check-circle} Yes {dotted-circle} No {dotted-circle} No Remove iteration.
/remove_milestone {check-circle} Yes {check-circle} Yes {dotted-circle} No Remove milestone.
/remove_parent_epic {dotted-circle} No {dotted-circle} No {check-circle} Yes Remove parent epic from epic.
/remove_time_spent {check-circle} Yes {check-circle} Yes {dotted-circle} No Remove time spent.
/remove_zoom {check-circle} Yes {dotted-circle} No {dotted-circle} No Remove Zoom meeting from this issue.
/reopen {check-circle} Yes {check-circle} Yes {check-circle} Yes Reopen.
/severity <severity> {check-circle} Yes {dotted-circle} No {dotted-circle} No Set the severity. Issue type must be Incident. Options for <severity> are S1 ... S4, critical, high, medium, low, unknown.
/shrug {check-circle} Yes {check-circle} Yes {check-circle} Yes Add ¯\_(ツ)_/¯.
/spend <time> [<date>] or /spend_time <time> [<date>] {check-circle} Yes {check-circle} Yes {dotted-circle} No Add or subtract spent time. Optionally, specify the date that time was spent on. For example, /spend 1mo 2w 3d 4h 5m 2018-08-26 or /spend -1h 30m. For more information, see Time tracking. Alias /spend_time introduced in GitLab 15.6.
/submit_review {dotted-circle} No {check-circle} Yes {dotted-circle} No Submit a pending review.
/subscribe {check-circle} Yes {check-circle} Yes {check-circle} Yes Subscribe to notifications.
/tableflip {check-circle} Yes {check-circle} Yes {check-circle} Yes Add (╯°□°)╯︵ ┻━┻.
/target_branch <local branch name> {dotted-circle} No {check-circle} Yes {dotted-circle} No Set target branch.
/timeline <timeline comment> | <date(YYYY-MM-DD)> <time(HH:MM)> {check-circle} Yes {dotted-circle} No {dotted-circle} No Add a timeline event to this incident. For example, /timeline DB load spiked | 2022-09-07 09:30. (introduced in GitLab 15.4).
/title <new title> {check-circle} Yes {check-circle} Yes {check-circle} Yes Change title.
/todo {check-circle} Yes {check-circle} Yes {check-circle} Yes Add a to-do item.
/unapprove {dotted-circle} No {check-circle} Yes {dotted-circle} No Unapprove the merge request.
/unassign @user1 @user2 {check-circle} Yes {check-circle} Yes {dotted-circle} No Remove specific assignees.
/unassign_reviewer @user1 @user2 or /remove_reviewer @user1 @user2 {dotted-circle} No {check-circle} Yes {dotted-circle} No Remove specific reviewers.
/unassign_reviewer me {dotted-circle} No {check-circle} Yes {dotted-circle} No Remove yourself as a reviewer.
/unassign_reviewer or /remove_reviewer {dotted-circle} No {check-circle} Yes {dotted-circle} No Remove all reviewers.
/unassign {dotted-circle} No {check-circle} Yes {dotted-circle} No Remove all assignees.
/unlabel ~label1 ~label2 or /remove_label ~label1 ~label2 {check-circle} Yes {check-circle} Yes {check-circle} Yes Remove specified labels.
/unlabel or /remove_label {check-circle} Yes {check-circle} Yes {check-circle} Yes Remove all labels.
/unlink <issue> {check-circle} Yes {dotted-circle} No {dotted-circle} No Remove link with to the provided issue. The <issue> value should be in the format of #issue, group/project#issue, or the full issue URL. (Introduced in GitLab 16.1).
/unlock {check-circle} Yes {check-circle} Yes {dotted-circle} No Unlock the discussions.
/unsubscribe {check-circle} Yes {check-circle} Yes {check-circle} Yes Unsubscribe from notifications.
/weight <value> {check-circle} Yes {dotted-circle} No {dotted-circle} No Set weight. Valid values are integers like 0, 1, or 2.
/zoom <Zoom URL> {check-circle} Yes {dotted-circle} No {dotted-circle} No Add a Zoom meeting to this issue or incident. In GitLab 15.3 and later users on GitLab Premium can add a short description when adding a Zoom link to an incident.

Work items

  • Executing quick actions from comments introduced in GitLab 15.10.

Work items in GitLab include tasks and OKRs. The following quick actions can be applied through the description field when editing or commenting on work items.

Command Task Objective Key Result Action
/assign @user1 @user2 {check-circle} Yes {check-circle} Yes {check-circle} Yes Assign one or more users.
/assign me {check-circle} Yes {check-circle} Yes {check-circle} Yes Assign yourself.
/add_child <work_item> {dotted-circle} No {check-circle} Yes {dotted-circle} No Add child to <work_item>. The <work_item> value should be in the format of #iid, group/project#iid, or a URL to a work item. Multiple work items can be added as children at the same time. Introduced in GitLab 16.5.
/award :emoji: {check-circle} Yes {check-circle} Yes {check-circle} Yes Toggle an emoji reaction. Introduced in GitLab 16.5
/cc @user {check-circle} Yes {check-circle} Yes {check-circle} Yes Mention a user. In GitLab 15.0 and later, this command performs no action. You can instead type CC @user or only @user.
/checkin_reminder <cadence> {dotted-circle} No {check-circle} Yes {dotted-circle} No Schedule check-in reminders. Options are weekly, twice-monthly, monthly, or never (default). Introduced in GitLab 16.4 with flags named okrs_mvc and okr_checkin_reminders.
/clear_health_status {check-circle} Yes {check-circle} Yes {check-circle} Yes Clear health status.
/clear_weight {check-circle} Yes {dotted-circle} No {dotted-circle} No Clear weight.
/close {check-circle} Yes {check-circle} Yes {check-circle} Yes Close.
/confidential {check-circle} Yes {check-circle} Yes {check-circle} Yes Mark work item as confidential. introduced in GitLab 16.4.
/done {check-circle} Yes {check-circle} Yes {check-circle} Yes Mark to-do item as done. Introduced in GitLab 16.2.
/due <date> {check-circle} Yes {dotted-circle} No {check-circle} Yes Set due date. Examples of valid <date> include in 2 days, this Friday and December 31st.
/health_status <value> {check-circle} Yes {check-circle} Yes {check-circle} Yes Set health status. Valid options for <value> are on_track, needs_attention, or at_risk.
/label ~label1 ~label2 or /labels ~label1 ~label2 {check-circle} Yes {check-circle} Yes {check-circle} Yes Add one or more labels. Label names can also start without a tilde (~), but mixed syntax is not supported.
/promote_to <type> {check-circle} Yes {dotted-circle} No {check-circle} Yes Promotes work item to specified type. Available options for <type>: issue (promote a task) or objective (promote a key result). Introduced in GitLab 16.1.
/reassign @user1 @user2 {check-circle} Yes {check-circle} Yes {check-circle} Yes Replace current assignees with those specified.
/relabel ~label1 ~label2 {check-circle} Yes {check-circle} Yes {check-circle} Yes Replace current labels with those specified.
/remove_due_date {check-circle} Yes {dotted-circle} No {check-circle} Yes Remove due date.
/remove_child <work_item> {dotted-circle} No {check-circle} Yes {dotted-circle} No Remove the child <work_item>. The <work_item> value should be in the format of #iid, group/project#iid, or a URL to a work item. Introduced in GitLab 16.10.
/remove_parent {check-circle} Yes {dotted-circle} No {check-circle} Yes Removes the parent work item. Introduced in GitLab 16.9.
/reopen {check-circle} Yes {check-circle} Yes {check-circle} Yes Reopen.
/set_parent <work_item> {check-circle} Yes {dotted-circle} No {check-circle} Yes Set parent work item to <work_item>. The <work_item> value should be in the format of #iid, group/project#iid, or a URL to a work item. Introduced in GitLab 16.5.
/shrug {check-circle} Yes {check-circle} Yes {check-circle} Yes Add ¯\_(ツ)_/¯.
/subscribe {check-circle} Yes {check-circle} Yes {check-circle} Yes Subscribe to notifications. Introduced in GitLab 16.4
/tableflip {check-circle} Yes {check-circle} Yes {check-circle} Yes Add (╯°□°)╯︵ ┻━┻.
/title <new title> {check-circle} Yes {check-circle} Yes {check-circle} Yes Change title.
/todo {check-circle} Yes {check-circle} Yes {check-circle} Yes Add a to-do item. Introduced in GitLab 16.2.
/type {check-circle} Yes {check-circle} Yes {check-circle} Yes Converts work item to specified type. Available options for <type> include issue, task, objective and key result. Introduced in GitLab 16.0.
/unassign @user1 @user2 {check-circle} Yes {check-circle} Yes {check-circle} Yes Remove specific assignees.
/unassign {dotted-circle} No {check-circle} Yes {check-circle} Yes Remove all assignees.
/unlabel ~label1 ~label2 or /remove_label ~label1 ~label2 {check-circle} Yes {check-circle} Yes {check-circle} Yes Remove specified labels.
/unlabel or /remove_label {check-circle} Yes {check-circle} Yes {check-circle} Yes Remove all labels.
/unsubscribe {check-circle} Yes {check-circle} Yes {check-circle} Yes Unsubscribe to notifications. Introduced in GitLab 16.4
/weight <value> {check-circle} Yes {dotted-circle} No {dotted-circle} No Set weight. Valid options for <value> include 0, 1, and 2.

Commit messages

The following quick actions are applicable for commit messages:

Command Action
/tag v1.2.3 <message> Tags the commit with an optional message.

Troubleshooting

Quick action isn't executed

If you run a quick action, but nothing happens, check if the quick action appears in the autocomplete box as you type it. If it doesn't, it's possible that:

  • The feature related to the quick action isn't available to you based on your subscription tier or user role in the group or project.
  • A required condition for the quick action isn't met. For example, you're running /unlabel on an issue without any labels.