Repository Skill

Repository and project operations for GitLab using the glab CLI.

Quick Reference

Risk Legend: - Safe | ⚠️ Caution | ⚠️⚠️ Warning | ⚠️⚠️⚠️ Danger

When to Use This Skill

ALWAYS use when:

• User wants to clone, fork, or create repositories
• User mentions "repo", "repository", "project", "clone", "fork"
• User wants to manage project settings

NEVER use when:

• User wants to work with specific repo content (use git directly)
• User wants to manage deploy keys (use gitlab-deploy-key skill)

Available Commands

Clone Repository

glab repo clone <repo> [directory] [options]

Arguments:

• <repo> - Repository path, URL, or project ID
• [directory] - Optional local directory name

Options:

Examples:

# Clone by path
glab repo clone gitlab-org/cli

# Clone by URL
glab repo clone https://gitlab.com/gitlab-org/cli

# Clone into specific directory
glab repo clone gitlab-org/cli my-glab

# Clone by project ID
glab repo clone 4356677

# Clone preserving namespace structure
glab repo clone gitlab-org/cli -p
# Creates: gitlab-org/cli/

# Clone all repos in a group
glab repo clone -g mygroup --paginate

# Clone only non-archived repos from group
glab repo clone -g mygroup --archived=false --paginate

Fork Repository

glab repo fork <repo> [options]

Options:

Examples:

# Fork a repository
glab repo fork owner/repo

# Fork and clone
glab repo fork owner/repo --clone

# Fork with custom name
glab repo fork owner/repo --name="my-fork"

# Fork and add remote
glab repo fork owner/repo --remote

View Repository

glab repo view [repo] [options]

Options:

Examples:

# View current repository info
glab repo view

# View specific repo
glab repo view gitlab-org/cli

# Open in browser
glab repo view --web

# View specific branch
glab repo view --branch=develop

Create Repository

glab repo create [name] [options]

Options:

Examples:

# Create repository interactively
glab repo create

# Create with name and description
glab repo create my-project -d "My awesome project"

# Create public repo in group
glab repo create my-project --group=myteam --public

# Create and clone
glab repo create my-project --clone --readme

Search Repositories

glab repo search <query> [options]

Options:

Examples:

# Search for repos
glab repo search "cli tools"

# Search with more results
glab repo search "gitlab" --per-page=50

Archive Repository

glab repo archive [repo] [options]

Archives a repository (makes it read-only).

Examples:

# Archive current repo
glab repo archive

# Archive specific repo
glab repo archive owner/repo

Delete Repository

glab repo delete [repo] [options]

Warning: This permanently deletes the repository and all its data!

Options:

Examples:

# Delete repo (will prompt for confirmation)
glab repo delete owner/repo

# Delete without confirmation (dangerous!)
glab repo delete owner/repo --yes

List Contributors

glab repo contributors [repo] [options]

Options:

Examples:

# List contributors for current repo
glab repo contributors

# List with sorting
glab repo contributors --order=commits

Transfer Repository

glab repo transfer <repo> <new-namespace>

Transfer a repository to another namespace.

Examples:

# Transfer to different group
glab repo transfer myrepo newgroup

Common Workflows

Workflow 1: Fork and Contribute

# 1. Fork the repository
glab repo fork upstream/project --clone

# 2. Add upstream remote
cd project
git remote add upstream https://gitlab.com/upstream/project.git

# 3. Create feature branch
git checkout -b feature/my-change

# 4. Make changes, commit, push
git add . && git commit -m "Add feature"
git push -u origin feature/my-change

# 5. Create MR to upstream
glab mr create --target-branch=main

Workflow 2: Batch Clone Team Repos

# Clone all non-archived repos from team group
glab repo clone -g myteam --archived=false --paginate -p

# This creates:
# myteam/
#   repo1/
#   repo2/
#   ...

Workflow 3: Create New Project

# 1. Create the repository
glab repo create awesome-project \
  -d "An awesome new project" \
  --group=myteam \
  --readme \
  --clone

# 2. Set up the project
cd awesome-project
# Add initial files...

# 3. View it in browser
glab repo view --web

Troubleshooting

Related Documentation

• Safeguards
• Quick Reference