gitlab-mr-comments

GitLab MR Comments

Fetch and display comments (notes) from a GitLab merge request using the python-gitlab CLI (gitlab command).

Prerequisites

• The gitlab CLI from the python-gitlab package must be installed and configured (via ~/.python-gitlab.cfg or environment variables).

Workflow

Step 1: Identify the Project and MR

Determine the GitLab project ID and merge request IID from one of these sources (in priority order):

1. Command argument — the skill may be invoked with a MR URL directly (e.g., /gitlab-mr-comments https://gitlab.example.com/group/project/-/merge_requests/123). Parse the URL to extract the project path and MR IID.
2. User-provided URL or IDs — if not passed as an argument, check the conversation for a URL or IDs.
3. Git repository context — if working within a git repository, derive the project from the remote URL and prompt for the MR IID.

Prompt for input only if none of the above sources provide the necessary information.

To get the remote URL from a local repo:

git remote get-url origin

A GitLab remote URL like [email protected]:group/project.git or https://gitlab.example.com/group/project maps to the project path group/project. Use the path with slashes (e.g., group/project) as the --project-id value, or use the numeric project ID if known.

Note: Use slash-separated paths (e.g., group/subgroup/project), not URL-encoded paths (e.g., group%2Fsubgroup%2Fproject). The python-gitlab CLI handles the encoding internally.

If the user provides a full MR URL, extract the project path and MR IID from it. GitLab MR URLs follow this pattern:

https://<host>/<group>[/<subgroup>...]/<project>/-/merge_requests/<iid>

For example, from https://gitlab.example.com/team/backend/api-server/-/merge_requests/42:

• Project path: team/backend/api-server
• MR IID: 42

If the MR IID is not provided, list open MRs:

gitlab -o json -f iid,title,author project-merge-request list --project-id <project-id> --state opened

Step 2: Fetch and Normalize MR Notes

Run the bundled script. It fetches notes, filters out system notes, and normalizes the output into a clean JSON structure:

bash "skills/gitlab-mr-comments/scripts/fetch-mr-notes.sh" <project-id> <mr-iid>

To include system notes, pass --all:

bash "skills/gitlab-mr-comments/scripts/fetch-mr-notes.sh" <project-id> <mr-iid> --all

The script outputs a normalized JSON array:

[
  {
    "discussion_id": "abcdef1234567890",
    "author": "jdoe",
    "date": "2024-03-10",
    "body": "Comment text here",
    "file": "src/auth/token.py",
    "line_start": 42,
    "line_end": 44,
    "line_type": "new",
    "base_sha": "abc123",
    "head_sha": "def456",
    "resolved": false,
    "type": "diff"
  }
]

Field	Description
discussion_id	Unique ID grouping notes in the same discussion thread (null for standalone notes)
author	GitLab username
date	Date in YYYY-MM-DD format
body	Comment text (may contain markdown)
file	File path — uses new_path for new/context lines, old_path for deleted lines (null for general comments)
line_start	Start line of the comment (null for general comments)
line_end	End line of the comment — differs from line_start for multiline selections (null for general comments)
line_type	Which side of the diff the line numbers refer to: "new" (line exists in the current version), "old" (line only existed before the MR changes), or null (general/file-level comment)
base_sha	Commit SHA of the base (pre-MR) version the diff was computed against (null for non-diff comments)
head_sha	Commit SHA of the head (MR branch) version the diff was computed against (null for non-diff comments)
resolved	Whether the comment has been resolved (null if not resolvable)
type	"comment" for general, "diff" for inline code, "system" (only with --all)

Understanding diff positions

Review comments are left on a diff view, so line_start/line_end refer to line numbers in a specific version of the file:

• line_type: "new" — the comment targets an added or unchanged line. The line numbers refer to the current (head) version of the file and can be read directly.
• line_type: "old" — the comment targets a deleted line that no longer exists in the current version. The line numbers refer to the base (pre-MR) version.

To inspect the exact diff context a reviewer was commenting on:

git diff <base_sha>..<head_sha> -- <file>

This shows both old and new versions of the code, making it possible to locate the precise position of any comment regardless of line_type. Use this to understand the full context around a review comment — what was changed, what was removed, and what was added.

Step 3: Format Output

Output ONLY the formatted comments with no additional explanatory text.

Format as:

## MR Comments

- @author (2024-01-15):
  > Comment text here

  - @replier (2024-01-15):
    > Reply text here

- @reviewer (2024-01-16) `file.py#L42-L44`:
  > Code review comment text

- @reviewer (2024-01-16) `file.py#L18` [resolved]:
  > Resolved code review comment

- @reviewer (2024-01-17) `old_file.py#L15-L20 (old)`:
  > Comment on deleted lines

Formatting rules:

• Group threaded discussions together using discussion_id — notes sharing the same discussion_id belong to the same thread. The first note is the parent; subsequent notes are replies.
• Show the file path when available for code review comments
• Indent replies under their parent
• Include the date in short format
• Use blockquote (>) for comment body text
• Mark resolved comments with [resolved] after the file/line reference (e.g., @reviewer file.py#L18 [resolved]:)
• When line_type is "old", append (old) to the line reference (e.g., `file.py#L15-L20 (old)`) to indicate the lines refer to deleted code that no longer exists in the current version
• For very long comments (automated reviews, large descriptions, etc.), summarize the key points instead of reproducing the full text verbatim. Keep the summary concise and structured (e.g., bullet points for findings).
• If no comments exist, return "No comments found."

Examples

For a concrete input/output example, see:

• examples/sample-notes.json — Representative normalized JSON output from fetch-mr-notes.sh (includes discussion threads, resolved notes, and old/new line types)
• examples/expected-output.md — The formatted markdown output expected from the sample input