• Switch from release-cli to glab CLI
• Fall back to release-cli

GitLab Release CLI tool

The release-cli is in maintenance mode.

The release-cli does not accept new features. All new feature development happens in the glab CLI, so you should use the glab CLI whenever possible. You can use the feedback issue to share any comments.

Switch from release-cli to glab CLI

• For API usage details, see the glab CLI project documentation.
• With a CI/CD job and the release keyword, change the job’s image to use the cli:latest image. For example:

release_job:
  stage: release
  image: registry.gitlab.com/gitlab-org/cli:latest
  rules:
    - if: $CI_COMMIT_TAG
  script:
    - echo "Running the release job."
  release:
    tag_name: $CI_COMMIT_TAG
    name: 'Release $CI_COMMIT_TAG'
    description: 'Release created using the cli.'

Fall back to release-cli

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• Introduced in GitLab 18.0, with a flag named ci_glab_for_release. Enabled by default.

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The availability of this feature is controlled by a feature flag. For more information, see the history.

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CI/CD jobs that use the release keyword use a script that falls back to using release-cli if the required glab version is not available on the runner. The fallback logic is a safe-guard to ensure that projects that have not yet migrated to use glab CLI can continue working.

This fallback is scheduled to be removed in GitLab 19.0 with the removal of release-cli.