Draft: feat(mr): glab mr note supports all commenting APIs
Description
This mega MR migrates https://gitlab.com/viktomas/note to glab as a POC.
There are 3 user-facing changes that might require a major version release (see the separate section)
Add a comment or note to a merge request, or resolve/unresolve discussions.
USAGE
glab mr note [command] [<id> | <branch>] [--flags]
EXAMPLES
# Add a comment to merge request with ID 123
$ glab mr note 123 -m "Looks good to me!"
# Add a comment to the merge request for the current branch
$ glab mr note -m "LGTM"
# Open your editor to compose a multi-line comment
$ glab mr note 123
# Pipe a comment from stdin
$ echo "LGTM" | glab mr note 123
# Add a diff comment on line 42 of main.go
$ glab mr note 123 --file main.go --line 42 -m "Needs refactoring"
# Add a diff comment on lines 10-15 (multiline range)
$ glab mr note 123 --file main.go --line 10:15 -m "Extract this block"
# Add a diff comment on a removed line (old side)
$ glab mr note 123 --file main.go --old-line 7 -m "Why was this removed?"
# Add a file-level diff comment (no line specified)
$ glab mr note 123 --file main.go -m "General comment on this file"
# Reply to an existing discussion (full or prefix ID)
$ glab mr note 123 --reply abc12345 -m "I agree!"
# Add a confidential internal note
$ glab mr note 123 --internal -m "Internal feedback for maintainers"
# Resolve a discussion by note ID
$ glab mr note 123 --resolve 3107030349
# Unresolve a discussion by note ID
$ glab mr note 123 --unresolve 3107030349
COMMANDS
delete [<mr-id> | <branch>] <note-id> [--yes] [--flags] Delete a note from a merge request
draft [command] Manage draft (unpublished) notes on a merge request
list [<id> | <branch>] [--flags] List discussions on a merge request
resolve <discussion-id> [<mr-id> | <branch>] Resolve a discussion on a merge request
review [<mr-id> | <branch>] [--flags] Batch-Create draft notes from JSON on stdin
unresolve <discussion-id> [<mr-id> | <branch>] Unresolve a discussion on a merge request
update [<mr-id> | <branch>] <note-id> [-m <body>] [--flags] Update a note on a merge request
FLAGS
--file File path for a diff comment (targets the latest MR diff version).
-h --help Show help for this command.
--internal Create a confidential internal note (uses flat Notes API).
--line Line in the new version: a single number or a range N:M.
-m --message Comment or note message.
--old-line Line in the old version (for commenting on removed lines).
--reply Reply to an existing discussion by ID (full or 8+ char prefix).
-R --repo Select another repository. Can use either `OWNER/REPO` or `GROUP/NAMESPACE/REPO` format. Also accepts full URL or Git URL.
--resolve Resolve the discussion containing the specified note ID.
--unique Don't create a comment or note if it already exists.
--unresolve Unresolve the discussion containing the specified note ID.Known upstream issues
The following two GitLab issues make commenting on MR diffs unreliable:
- Draft Notes on Added Lines Don't Render When
base_sha != start_sha - MR DiffNotes created via API fail to render on the Changes tab when replacement block contains similar content
User-Facing Changes
None of these warrant a major version bump, but stay on the lookout for further breaking changes during implementation.
1. General notes now create threaded discussions
glab mr note -m "text" currently creates a flat, non-resolvable note via the Notes API. After migration, it creates a discussion thread via the Discussions API.
- Notes become resolvable (they weren't before)
- Notes become threaded (replies create a thread instead of triggering a type conversion)
- This matches GitLab web UI behavior
Unlikely to break anyone — scripts would have to be filtering by resolvable: false to notice.
2. --unique checks all notes (not just first page)
Currently --unique only checks the first 30 notes (DefaultListLimit). After migration, it paginates through all notes. This is a bug fix — dedup was silently broken on MRs with 30+ notes.
3. --resolve/--unresolve accept discussion ID in addition to note ID
The existing --resolve <note-id> behavior is preserved. New resolve/unresolve subcommands accept discussion IDs (with 8+ char prefix matching). Additive only.
Related Issues
Resolves ability to add MR comment for specific file and... (#1311 - closed)