GitLab Repository Access Skill for Claude

A performant, secure skill enabling Claude to interact with GitLab repositories.

Version: 1.1.0

Features

✅ Public Repository Support - Access public repos without authentication
✅ Private Repository Support - Full access with PAT authentication
✅ Repository Validation - Confirm repository exists and is accessible
✅ Full Repository Context - Get metadata, languages, and structure
✅ File Tree Traversal - Navigate complete repository structure
✅ Single & Batch File Reading - Efficient file content retrieval
✅ Branch Management - List, compare, and navigate branches
✅ Commit History - View recent commits and changes
✅ File Search - Find files by name pattern

File Structure

This skill uses a flat file structure for simplicity:

gitlab-skill/
├── SKILL.md           # Skill documentation (Claude reads this)
├── README.md          # This file
├── gitlab_client.py   # Core API client
├── gitlab_cli.py      # CLI interface
└── test_gitlab.py     # Unit tests

Requirements

Python 3.8+
No external dependencies (uses stdlib only)
GitLab Personal Access Token with
```
read_repository
```
and
```
read_api
```
scopes (for private repos)

Installation

Option 1: Download a Release (Recommended)

Download the latest release from the Releases page. Each release includes:

```
gitlab_client.py
```
- Core API client
```
gitlab_cli.py
```
- CLI interface
```
SKILL.md
```
- Generated documentation for Claude
```
README.md
```
- This documentation
```
LICENSE
```
- MIT License

Extract to your Claude skills directory:

/mnt/skills/user/gitlab/

Option 2: Clone the Repository

git clone https://gitlab.com/YawLighthouse/claude-gitlab-connection-skill.git
cd claude-gitlab-connection-skill

# Generate the SKILL.md file
python generate_skill.py --output SKILL.md

Option 3: Download SKILL.md from CI/CD Artifacts

The

SKILL.md

file is automatically generated on every push to the main branch. To download it:

Go to CI/CD → Pipelines
Click on the latest successful pipeline
Find the generate-skill-md job in the build stage
Click on the job, then click Browse under Job artifacts
Download
```
SKILL.md
```

Or use the GitLab API:

# Download the latest SKILL.md artifact
curl --output SKILL.md \
  "https://gitlab.com/YawLighthouse/claude-gitlab-connection-skill/-/jobs/artifacts/main/raw/SKILL.md?job=generate-skill-md"

Why SKILL.md is Generated

The

SKILL.md

file is not stored in the repository. Instead, it's generated automatically by

generate_skill.py

during CI/CD. This ensures:

Documentation always matches the current code
Version numbers are injected automatically
Release packages are self-contained

Quick Start

1. Public Repositories (No Token Required)

# Validate access
python gitlab_cli.py validate YawLighthouse/claude-gitlab-connection-skill

# Get info
python gitlab_cli.py info YawLighthouse/claude-gitlab-connection-skill

# Get file tree
python gitlab_cli.py tree YawLighthouse/claude-gitlab-connection-skill

# Read a file
python gitlab_cli.py file YawLighthouse/claude-gitlab-connection-skill README.md

2. Private Repositories (Token Required)

Get a GitLab Personal Access Token:

Go to GitLab → Settings → Access Tokens
Create token with scopes:
```
read_repository
```
,
```
read_api
```
Copy the token (starts with
```
glpat-
```
)

# Validate access
python gitlab_cli.py --token glpat-xxx validate user/private-repo

# Get info
python gitlab_cli.py --token glpat-xxx info user/private-repo

# Read files
python gitlab_cli.py --token glpat-xxx files user/private-repo "README.md,src/main.py"

3. Run Tests

# Unit tests
python test_gitlab.py

# Integration tests (requires token for private repos)
python test_gitlab.py --integration --project YawLighthouse/claude-gitlab-connection-skill
python test_gitlab.py --integration --token glpat-xxx --project user/private-repo

CLI Commands

Command	Description
`validate`	Check repository access
`info`	Get repository metadata
`tree`	Get file structure
`file`	Get single file content
`files`	Batch retrieve multiple files (faster!)
`branches`	List all branches
`branch`	Get branch details
`search`	Search files by name
`commits`	Get recent commits
`compare`	Compare two branches
`help`	Show command help

Output Formats

```
--format md
```
(default) - Human-readable Markdown
```
--format json
```
- Machine-parseable JSON

Claude Shorthand Commands

Claude can use shorthand commands:

gl:validate YawLighthouse/claude-gitlab-connection-skill
gl:info YawLighthouse/claude-gitlab-connection-skill  
gl:tree user/repo TOKEN
gl:file user/repo src/main.py TOKEN
gl:files user/repo "a.py,b.py" TOKEN develop

Changelog

v1.1.0

Added public repository support (no token required)
Improved error messages with helpful hints
Fixed bug where
```
ref
```
parameter was required for file operations
Simplified to flat file structure
Added repository info caching for performance
Added CI/CD pipeline with automated testing
Added automated release generation

v1.0.0

Initial release

Creating a Release

Releases are automated via GitLab CI/CD. To create a new release:

# Tag the release
git tag v1.2.0

# Push the tag
git push origin v1.2.0

The pipeline will automatically:

Run all tests
Generate
```
SKILL.md
```
documentation
Create release packages (
```
.tar.gz
```
and
```
.zip
```
)
Publish to GitLab Package Registry
Create a GitLab Release with download links

Platform Support

Currently supports gitlab.com only. Self-hosted GitLab instances are not supported.

CI/CD Pipeline

This project uses GitLab CI/CD for automated testing:

Stage	Jobs	Description
lint	syntax-check, flake8	Code quality checks
test	unit-tests, integration-tests, python-3.9/3.10/3.12	Automated testing
security	bandit-security, secrets-check	Security scanning
report	pages	Coverage reports on GitLab Pages

All merge requests must pass the CI pipeline before merging.

Contributing

Contributions are welcome! Please see CONTRIBUTING.md for guidelines.

Security

Token passed per-request, never stored
All connections use HTTPS
Minimum required scopes recommended

License

MIT License - Use freely.

GitLab Repository Access Skill for Claude

A performant, secure skill enabling Claude to interact with GitLab repositories.

Version: 1.1.0

Features

✅ Public Repository Support - Access public repos without authentication
✅ Private Repository Support - Full access with PAT authentication
✅ Repository Validation - Confirm repository exists and is accessible
✅ Full Repository Context - Get metadata, languages, and structure
✅ File Tree Traversal - Navigate complete repository structure
✅ Single & Batch File Reading - Efficient file content retrieval
✅ Branch Management - List, compare, and navigate branches
✅ Commit History - View recent commits and changes
✅ File Search - Find files by name pattern

File Structure

This skill uses a flat file structure for simplicity:

gitlab-skill/
├── SKILL.md           # Skill documentation (Claude reads this)
├── README.md          # This file
├── gitlab_client.py   # Core API client
├── gitlab_cli.py      # CLI interface
└── test_gitlab.py     # Unit tests

Requirements

Python 3.8+
No external dependencies (uses stdlib only)
GitLab Personal Access Token with
```
read_repository
```
and
```
read_api
```
scopes (for private repos)

Installation

Option 1: Download a Release (Recommended)

Download the latest release from the Releases page. Each release includes:

```
gitlab_client.py
```
- Core API client
```
gitlab_cli.py
```
- CLI interface
```
SKILL.md
```
- Generated documentation for Claude
```
README.md
```
- This documentation
```
LICENSE
```
- MIT License

Extract to your Claude skills directory:

/mnt/skills/user/gitlab/

Option 2: Clone the Repository

git clone https://gitlab.com/YawLighthouse/claude-gitlab-connection-skill.git
cd claude-gitlab-connection-skill

# Generate the SKILL.md file
python generate_skill.py --output SKILL.md

Option 3: Download SKILL.md from CI/CD Artifacts

The

SKILL.md

file is automatically generated on every push to the main branch. To download it:

Go to CI/CD → Pipelines
Click on the latest successful pipeline
Find the generate-skill-md job in the build stage
Click on the job, then click Browse under Job artifacts
Download
```
SKILL.md
```

Or use the GitLab API:

# Download the latest SKILL.md artifact
curl --output SKILL.md \
  "https://gitlab.com/YawLighthouse/claude-gitlab-connection-skill/-/jobs/artifacts/main/raw/SKILL.md?job=generate-skill-md"

Why SKILL.md is Generated

The

SKILL.md

file is not stored in the repository. Instead, it's generated automatically by

generate_skill.py

during CI/CD. This ensures:

Documentation always matches the current code
Version numbers are injected automatically
Release packages are self-contained

Quick Start

1. Public Repositories (No Token Required)

# Validate access
python gitlab_cli.py validate YawLighthouse/claude-gitlab-connection-skill

# Get info
python gitlab_cli.py info YawLighthouse/claude-gitlab-connection-skill

# Get file tree
python gitlab_cli.py tree YawLighthouse/claude-gitlab-connection-skill

# Read a file
python gitlab_cli.py file YawLighthouse/claude-gitlab-connection-skill README.md

2. Private Repositories (Token Required)

Get a GitLab Personal Access Token:

Go to GitLab → Settings → Access Tokens
Create token with scopes:
```
read_repository
```
,
```
read_api
```
Copy the token (starts with
```
glpat-
```
)

# Validate access
python gitlab_cli.py --token glpat-xxx validate user/private-repo

# Get info
python gitlab_cli.py --token glpat-xxx info user/private-repo

# Read files
python gitlab_cli.py --token glpat-xxx files user/private-repo "README.md,src/main.py"

3. Run Tests

# Unit tests
python test_gitlab.py

# Integration tests (requires token for private repos)
python test_gitlab.py --integration --project YawLighthouse/claude-gitlab-connection-skill
python test_gitlab.py --integration --token glpat-xxx --project user/private-repo

CLI Commands

Command	Description
`validate`	Check repository access
`info`	Get repository metadata
`tree`	Get file structure
`file`	Get single file content
`files`	Batch retrieve multiple files (faster!)
`branches`	List all branches
`branch`	Get branch details
`search`	Search files by name
`commits`	Get recent commits
`compare`	Compare two branches
`help`	Show command help

Output Formats

```
--format md
```
(default) - Human-readable Markdown
```
--format json
```
- Machine-parseable JSON

Claude Shorthand Commands

Claude can use shorthand commands:

gl:validate YawLighthouse/claude-gitlab-connection-skill
gl:info YawLighthouse/claude-gitlab-connection-skill  
gl:tree user/repo TOKEN
gl:file user/repo src/main.py TOKEN
gl:files user/repo "a.py,b.py" TOKEN develop

Changelog

v1.1.0

Added public repository support (no token required)
Improved error messages with helpful hints
Fixed bug where
```
ref
```
parameter was required for file operations
Simplified to flat file structure
Added repository info caching for performance
Added CI/CD pipeline with automated testing
Added automated release generation

v1.0.0

Initial release

Creating a Release

Releases are automated via GitLab CI/CD. To create a new release:

# Tag the release
git tag v1.2.0

# Push the tag
git push origin v1.2.0

The pipeline will automatically:

Run all tests
Generate
```
SKILL.md
```
documentation
Create release packages (
```
.tar.gz
```
and
```
.zip
```
)
Publish to GitLab Package Registry
Create a GitLab Release with download links

Platform Support

Currently supports gitlab.com only. Self-hosted GitLab instances are not supported.

CI/CD Pipeline

This project uses GitLab CI/CD for automated testing:

Stage	Jobs	Description
lint	syntax-check, flake8	Code quality checks
test	unit-tests, integration-tests, python-3.9/3.10/3.12	Automated testing
security	bandit-security, secrets-check	Security scanning
report	pages	Coverage reports on GitLab Pages

All merge requests must pass the CI pipeline before merging.

Contributing

Contributions are welcome! Please see CONTRIBUTING.md for guidelines.

Security

Token passed per-request, never stored
All connections use HTTPS
Minimum required scopes recommended

License

MIT License - Use freely.

GitLab Repository Access Skill for Claude

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