Merge Request Pipeline Example

This example tests a job that checks an MR for the ready label, posts a comment, and approves the MR.

Happy Path

The MR has the ready label. The job comments and approves.

stages:
  - check

check-mr:
  stage: check
  script:
    - |
      labels=$(curl -s \
        -H "PRIVATE-TOKEN: $CI_JOB_TOKEN" \
        "$CI_API_V4_URL/projects/1/merge_requests/$CI_MERGE_REQUEST_IID" \
        | grep -o '"ready"' || true)
      if [ -z "$labels" ]; then
        echo "MR is not ready" >&2
        exit 1
      fi
    - |
      curl -s -X POST \
        -H "PRIVATE-TOKEN: $CI_JOB_TOKEN" \
        -H "Content-Type: application/json" \
        -d "{\"body\":\"MR #$CI_MERGE_REQUEST_IID is approved and ready to merge\"}" \
        "$CI_API_V4_URL/projects/1/merge_requests/$CI_MERGE_REQUEST_IID/notes"
    - |
      curl -s -X POST \
        -H "PRIVATE-TOKEN: $CI_JOB_TOKEN" \
        "$CI_API_V4_URL/projects/1/merge_requests/$CI_MERGE_REQUEST_IID/approve"
    - echo "MR approved"
---
.glut:
  name: "check-mr approves a ready MR"
  setup:
    branch: "feature/my-change"
    pipeline_source: "merge_request_event"
    merge_request:
      iid: 42
      title: "Add new feature"
      target_branch: "main"
      draft: false
      labels: "ready"
    api:
      token:
        valid: true
        scopes:
          - "api"
      project:
        path: "test-group/test-project"
        default_branch: "main"
    git:
      origin:
        branch: "feature/my-change"
        files:
          "Dockerfile": "FROM scratch\n"
  assert:
    job:
      check-mr:
        exit-status: 0
        stdout:
          - "MR approved"
    api:
      "GET /api/v4/projects/*/merge_requests/*":
        called: true
      "POST /api/v4/projects/*/merge_requests/*/notes":
        called: true
        times: 1
        body:
          body:
            contain-substring: "approved and ready"
      "POST /api/v4/projects/*/merge_requests/*/approve":
        called: true
        times: 1

Key points:

• Use branch, not tag, for MR pipelines.
• CI_COMMIT_BRANCH is not set in MR pipelines. Use CI_MERGE_REQUEST_SOURCE_BRANCH_NAME or CI_COMMIT_REF_NAME if you need the branch name inside the job.
• CI_MERGE_REQUEST_IID comes from setup.merge_request.iid. It is a string ("42") in the environment.
• Always use * in assert.api paths. Never hard-code a project ID or MR IID.
• git.origin.branch matches setup.branch. This ensures any git checkout inside the pipeline finds the expected branch name.

Draft MR Path

When the MR is in draft state, the job exits early without approving.

stages:
  - check

check-mr:
  stage: check
  script:
    - |
      if [ "$CI_MERGE_REQUEST_DRAFT" = "true" ]; then
        echo "MR is in draft state, skipping approval" >&2
        exit 1
      fi
    - echo "not reached"
---
.glut:
  name: "check-mr rejects a draft MR"
  setup:
    branch: "feature/my-change"
    pipeline_source: "merge_request_event"
    merge_request:
      iid: 42
      title: "Draft: Add new feature"
      target_branch: "main"
      draft: true
    api:
      token:
        valid: true
        scopes:
          - "api"
  assert:
    job:
      check-mr:
        exit-status: 1
        stderr:
          - "MR is in draft state"
    api:
      "POST /api/v4/projects/*/merge_requests/*/approve":
        called: false

setup.merge_request.draft: true sets CI_MERGE_REQUEST_DRAFT=true in the environment. The job reads this variable and exits before calling the approve endpoint. The called: false assert confirms no approve request was made.