Integrate Orbit into glab CLI

Integrate the Knowledge Graph (GKG) service into glab as a native subcommand (glab gkg or glab orbit), enabling users and AI agents to query the graph, retrieve entities, and interact with GKG directly from the CLI. This offloads auth, distribution, config management, and binary install to glab rather than building a standalone GKG CLI.

Proposed Command Structure

glab orbit status # Check GKG service availability

glab orbit query # Run queries against the Knowledge Graph

glab orbit [entity] # Get graph entities

Command structure to be finalized during implementation. Commands should be tagged as experimental until stable.

Implementation Plan

Phase 1 — client go (Prerequisite)

Phase 2 — glab Version Bump (glab CLI Team)

Once the client go changes are merged, bump the glab dependency to make the new endpoints available.

  • Version bump client goin glab
  • Confirm new GKG endpoints are accessible

Phase 3 — Implement glab orbit Subcommands

Implement the glab orbit subcommand suite.

  • Define final command structure
  • Implement commands (status, query, entity retrieval, etc.)
  • Tag commands as experimental to allow iteration without breaking change constraints
  • Skills may be downloadable via subcommand; explore server-side hosting and configuration with GKG service

Error Handling Requirements

GKG will be behind a GitLab feature flag. The REST API will not be available until the flag is enabled. If a user runs a tglab orbit command on an instance where the flag is off:

  • Must return exit code 1
  • Must not surface a raw 404 error
  • Error message should clearly indicate GKG is unavailable on this instance

Note: REST API endpoints should be marked experimental to allow flexibility during iteration. Per GitLab convention, v4 REST APIs cannot be broken once published — marking as experimental provides an exception path.

Open Questions

  • Final glab orbit command structure
  • Scope of initial commands for first release
  • Server-side skill hosting and configuration approach
  • Timeline dependency on GKG feature flag rollout

References

Edited by 🤖 GitLab Bot 🤖