Closing gitlab merge request

Question

We are using Gitlab (the gitlab.com free version). My colleague is creating merge requests and we are merging from one branch (development) into another (master). When my colleague merges into master the MR is shown as Merged. I am then running some tests on the merged branch (not done automatically through GL currently) and when happy with the merge I am wanting to close the merge request. However I do not have any option to close it - I do not have a close button and if I type /close in the comments it does not do anything. Neither my colleague or myself are able to close the MRs. We both have Master status and have tried changing various MR project settings but to no avail. PLease can anyone help?

Answer 1

In Gitlab, the merged status means the relevant commits have been merged and no action is needed.

A closed merge request is one that has been put aside or considered irrelevant. It is therefore not merged into the code base.

Therefore, you only merge MRs when you're happy with the changes and close them if you think the changes are not worthy of being integrated into the code base ever.

A typical workflow would be the following:

• User A works on a new feature in a feature branch and pushes their work to that branch.
• They can open a merge request to merge their feature branch into master.
• User B pulls the feature branch, eventually rebasing it onto master, and runs the tests they want.
• If User B is happy with the changes/new feature, they can merge the MR into master (or whatever branch you merge into)
• The merge request will be shown as merged

Of course it's better if the tests run automatically in a CI.

Answer 2

With GitLab 12.2 (August 2019), you have new options which could help indicate the "closed" status of a merge request.

See "New push options for merge requests"

In GitLab 12.2, GitLab has been taught new push options to:

• Set the branch to be removed when it is merged.
• Change the merge request’s title.
• Change the merge request’s description.

See issue and documentation