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Column automations

Have GitGumbo mark draft merge requests ready, assign people and add reviewers when you move a card into a column.

A column automation is a small set of actions that runs when you move a card into a particular column. The usual example is an "In Review" column: move a card there and its draft merge requests are marked ready, and the right reviewers are added, without opening GitLab or GitHub.

Set one up

Go to Settings → Column Automations. Each project has its own boxed section, headed with the project's name, with its own Save.

  1. Pick the Column. Any column works except Open and Closed. Columns you've already set up say "configured".
  2. Choose what should happen:
    • Mark draft MRs as ready: every draft merge request (pull request on GitHub) linked to the card is marked ready for review.
    • Assign to issue: these people are added to the issue's assignees.
    • Add MR reviewers: these people are added as reviewers on each of the card's merge requests that isn't merged yet.
  3. Choose Save.

The people you can pick are the ones already active in the project: assignees on its open issues and authors of its open merge requests. You can name up to 10 assignees and 10 reviewers.

Automations are personal. Yours are yours; your teammates set up their own, and nobody can see or change anyone else's.

When they run

An automation runs when a card is moved into its column through GitGumbo, by dragging it or with the card's Move menu, from any other column.

It doesn't run when:

  • you reorder a card within the same column;
  • the card is moved into Open or Closed;
  • the change is made on GitLab or GitHub directly and GitGumbo only picks it up by sync.

Whose automations run

Each move runs at most one person's automation, chosen from the card's assignees as they were before the move:

  • If you're one of the assignees, yours run, and only yours. If you haven't set up that column, nothing runs, even if another assignee has.
  • If you're not an assignee, GitGumbo runs the automation of the first assignee, in the provider's order, who is in your firm and has set up that column.
  • If the card has no assignees, nothing runs.

So an automation is really an answer to "when one of my cards reaches this column, do this".

What each provider does

The changes are made through the account connected to the board. Each action runs on its own: if one fails, the move still stands and the others still run.

  • Mark ready: on GitLab, "Draft:" is removed from the merge request's title. On GitHub, the pull request is marked ready for review.
  • Assign to issue: added alongside the existing assignees on both providers. On GitLab, if any of the people you picked can't be found, none of them are added.
  • Add MR reviewers: on GitHub, the reviewers are added to any already requested. On GitLab, they replace the merge request's existing reviewers. People GitLab can't find are left out.

Marking ready and adding reviewers change the merge request, so they only run if the person moving the card is allowed to push to the project. Assigning the issue still runs either way.

If GitLab or GitHub refuses an action because the connected account or its token doesn't have permission, or rejects the token, the card still moves and a Card moved note says which action was refused. Other failures, such as the provider not responding, and actions skipped because you can't push, show no message. If something didn't happen, check the issue and its merge requests on GitLab or GitHub.

The warning under Assign to issue

If someone you're about to assign has their own assignee column further right on the board, GitGumbo warns you. A card assigned to them would move straight into their column instead of staying in this one, because a card that matches two columns shows in the right-most. You can still save; the warning only explains what will happen. To avoid it, remove that person here, or move their column so it sits before this one.

The "Want GitGumbo to handle this for you?" prompt

If you move a card with a draft merge request into a column you haven't set up, GitGumbo may offer to set up an automation. Set this up takes you straight to that project and column in Settings; No thanks closes it. Either way, you won't see that prompt again.

Column automations work on every plan.