Getting started

GitGumbo turns the issues in your GitLab or GitHub projects into a kanban board, with each issue's merge requests (pull requests on GitHub) and their review and pipeline state on the card. There is nothing to import: add a project and the issues already in it show up.

Sign in

Go to the sign-in page and choose Sign in with GitLab or Sign in with GitHub. GitGumbo works with GitLab.com and GitHub.com; self-hosted GitLab and GitHub Enterprise Server aren't supported yet. Signing in means you agree to the Terms & Conditions.

What each provider asks you to allow:

• GitLab asks for the api scope. That's what lets GitGumbo move cards for you, so you don't need a separate token for it.
• GitHub asks for access to your repositories and projects, and to read your organisations, profile and email address.

The first time you sign in, GitGumbo creates your personal workspace. It is private to you: it can't be shared, renamed or deleted. To work with other people, create a firm (a shared workspace) or accept an invite. If someone has already invited you, you join their firm when you sign in, but you stay in your own workspace until you switch to theirs with the firm switcher.

"You already have an account with this email." You first signed in with the other provider. Sign in with that one, then go to Settings → Linked Accounts and link this one. Accounts are never merged automatically just because their email addresses match.

Add your first project

Open Projects in the sidebar.

1. Pick the GitLab or GitHub tab. A tab is greyed out if you haven't linked an account for that provider.
2. If you have more than one account for that provider, pick which one to use. The board will read the project through that account.
3. Type at least two characters of the project's name. You get up to 20 matches. You can also type the full path, group/project on GitLab or owner/repo on GitHub, to go straight to one.
4. Choose Add.

GitGumbo checks that the account can see the project, then runs its first sync. The board opens with the issues already in the project.

Only a firm's owners and admins can add projects. Members see the Projects page without the search, and a note saying so. In your personal workspace, you are the owner.

Adding can be refused on Free, with the reason shown:

• the workspace already syncs 5 repositories;
• the project would need a second account to back the workspace's boards.

What the board shows

Open Boards in the sidebar. It takes you to the board you last viewed, or your newest project if this is your first visit.

Columns.

• GitLab: the board mirrors the lists on your GitLab issue board, whether they are labels, statuses, people or milestones. If the project has no board lists yet, you get just Open and Closed.
• GitHub: columns come from labels that start with Stage::, such as Stage::Doing. Until you create any, you get one column per label. A firm admin can also switch a GitHub board to Your columns and define the columns in GitGumbo.

GitGumbo adds two columns of its own: Open collects open issues that match no other column, and Closed, at the end, holds recently closed issues. Either can be hidden while it's empty.

Cards. Each card shows the issue, its labels and its linked merge requests. The Reading a card guide explains every chip on it.

Keeping current. Two things keep the board up to date:

• Sync is when GitGumbo's server fetches your project from GitLab or GitHub. It runs in the background every 15 minutes on Free and every 5 minutes on Pro, or at most every 30 minutes for a very large project: 200 or more open pull requests on GitHub, 1,000 or more open merge requests on GitLab (Sync and real-time explains why). On Pro, GitGumbo also registers a webhook with the provider, where the connected account is allowed to, so most changes arrive between syncs as they happen.
• Refresh is when your open board fetches the latest data from GitGumbo: every 30 seconds on Free and every 5 seconds on Pro, while the tab is visible, and again when you come back to it. On Pro with a webhook, that means changes show up within seconds.

You never have to wait for the background sync. The Sync button in the board header syncs the whole board now, and the ↻ on any card fetches just that issue and its merge requests. Both work on every plan. Sync fetches what changed since the last sync. Full Sync, in the Sync button's menu, re-reads the whole project, including recently closed items, even if the board synced in the last 30 seconds.

Next to the Sync button, a coloured pill says how the board is kept current: Real-time on, Real-time activating, Real-time off, Periodic sync (Free), or a problem such as Sync error, Sync paused or Board disconnected. Click it for the reason and what to do about it. The pill isn't shown on phones.

Free and Pro

A very large project syncs in the background at most every 30 minutes, on either plan: 200 or more open pull requests on GitHub, 1,000 or more open merge requests on GitLab.

The account limit counts the accounts that back boards, not the accounts you link. You can link as many as you like.

A plan belongs to a firm (or to your personal workspace), not to you. To upgrade, a firm owner or admin goes to Settings → Billing. Pro starts with a 14-day free trial with no card needed, once per firm and once per person. Starting checkout uses the trial even if you don't finish it. Team, with unlimited seats and Insights, isn't on sale yet; there's a waitlist on the Pricing page.

Payments go through Stripe. Where your checkout says "Sold through Onelink", Link, a Stripe affiliate, takes the payment, issues your receipt and invoice, and handles questions about the payment itself, including refunds; contact Link for those. To change your payment method, see your invoices or cancel, use Manage subscription in Settings → Billing.