Reading a card

Each card is one issue. Everything on it comes from GitLab or GitHub; GitGumbo adds no fields of its own, apart from pins, which are yours alone.

Most chips have hover text that says what they mean in words, so if you forget a colour, point at it.

The title

The title opens the issue on GitLab or GitHub in a new tab. If the project is private, you have to be signed in there to see it, and the hover text names your account there to sign in as.

Labels, Confidential and type

Under the title:

• Labels, in their GitLab or GitHub colours. The first four are shown, then "+N" for the rest. A scoped label such as Priority::High shows in two parts, the scope in colour and the value beside it. Labels that the board uses as columns are left off the card, because the column already tells you.
• Confidential (GitLab only): a yellow chip with a crossed-out eye. Confidential issues are shown only to people GitLab would show them to.
• Type (GitLab only): a blue chip for a Task, an Incident or a Test case. A plain issue has no type chip. GitGumbo shows tasks even though GitLab's own issue board leaves them out.

Merge requests

Each open merge request (pull request on GitHub) linked to the issue gets its own lozenge. The number reads !42 on GitLab and #42 on GitHub. Point at it for the MR's title; click it to open the MR in a new tab. Once an MR is merged or closed, it drops off the card.

On GitHub, a pull request is linked to an issue when GitHub links it, or when the pull request's title or description says it closes the issue: close, closes, closed, fix, fixes, fixed, resolve, resolves or resolved, in any case and with or without a colon, before #12 or a link to the issue in the same repository. That includes a pull request into a branch other than the default branch, such as one stacked on another pull request, which GitHub itself doesn't link. A bare #12 with no keyword doesn't link, and neither does an issue in another repository. A keyword or reference inside code (a code block or inline code) doesn't count, on GitHub or GitLab. After you edit the description, the link changes on the next sync.

On GitLab, the words that link a merge request are the firm's MR linking setting (see Firms, members and invites). A closing word before #12, or before a link to an issue in the same project such as https://gitlab.com/group/project/-/issues/12, always links. Links to issues in other projects don't.

A dashed border means the MR is a draft. Inside the lozenge, from left to right:

• Pipeline dot:

  • green: passed
  • red: failed
  • blue: running
  • amber: queued, waiting for a runner, preparing, or passed with warnings (a job that was allowed to fail did fail)
  • grey: canceled, skipped, created but not started, manual or scheduled

  There is no dot when the MR has no pipeline. Point at the dot for the status in words.

• ✓ Approved: at least one approval. The hover text gives the count.

• ✕ Changes requested. On GitHub, a reviewer requested changes. GitLab has no such review state, so on GitLab the ✕ means the MR isn't approved and has at least one unresolved thread, which might be a reviewer's objection or just the author's own question. Look at 💬 to see how many.

• Pencil: the MR is a draft.

• 💬 N: unresolved review threads.

• ⚠: the MR has merge conflicts.

If the colours are hard to tell apart, go to Settings → Accessibility and turn on Distinguish by shape. The pipeline dot then becomes a small symbol in the same colour: ✓ passed, ✕ failed, ◐ running, preparing or waiting for a runner, ◌ queued or passed with warnings, ⊘ skipped, manual or canceled, and – for created, scheduled or unknown.

The row of badges

Along the bottom of the card:

• Nd idle (red): the issue's most recently active MR hasn't had a commit or an update for N days. It appears at 3 days. GitHub doesn't report commit times here, so on GitHub it counts from the MR's last update.
• Blocked (red) and Blocking (violet): the issue is blocked by, or blocks, other issues.
• Relates to (link icon): the issue is linked to other issues as "relates to". It is a plain, neutral chip, because a related issue doesn't hold anything up. You can hide it in Settings → Board display. The Blocked, blocking and related issues guide covers all three.
• Milestone (flag icon): the issue's milestone, on both providers. The hover text includes the milestone's due date if it has one.
• Status (empty circle, GitLab only): GitLab's work-item Status, such as To do or In progress.
• Due date (calendar icon, GitLab only, because GitHub issues have no due date): amber from three days before the date, red once it has passed while the issue is still open.
• Avatars: up to three assignees, then "+N". Point at one for the name.

Dates follow your choice in Settings → Date format.

Full and Compact

The Full / Compact switch in the board header sets how much each card shows. It is saved to your account.

Compact keeps each title to one line and hides the labels row: labels, the type chip and the Confidential chip. A confidential issue gets a small crossed-out eye before its title instead. Everything else, including the merge requests and badges, stays, packed into one row.

The buttons on a card

The buttons appear when you point at a card or tab into it. On a touch screen they are always shown, with larger targets. Some depend on your access to the project.

• Copy (next to the title, the issue number and each MR's branch): copies it and briefly shows a tick, or a cross if copying failed.
• ↻ Refresh this card: fetches this issue and its merge requests from GitLab or GitHub again, including MRs opened since the last sync. It also re-reads the blocking and relates-to links, and on GitLab the Status. It works on every plan, up to 30 times a minute.
• 📌 Pin to top: keeps the card at the top of its column, above any sort, with the newest pin first. Pins are personal: nobody else sees yours.
• Mark as draft / Mark as ready (next to an open MR): switches the MR between draft and ready. On GitLab this adds or removes "Draft:" at the start of the MR's title. You need permission to edit the project.
• Create merge request / Create pull request (branch icon): creates a branch and a draft MR (GitLab) or draft PR (GitHub) for the issue, linked back to it. A confirmation first names the new branch and the project's default branch it will merge into. GitHub won't open a PR on a branch with no commits, so there the branch gets one empty placeholder commit, which the confirmation names; the commit is unsigned, so a rule that requires signed commits refuses it. On a private GitHub repository whose plan has no draft pull requests, the PR opens as a normal one. You need permission to push to the project on GitLab or GitHub, and the board's token needs write access. It isn't offered on confidential issues or when the issue already has an open MR or PR.
• Move this card (up-and-down arrows): moves the card to another column without dragging. It is always there on touch screens and in an expanded column; otherwise, with a mouse, turn on Settings → Accessibility → Move cards without dragging.
• Drag to reorder (six dots, mouse only): drag the card within its column.

Column headers

A column's header shows its name, and for a coloured column a two-part chip: on the left, what kind of column it is (the label's scope, such as Priority, or Label, Assignee, Milestone or Status), and on the right its name. The strip along the top is the column's colour.

The number is how many issues are in the column. If the column has a WIP limit, it reads like 7/5: amber when you reach the limit, red when you go past it. It is a warning only; you can always drop a card there. While any filter is on, the count is plain, because a filtered count would be measuring something else.

Where the limit comes from:

• GitHub: set it yourself in Your columns.
• GitLab: it comes from the list settings on your GitLab issue board. GitLab only offers list limits on its Premium tier and above.