Developer Flow

The Developer Flow streamlines the process of converting issues into actionable merge requests. This flow:

• Analyzes the issue description and requirements.
• Opens a draft merge request that’s linked to the original issue.
• Creates a development plan based on the issue details.
• Creates code structure or implementation.
• Updates the merge request with the code changes.

This flow is available in the GitLab UI only.

![note] The Developer Flow creates merge requests by using a service account. Organizations with SOC 2, SOX, ISO 27001, or FedRAMP requirements should ensure appropriate peer review policies are in place. For more information, see compliance considerations for merge requests.

Prerequisites

To create a merge request from an issue, you must:

• Have an existing GitLab issue with clear requirements.
• Have at least the Developer role in the project.
• Meet the other prerequisites.
• Ensure the GitLab Duo service account can create commits and branches.
• Ensure that the Developer Flow is turned on.

Use the flow

To convert your issue to a merge request:

1. On the top bar, select Search or go to and find your project.
2. Select Plan > Issues.
3. Select the issue you want to create a merge request for.
4. Below the issue header, select Generate MR with GitLab Duo.
5. Monitor progress by selecting Automate > Sessions.
6. When the pipeline has successfully executed, a link to the merge request is displayed in the issue’s activity section.
7. Review the merge request and make changes as needed.

Best practices

• Keep the issues well-scoped. Break down complex tasks into smaller, focused, and action-oriented requests.
• Specify exact file paths.
• Write specific acceptance criteria.
• Include code examples of existing patterns to maintain consistency.

Example

This example shows a well-crafted issue that can be used to generate a merge request.

## Description
The users endpoint currently returns all users at once,
which will cause performance issues as the user base grows.
Implement cursor-based pagination for the `/api/users` endpoint
to handle large datasets efficiently.

## Implementation plan
Add pagination to GET /users API endpoint.
Include pagination metadata in /users API response (per_page, page).
Add query parameters for per page size limit (default 5, max 20).

#### Files to modify
- `src/api/users.py` - Add pagination parameters and logic.
- `src/models/user.py` - Add pagination query method.
- `tests/api/test_users_api.py` - Add pagination tests.

## Acceptance criteria
- Accepts page and per_page query parameters (default: page=5, per_page=10).
- Limits per_page to a maximum of 20 users.
- Maintains existing response format for user objects in data array.