A GitLab CI pipeline using an LLM to review and fix merge requests A GitLab CI pipeline using an LLM to review and fix merge requests

LLM-powered GitLab CI: auto-reviewing and auto-fixing merge requests

TL;DR I’ve wired LLMs into my GitLab CI pipeline to auto-review merge requests, post findings as comments, and (on command) generate patches and commit fixes. The key insight: deterministic gates run first. Before the LLM ever sees a diff, regex-enforced checks block deleted tests, committed secrets, and destructive commands. Regex is certain; LLM judgment is probabilistic. Gate first, judge second. The bot reviews silently unless it finds something, posts to the MR with confidence levels, and can be leveled up from read-only observer to trusted committer as it proves itself — hence the “autonomy ladder” (Rungs 0–4) that gates who decides what. Infrastructure repos cap at Rung 2 (never auto-merge). ...

June 15, 2026 · 8 min · zolty
GitLab CE on k3s with S3 backup arrows GitLab CE on k3s with S3 backup arrows

Migrating from GitHub to self-hosted GitLab CE — and rebuilding it from S3

TL;DR I moved every private homelab repo off GitHub onto a self-hosted GitLab CE 18.10 instance running on my k3s cluster. GitHub stays as a read-only mirror plus the break-glass k3s_bootstrap repo. Two weeks later I accidentally blkdiscard’d the GitLab volume and rebuilt the entire instance from an S3 backup. It worked, but the boring parts — runner re-registration, group tokens, container-registry pull secrets — were the real cost. Why bother GitHub was fine. GitHub Actions was fine. The thing that pushed me over was billing math plus blast radius: ...

April 29, 2026 · 5 min · zolty

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