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To track time in GitLab, set one estimate on an issue, merge request, epic or task with /estimate, then record each work session with /spend. Both commands can go in a comment or be applied from the item’s sidebar. An estimate is replaced each time you set a new one, while spent-time entries add up to a running total.
Where time tracking is available
GitLab’s built-in time tracking records estimates and actual time on issues, merge requests, epics and tasks. GitLab’s documentation describes the feature across the GitLab.com, Self-Managed and Dedicated offerings, and across the Free, Premium and Ultimate tiers. Because the feature set and report status can change between releases, confirm the behaviour in the documentation for the version your instance runs before you build a process around it.
Hosting type matters most for reporting. The global time report is the one part of the feature that differs sharply by deployment:
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| Hosting option | Global time report (experimental) |
|---|---|
| GitLab.com | Available |
| Self-Managed | Unavailable by default; an administrator must enable its feature flag |
| Dedicated | Unavailable |
Per-item time reports, which appear in an item’s sidebar, do not depend on the global report and are the more reliable place to check totals on any hosting type.
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Setting an estimate
An estimate is the total time you expect an item to take. Each item holds a single estimate, so setting a new value replaces the old one rather than adding to it.
Steps to set an estimate
- Open the issue, merge request, epic or task.
- In the comment box, type the quick action on its own line, for example
/estimate 8h, or a compound duration such as/estimate 1mo 2w 3d 4h 5m. - Submit the comment. The estimate is applied to the item and replaces any earlier estimate.
Supported units include months, weeks, days, hours and minutes. To clear an estimate, post /remove_estimate on its own line.
Logging spent time
A spent-time entry records time you actually worked. Entries are additive: each one is added to the item’s total, so you can log work in several sessions.
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Steps to log time
- Open the item and either use the time-tracking option in the work-item sidebar or write a comment.
- If you use a comment, add a short description of the work on the lines above the quick action. This becomes the note that accompanies the entry in the report.
- Put the quick action on its own line, for example
/spend 30m. - To record the work under a different day, append a date in
YYYY-MM-DDform, for example/spend 1h 2021-01-31.
Rules that affect the total
- Future dates do not log time. An entry dated after today is not recorded, so schedule-ahead logging will not work.
- Negative durations subtract. Entering a negative value reduces the total, but the total cannot go below zero.
- Four-year ceiling. The total spent on an issue, task or merge request is limited to four years.
- Quick actions need their own lines. GitLab expects each quick action on a separate line.
- Repeated commands collapse. If the same quick action appears more than once in a single comment, only the last occurrence is applied.
Who can estimate, log and delete time
Permissions depend on the action and the type of item, so do not assume every project member can do everything. GitLab’s Time tracking page gives separate role prerequisites for setting estimates on issues, tasks and merge requests, for adding or editing spent time, and for deleting an individual time entry. Check the role table on that page for the exact requirement for your work-item type.
Deletion is the most restricted action. To delete an individual timelog, you must be the user who authored it, or hold the Maintainer or Owner role. If a teammate needs an entry removed, the usual route is to ask a Maintainer or Owner, or to have the original author delete it.
Reports and what they show
Per-item time report
Each item has a time report that you can open from its sidebar. The breakdown displayed in this report is capped at 100 entries. If an item has more than 100 time entries, the report will not show the full list, so keep high-volume items’ totals in mind and review older entries through the item’s history if you need them.
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Global time report
The global report covers issues, tasks and merge requests across projects. GitLab labels it experimental, and its availability follows the hosting table above: it is available on GitLab.com, unavailable on Dedicated, and unavailable by default on Self-Managed until an administrator enables the feature flag. Treat it as a convenience for reporting, not as a system of record, and use the per-item totals when you need figures you can rely on.
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For automation, GitLab exposes time data through its REST APIs and related query tools.
- Merge Requests API: returns
time_estimateandtotal_time_spentin seconds, alongside human-readable values. It also documents operations to set and reset estimates, to add and reset spent time, and to retrieve time statistics. - Issues API: provides the same kinds of time-tracking operations for issues: estimates, spent time and statistics.
- GLQL merge-request data source: lists
timeEstimateandtotalTimeSpentas fields you can display in GLQL views.
Because the API returns seconds, convert before comparing with the human-readable values in the UI. Confirm the exact endpoints and request formats in the Merge Requests API and Issues API documentation for your version, since those pages are the authoritative reference for parameters.
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Commit-message tracking
GitLab’s time-tracking history records that commit-message tracking became generally available in GitLab 18.7. It is an alternative to the UI and quick actions, and GitLab’s documentation recommends using those methods when possible.
If your team logs time through commit messages, follow GitLab’s guidance on timing and duplicates:
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- Wait until the branch history is final before merging, so you do not log the same work twice.
- Check the issue’s time report for entries that already exist before the merge.
- GitLab describes duplicate prevention at merge time: it matches the commit title and commit ID against an issue’s existing entries, so the same commit should not be counted twice.
Choosing a workflow
The three entry methods differ in how much control they give you and how easily they fit into existing habits.
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| Approach | How entries are created | Best suited to | Watch for |
|---|---|---|---|
| Sidebar and UI | Entries added from the work-item sidebar | Teams that log time once a session and want a clear, visual record | Requires opening each item |
| Comments with quick actions | Entries made with /spend and estimates with /estimate in comments |
Teams that want a written note beside each entry | One quick action per line; repeated commands collapse to the last one |
| Commit messages | Time derived from commits when branches merge | Teams that already record work in commits and accept a merge-time workflow | Wait for branch history to finalise; check for duplicates |
Two further questions shape the choice. First, whether you need one replaceable estimate or a running record of individual sessions: GitLab stores one estimate per item but keeps every spent-time entry. Second, whether you need automation: if you pull time into other systems, plan to use the API and check the field units. Finally, confirm that each person who will estimate, log or delete time holds the role the action requires.
If you are on a Self-Managed instance and rely on a team-wide report, check first whether an administrator has enabled the global report’s feature flag; otherwise, build your reporting around per-item totals and the API.
Verified against GitLab’s Time tracking, Quick actions, Merge Requests API, Issues API, GLQL and Tasks documentation as checked in October 2026.
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