The three ways to contact someone on GitLab

GitLab gives you three main ways to reach another person: mentions (which notify them in a comment or description), direct messages (private conversations), and assigning tasks (which tells them work is waiting). Which one you use depends on whether the conversation belongs in a project, needs to stay private, or is about a specific piece of work.

Mentions work inside any comment, issue description, merge request, or note. Direct messages are private and live in your inbox. Assignments are for issues and merge requests when you want someone to own a task. All three send a notification to the other person, though the timing and visibility differ.

Key Takeaways

  • Use the @ symbol followed by a username to mention someone in any comment or description, and they will receive a notification.
  • Direct messages are sent through the Messages section of your GitLab inbox and are only visible to you and the recipient.
  • Assigning an issue or merge request to someone tells them work needs their attention and creates a task in their to-do list.
  • Mentions in public comments are visible to everyone with access to that project, so use direct messages for sensitive conversations.

How to mention someone in a comment or description

Open the issue, merge request, or project page where you want to mention the person. Click in the comment box or description field. Type the @ symbol, then start typing the person's username. GitLab will show you a dropdown list of matching usernames as you type.

Click the name you want from the dropdown, or finish typing the full username and press Enter. The person's name will appear highlighted in the text. When you post the comment, they will receive a notification that they were mentioned. This works in issue comments, merge request discussions, commit comments, and most text fields across GitLab.

If you mention someone who is not a member of the project, the mention will still appear in your text, but they will not receive a notification. Only project members can be notified through mentions.

How to send a direct message on GitLab

Click the envelope icon or "Messages" link in the top navigation bar of GitLab. This opens your inbox. Look for a button labeled "New message" or a plus icon, and click it. A box will appear asking you to enter the recipient's username.

Type the username of the person you want to message, then click their name from the dropdown. A message window will open. Type your message in the text field and click "Send". The message goes only to that person and does not appear in any project or public space. They will see it in their Messages inbox and receive a notification.

Direct messages are useful when you need to ask a question that is not related to a specific issue, discuss something privately, or follow up on work without cluttering a public conversation. You can also start a direct message with multiple people at once by adding more usernames in the recipient field.

How to assign work to someone

Open an issue or merge request. Look for the "Assignees" section on the right side of the page (or in the details panel, depending on your GitLab layout). Click on it. A dropdown will appear showing project members you can assign to.

Click the person's name to assign the issue or merge request to them. You can assign to multiple people if the work is shared. When you assign someone, they receive a notification and the task appears in their to-do list. This is the clearest way to tell someone that work is waiting for them and that they are responsible for moving it forward.

Assigning is different from mentioning because it creates accountability — the person knows they own the task, not just that they were mentioned in passing. You can also unassign someone by clicking the X next to their name in the Assignees section.

When to use mentions versus direct messages

Use mentions when the conversation belongs in the project and other team members should be able to see it. Mention someone in an issue comment if you are asking for their input on a bug, or in a merge request if you want their review. The whole team can follow the discussion and learn from it.

Use direct messages when you need privacy or when the conversation is not related to a specific project task. Send a direct message to ask someone for advice, to discuss a personal matter, or to have a side conversation that does not belong in a public issue. Direct messages are also faster for quick back-and-forth exchanges that would clutter a project discussion.

Use assignments when someone needs to own a task. Assign an issue to the person who will fix the bug, or a merge request to the person who will review it. Assignments make responsibility clear and help people track their own workload.

Notifications and how to manage them

Every mention, direct message, and assignment sends a notification. By default, you will see these in your GitLab inbox and may also receive an email. You can control how many notifications you get by changing your notification settings.

Click your profile picture in the top right corner and select "Preferences". Scroll to "Notifications" and choose your notification level. You can set different levels for each project — for example, you might want all notifications from one project but only mentions from another. You can also turn off email notifications while keeping inbox notifications on.

If someone mentions you in a comment you are already watching, you will get a notification even if you are not the main person being discussed. If you are mentioned in a thread you started, you will be notified of replies.

Troubleshooting mentions and messages that do not work

If you mention someone and they do not receive a notification, check that they are a member of the project. People outside the project cannot be notified through mentions, though the @ symbol will still appear in your text. Ask a project owner to add them as a member first.

If a direct message does not send, make sure you typed the username correctly. GitLab usernames are case-sensitive and do not include spaces. If the person's name does not appear in the dropdown, they may not exist on your GitLab instance, or you may not have permission to message them (this is rare and usually only happens on private GitLab servers).

If you are not receiving notifications at all, check your notification settings in Preferences. Make sure notifications are not turned off globally, and that the project is not set to "Disabled". Also check your email spam folder — notifications sometimes end up there by mistake.

Frequently Asked Questions

Can I mention someone who is not in my project?

You can type their username with the @ symbol, and it will appear in your text, but they will not receive a notification unless they are a project member. Ask a project owner to add them first if you need them to be notified.

What happens if I mention the same person multiple times in one comment?

They will receive only one notification for that comment, not multiple. GitLab groups all mentions in a single notification so people do not get spammed.

Can I send a direct message to someone outside my project?

Yes. Direct messages work between any two users on the same GitLab instance, regardless of whether they are in the same project. You just need their username.

Do mentions work in commit messages?

Mentions in commit messages do not send notifications the same way comments do. However, if you mention someone in a commit message and that commit is pushed to a merge request, they may receive a notification depending on their settings.

Can I delete a direct message after I send it?

GitLab does not have a built-in delete feature for direct messages. Once sent, the message stays in both your inbox and the recipient's inbox. If you need to correct something, send a follow-up message.