GitLab continues to push its platforms toward an AI-powered, secure, and collaborative DevSecOps experience. The release of 18.5 builds upon major innovations from 18.2 through 18.4. It is extending agentic workflows, expanding security automation, improving user productivity, and strengthening governance for enterprise environments. Whether you are a developer, platform engineer, product manager, or security leader, here is what you need to know.
GitLab 18.2 -18.4
Understanding the previous releases helps show how 18.5 completes the next stage of GitLab’s AI strategy. 18.2 introduced specialized AI agents and the Software Development Flow. This enabled end-to-end orchestration of planning, implementation, and testing using multiple AI agents. 18.3 expanded integrations with Claude Code, Codex CLI, Amazon Q CLI, and Gemini CLI. It also added deeper context awareness across the SDLC and released Issue to MR and Convert CI File flows. 18.4 enhanced agent collaboration through Agentic Chat, introduced the Knowledge Graph, shipped Fix Failed Pipeline Flow, and expanded custom agent creation and governance. Together, these releases built the foundation for scalable human-AI collaboration. GitLab 18.5 includes powerful improvements across planning, security, compliance, and platform automation.
New Features for All GitLab Users
These new features are available to every GitLab customer, including Free tier users.
New personal homepage
All users now have a unified personal dashboard that shows to-do items, assigned issues, merge requests, review requests, and recently viewed items.
Markdown table formatting in the plain text editor
This feature introduces a single-click tool to reformat markdown tables for improved readability and maintenance.
View child task completion in issues
Issue pages now show at-a-glance progress based on child tasks to help teams detect bottlenecks earlier.
Variable expansion for environment deployment tiers
Teams can now use CI/CD variables in the environment:deployment_tier field for dynamic deployments.
Increased rule coverage for secret push protection
GitLab has increased its accuracy, becoming even more proactive in protecting against accidental secret exposure.
Improved inactive item management
This feature provides a unified Inactive tab for archived projects, pending deletions, or inactive groups across GitLab.
