Kira Setup Bot

CLI utility to automate routine work with new projects.

Part of the @kira bots family.

kira-setup does not create a repository. It configures an existing GitLab project so new repositories start with the same engineering standards.

Features

• Configures GitLab project defaults for a stricter merge flow
• Requires passing pipelines before merge
• Requires all discussions to be resolved before merge
• Sets fast-forward only merge strategy
• Configures merge request approval rules
• Protects the master branch and release tags matching v*
• Enforces push rules for branch names and commit messages
• Prevents secret pushes and enables member checks
• Creates a standard label set for triage and workflow
• Configures container registry cleanup policy

Installation

Requirements:

• Python 3.11+
• An existing GitLab project
• A GitLab access token with permission to manage project settings

pip install kira-setup

Quick Start

Run the CLI against an existing project:

kira-setup group-or-user/project-name --token YOUR_ACCESS_TOKEN

For self-hosted GitLab:

kira-setup group-or-user/project-name \
  --token YOUR_ACCESS_TOKEN \
  --domain gitlab.example.com

To skip specific setup steps, repeat --skip with the stable step name:

kira-setup group-or-user/project-name \
  --token YOUR_ACCESS_TOKEN \
  --skip labels \
  --skip protect-tags

Available --skip values:

• star
• configure
• push-rules
• approval-rules
• labels
• protect-branches
• protect-tags
• cleanup-policy

Why Use It

We use this CLI to make repository setup repeatable across projects. Instead of applying the same GitLab rules manually every time, kira-setup brings a new repository to the expected baseline in a single command.

Related Projects

• kira: the full bots family
• kira-stale: stale issue and pull request automation
• kira-release: automated semantic releases