GitLab Duo Agent Platform Is Ushering in a New Era of DevSecOps Automation

GitLab has introduced the public beta of the GitLab Duo Agent Platform, a state-of-the-art DevSecOps orchestration solution designed for seamless human-AI collaboration by providing a development environment where AI agents work side-by-side with your team, handling repetitive tasks and letting developers focus on true innovation.

Beta Features: What’s Available Now?

GitLab Premium and Ultimate customers can take advantage of an impressive feature set:

• Agent Tools: Agents interact with files, pipelines, issues, merge requests, vulnerabilities, and more always with user approvals as needed.
  
  
• IDE Integration: Duo Agentic Chat is available in VS Code and JetBrains IDEs, supporting chat history, slash commands (like /explain Copy or /tests Copy), and personalized rule sets.
  
  
• Multi-Channel Access: Agents are accessible across GitLab: assign issues, @mention in comments, or trigger via Model Context Protocol (MCP) endpoints including integration with Jira, ServiceNow, and Copilot.
  
  
• Observability: Built-in dashboards provide transparency into agent actions, helping teams track, optimize, and build trust in automated workflows.

Key Advantages of GitLab Duo Agent Platform

• Speed and Simplicity: Declarative models for agents and Flows eliminate the need for custom infrastructure.
  
  
• Extensibility: Support for built-in, custom, and self-hosted models, plus wide integration possibilities via MCP endpoints.
  
  
• Community-Driven: The AI Catalog will foster a vibrant ecosystem where users share, iterate, and benefit from new solutions.

What Makes GitLab Duo Agent Platform Unique?

Leveraging its role as the system of record for over 50 million users, GitLab pulls together project plans, code, testing, security, and CI/CD data into one unified platform. Now, AI agents can access this context, driving smarter recommendations and actions that align with your organization’s standards and workflows.

• Specialized AI agents reflect familiar team roles such as Software Developer, Security Analyst, Product Planner, and Platform Engineer, handling everything from code changes to deployments.
  
  
• The Deep Research Agent uses GitLab’s Knowledge Graph and semantic search to connect issues, code, and deployment history, providing insights unmatched by standalone tools.
  
  
• Agentic Chat upgrades the chat experience in IDEs and the GitLab UI, turning it into a context-aware development partner that offers iterative feedback and slash command delegation.

Orchestrating Complex Tasks with Customizable Flows

The platform introduces Flows: customizable, multi-agent workflows that autonomously execute complex tasks in response to specific triggers. These Flows ensure consistency and predictability with minimal configuration.

• Software Development Flow: Agents plan, implement, and test code, accelerating delivery of new features.
  
  
• Issue-to-MR Flow: Converts issues into actionable merge requests by analyzing requirements and generating code.
  
  
• Incident Response Flow: Automates root cause analysis and remediation, keeping teams and stakeholders informed throughout.

Unlike generic AI solutions, the Duo Agent Platform emphasizes customization and extensibility, empowering teams to build and share agents and Flows that fit unique environments and security needs.

What’s Next? The Roadmap for Duo Agent Platform

• Deeper GitLab Integration: Agents and Flows will soon be available natively across the GitLab UI, boosting collaboration.
  
  
• AI Catalog: An upcoming marketplace will let teams share and deploy community-built agents and Flows, driving innovation.
  
  
• Knowledge Graph: Enhanced mapping of code and dependencies will further improve agent intelligence.
  
  
• Agent/Flow Creation: New tools will make it even easier to design agents and workflows tailored to your needs.
  
  
• CLI & Official MCP Server: Upcoming releases will enable command-line access and cross-tool agent invocation for maximum flexibility.

Getting Started with Duo Agents

Premium and Ultimate users can activate the Duo Agent Platform on GitLab.com or on self-managed instances running version 18.2. IDE plugins for VS Code and JetBrains are readily available, and comprehensive documentation ensures a quick start. Those interested can explore a free trial or attend a technical demo to learn more.

Takeaway

The GitLab Duo Agent Platform is reshaping software engineering, enabling AI agents and human developers to collaborate as true teammates. This partnership accelerates innovation, reduces manual effort, and empowers organizations to deliver better software, faster. As the platform grows, its future will be shaped by the creativity and feedback of its user community.

Source: GitLab Blog