System notes

System notes are short descriptions that help you understand the history of events that occur during the life cycle of a GitLab object, such as:

GitLab logs information about events triggered by Git or the GitLab application in system notes. System notes use the format <Author> <action> <time ago>.

Show or filter system notes

By default, system notes do not display. When displayed, they are shown oldest first. If you change the filter or sort options, your selection is remembered across sections. The filtering options are:

  • Show all activity displays both comments and history.
  • Show comments only hides system notes.
  • Show history only hides user comments.

On an epic

  1. On the left sidebar, select Search or go to and find your project.
  2. Select Plan > Epics.
  3. Identify your desired epic, and select its title.
  4. Go to the Activity section.
  5. For Sort or filter, select Show all activity.

On an issue

  1. On the left sidebar, select Search or go to and find your project.
  2. Select Plan > Issues and find your issue.
  3. Go to Activity.
  4. For Sort or filter, select Show all activity.

On a merge request

  1. On the left sidebar, select Search or go to and find your project.
  2. Select Code > Merge requests and find your merge request.
  3. Go to Activity.
  4. For Sort or filter, select Show all activity.