# Source: https://gitlab.consulting/en-gb/blog/2025/11/20/gitlab-18-6-released.md


# GitLab 18.6: Enhanced Merge Request Reviews, Dependency Management & AI Capabilities
<h2 id="new-in-gitlab-186-transforming-developer-efficiency-and-devsecops-with-smart-enhancements">New in GitLab 18.6: Transforming Developer Efficiency and DevSecOps with Smart Enhancements</h2>
<p>GitLab 18.6 has arrived, bringing powerful improvements across code collaboration, dependency management, and AI-powered productivity. These updates continue GitLab’s mission to streamline the DevSecOps lifecycle and empower development teams globally.</p>
<h3 id="enhanced-merge-request-review-experience">Enhanced Merge Request Review Experience</h3>
<p>With 18.6, GitLab refines the merge request workflow with clearer visuals and context through a modernised review sidebar. Review large MR diffs more efficiently with indicators grouped by comment type, markdown file support, and external tool integration. GitLab Duo’s experimental AI-generated summaries and test plans also now support Markdown files, improving MR understanding significantly.</p>
<h3 id="dependency-management--governance-boosts">Dependency Management &amp; Governance Boosts</h3>
<p>GitLab 18.6 adds <strong>experimental drag-and-drop support</strong> for CycloneDX SBOM uploads, extending dependency visibility across diverse toolchains. You can now more easily reconcile open-source dependencies and manage software Bill of Materials efficiently, increasing compliance visibility and supply chain security.</p>
<h3 id="smarter-ai-gitlab-duo--llm-advancements">Smarter AI: GitLab Duo &amp; LLM Advancements</h3>
<p>AI capabilities grow stronger in this release. GitLab Duo Chat can now reason over pipeline configuration files and CI/CD syntax files; developers gain interactive guidance for their CI/CD needs. Meanwhile, GitLab-provided LLM APIs become beta for Premium and Ultimate users, simplifying setup, governance, and monitoring of code intelligence across the team.</p>
<h3 id="visibility-enhancements">Visibility Enhancements</h3>
<p>Security teams now benefit from a refined interface for detecting top-level group runner usage, while updated visualisation of issue weights helps product and project teams plan more accurately. Better watermarking in compliance dashboards makes auditing simpler across globally distributed teams.</p>
<h3 id="idea-gitlab-solutions-your-regional-gitlab-experts">IDEA GitLab Solutions: Your Regional GitLab Experts</h3>
<p>Are you ready to drive developer performance and security to the next level with GitLab 18.6? As a <strong>GitLab Select Partner</strong>, <a href="https://gitlab.consulting/en-gb/?mtm_campaign=internal-blog-link&amp;mtm_kwd=en-gb:gitlab-18-6-released">IDEA GitLab Solutions</a> offers expert consultancy, end-to-end support, and license provisioning across the UK, Czechia, Slovakia, Croatia, Serbia, Slovenia, North Macedonia — as well as remotely in Israel, South Africa and Paraguay.</p>
<p><a href="https://gitlab.consulting/en-gb/?mtm_campaign=internal-blog-link&amp;mtm_kwd=en-gb:gitlab-18-6-released">Contact us today</a> to optimise your GitLab experience with certified professional services and tailored DevSecOps strategies.</p>