gitlab-org--gitlab-foss/doc/user/project/autocomplete_characters.md

stage	group	info	type	description
Create	Source Code	To determine the technical writer assigned to the Stage/Group associated with this page, see https://about.gitlab.com/handbook/engineering/ux/technical-writing/#assignments	reference	Autocomplete characters in Markdown fields.

Autocomplete characters (FREE)

Introduced in GitLab 13.9: you can search using the full name in user autocomplete.

The autocomplete characters provide a quick way of entering field values into Markdown fields. When you start typing a word in a Markdown field with one of the following characters, GitLab progressively autocompletes against a set of matching values. The string matching is not case sensitive.

Character	Autocompletes
~	Labels
%	Milestones
@	Users and groups
#	Issues
!	Merge requests
&	Epics
$	Snippets
:	Emoji
/	Quick Actions

Up to 5 of the most relevant matches are displayed in a popup list. When you select an item from the list, the value is entered in the field. The more characters you enter, the more precise the matches are.

Autocomplete characters are useful when combined with Quick Actions.

Example

Assume your GitLab instance includes the following users:

Username	Name
alessandra	Rosy Grant
lawrence.white	Kelsey Kerluke
leanna	Rosemarie Rogahn
logan_gutkowski	Lee Wuckert
shelba	Josefine Haley

In an Issue comment, entering @l results in the following popup list appearing. Note that user shelba is not included, because the list includes only the 5 users most relevant to the Issue.

If you continue to type, @le, the popup list changes to the following. The popup now only includes users where le appears in their username, or a word in their name.

You can also search across the full name to find a user. To find Rosy Grant, even if their username is for example hunter2, you can type their full name without spaces like @rosygrant.