Merge request approvals API

DETAILS: Tier: Premium, Ultimate Offering: GitLab.com, Self-managed, GitLab Dedicated

Endpoint /approvals removed in GitLab 16.0.

Configuration for approvals on all merge requests in the project. All endpoints require authentication.

Group-level MR approvals

DETAILS: Status: Experiment

Introduced in GitLab 16.7 with a flag named approval_group_rules. Disabled by default. This feature is an experiment.

FLAG: On self-managed GitLab, by default this feature is not available. To make it available, an administrator can enable the feature flag named approval_group_rules. On GitLab.com and GitLab Dedicated, this feature is not available. This feature is not ready for production use.

Group approval rules apply to all protected branches of projects belonging to the group. This feature is an experiment.

Get group-level approval rules

Introduced in GitLab 16.10.

Group admins can request information about a group's approval rules using the following endpoint:

GET /groups/:id/approval_rules

Use the page and per_page pagination parameters to restrict the list of approval rules.

Supported attributes:

Attribute	Type	Required	Description
`id`	integer or string	Yes	The ID or URL-encoded path of a project.

Example request:

curl --request GET \
  --header "PRIVATE-TOKEN: <your_access_token>" \
  --url "https://gitlab.example.com/api/v4/groups/29/approval_rules"

Example response:

[
  {
    "id": 2,
    "name": "rule1",
    "rule_type": "any_approver",
    "report_type": null,
    "eligible_approvers": [],
    "approvals_required": 3,
    "users": [],
    "groups": [],
    "contains_hidden_groups": false,
    "protected_branches": [],
    "applies_to_all_protected_branches": true
  },
  {
    "id": 3,
    "name": "rule2",
    "rule_type": "code_owner",
    "report_type": null,
    "eligible_approvers": [],
    "approvals_required": 2,
    "users": [],
    "groups": [],
    "contains_hidden_groups": false,
    "protected_branches": [],
    "applies_to_all_protected_branches": true
  },
  {
    "id": 4,
    "name": "rule2",
    "rule_type": "report_approver",
    "report_type": "code_coverage",
    "eligible_approvers": [],
    "approvals_required": 2,
    "users": [],
    "groups": [],
    "contains_hidden_groups": false,
    "protected_branches": [],
    "applies_to_all_protected_branches": true
  }
]

Create group-level approval rules

Group admins can create group level approval rules using the following endpoint:

POST /groups/:id/approval_rules

Supported attributes:

Attribute	Type	Required	Description
`id`	integer or string	Yes	The ID or URL-encoded path of a group.
`approvals_required`	integer	Yes	The number of required approvals for this rule.
`name`	string	Yes	The name of the approval rule.
`group_ids`	array	No	The IDs of groups as approvers.
`rule_type`	string	No	The rule type. `any_approver` is a pre-configured default rule with `approvals_required` at `0`. Other rules are `regular` (used for regular merge request approval rules) and `report_approver`. Don't use this field to build approval rules from the API. The `report_approver` field is used when GitLab creates an approval rule from configured and enabled merge request approval policies.
`user_ids`	array	No	The IDs of users as approvers.

Example request:

curl --request POST \
  --header "PRIVATE-TOKEN: <your_access_token>" \
  --url "https://gitlab.example.com/api/v4/groups/29/approval_rules?name=security&approvals_required=2"

Example response:

{
  "id": 5,
  "name": "security",
  "rule_type": "any_approver",
  "eligible_approvers": [],
  "approvals_required": 2,
  "users": [],
  "groups": [],
  "contains_hidden_groups": false,
  "protected_branches": [
    {
      "id": 5,
      "name": "master",
      "push_access_levels": [
        {
          "id": 5,
          "access_level": 40,
          "access_level_description": "Maintainers",
          "deploy_key_id": null,
          "user_id": null,
          "group_id": null
        }
      ],
      "merge_access_levels": [
        {
          "id": 5,
          "access_level": 40,
          "access_level_description": "Maintainers",
          "user_id": null,
          "group_id": null
        }
      ],
      "allow_force_push": false,
      "unprotect_access_levels": [],
      "code_owner_approval_required": false,
      "inherited": false
    }
  ],
  "applies_to_all_protected_branches": true
}

Update group-level approval rules

Introduced in GitLab 16.10.

Group admins can update group level approval rules using the following endpoint:

PUT /groups/:id/approval_rules/:approval_rule_id

Supported attributes:

Attribute	Type	Required	Description
`approval_rule_id`.	integer	Yes	The ID of the approval rule.
`id`	integer or string	Yes	The ID or URL-encoded path of a group.
`approvals_required`	string	No	The number of required approvals for this rule.
`group_ids`	integer	No	The IDs of users as approvers.
`name`	string	No	The name of the approval rule.
`rule_type`	array	No	The rule type. `any_approver` is a pre-configured default rule with `approvals_required` at `0`. Other rules are `regular` (used for regular merge request approval rules) and `report_approver`. Don't use this field to build approval rules from the API. The `report_approver` field is used when GitLab creates an approval rule from configured and enabled merge request approval policies.
`user_ids`	array	No	The IDs of groups as approvers.

Example request:

curl --request PUT \
  --header "PRIVATE-TOKEN: <your_access_token>" \
  --url "https://gitlab.example.com/api/v4/groups/29/approval_rules/5?name=security2&approvals_required=1"

Example response:

{
  "id": 5,
  "name": "security2",
  "rule_type": "any_approver",
  "eligible_approvers": [],
  "approvals_required": 1,
  "users": [],
  "groups": [],
  "contains_hidden_groups": false,
  "protected_branches": [
    {
      "id": 5,
      "name": "master",
      "push_access_levels": [
        {
          "id": 5,
          "access_level": 40,
          "access_level_description": "Maintainers",
          "deploy_key_id": null,
          "user_id": null,
          "group_id": null
        }
      ],
      "merge_access_levels": [
        {
          "id": 5,
          "access_level": 40,
          "access_level_description": "Maintainers",
          "user_id": null,
          "group_id": null
        }
      ],
      "allow_force_push": false,
      "unprotect_access_levels": [],
      "code_owner_approval_required": false,
      "inherited": false
    }
  ],
  "applies_to_all_protected_branches": true
}

Project-level MR approvals

Use the project level approval rules to access this information.

You can request information about a project's approval configuration using the following endpoint:

GET /projects/:id/approvals

Supported attributes:

Attribute	Type	Required	Description
`id`	integer or string	Yes	The ID or URL-encoded path of a project.

{
  "approvers": [], // Deprecated in GitLab 12.3, always returns empty
  "approver_groups": [], // Deprecated in GitLab 12.3, always returns empty
  "approvals_before_merge": 2, // Deprecated in GitLab 12.3, use Approval Rules instead
  "reset_approvals_on_push": true,
  "selective_code_owner_removals": false,
  "disable_overriding_approvers_per_merge_request": false,
  "merge_requests_author_approval": true,
  "merge_requests_disable_committers_approval": false,
  "require_password_to_approve": true, // Deprecated in 16.9, use require_reauthentication_to_approve instead
  "require_reauthentication_to_approve": true
}

Change configuration

Users with the appropriate role can change approval configuration using this endpoint:

POST /projects/:id/approvals

Supported attributes:

Attribute	Type	Required	Description
`id`	integer or string	Yes	The ID or URL-encoded path of a project.
`approvals_before_merge` (deprecated)	integer	No	Number of required approvals before a merge request can merge. Deprecated in GitLab 12.3. Use Approval Rules instead.
`disable_overriding_approvers_per_merge_request`	boolean	No	Allow or prevent overriding approvers per merge request.
`merge_requests_author_approval`	boolean	No	Allow or prevent authors from self approving merge requests; `true` means authors can self approve.
`merge_requests_disable_committers_approval`	boolean	No	Allow or prevent committers from self approving merge requests.
`require_password_to_approve` (deprecated)	boolean	No	Require approver to enter a password to authenticate before adding the approval. Deprecated in GitLab 16.9. Use `require_reauthentication_to_approve` instead.
`require_reauthentication_to_approve`	boolean	No	Require approver to enter a to authenticate before adding the approval. Introduced in GitLab 17.1.
`reset_approvals_on_push`	boolean	No	Reset approvals on a new push.
`selective_code_owner_removals`	boolean	No	Reset approvals from Code Owners if their files changed. You must disable the `reset_approvals_on_push` field to use this field.

{
  "approvals_before_merge": 2, // Use Approval Rules instead
  "reset_approvals_on_push": true,
  "selective_code_owner_removals": false,
  "disable_overriding_approvers_per_merge_request": false,
  "merge_requests_author_approval": false,
  "merge_requests_disable_committers_approval": false,
  "require_password_to_approve": true,
  "require_reauthentication_to_approve": true
}

Get project-level rules

Pagination support introduced in GitLab 15.3 with a flag named approval_rules_pagination. Enabled by default.

applies_to_all_protected_branches property introduced in GitLab 15.3.

Pagination support generally available in GitLab 15.7. Feature flag approval_rules_pagination removed.

usernames property introduced in GitLab 15.8.

You can request information about a project's approval rules using the following endpoint:

GET /projects/:id/approval_rules

Use the page and per_page pagination parameters to restrict the list of approval rules.

Supported attributes:

Attribute	Type	Required	Description
`id`	integer or string	Yes	The ID or URL-encoded path of a project.

[
  {
    "id": 1,
    "name": "security",
    "rule_type": "regular",
    "report_type": null,
    "eligible_approvers": [
      {
        "id": 5,
        "name": "John Doe",
        "username": "jdoe",
        "state": "active",
        "avatar_url": "https://www.gravatar.com/avatar/0?s=80&d=identicon",
        "web_url": "http://localhost/jdoe"
      },
      {
        "id": 50,
        "name": "Group Member 1",
        "username": "group_member_1",
        "state": "active",
        "avatar_url": "https://www.gravatar.com/avatar/0?s=80&d=identicon",
        "web_url": "http://localhost/group_member_1"
      }
    ],
    "approvals_required": 3,
    "users": [
      {
        "id": 5,
        "name": "John Doe",
        "username": "jdoe",
        "state": "active",
        "avatar_url": "https://www.gravatar.com/avatar/0?s=80&d=identicon",
        "web_url": "http://localhost/jdoe"
      }
    ],
    "groups": [
      {
        "id": 5,
        "name": "group1",
        "path": "group1",
        "description": "",
        "visibility": "public",
        "lfs_enabled": false,
        "avatar_url": null,
        "web_url": "http://localhost/groups/group1",
        "request_access_enabled": false,
        "full_name": "group1",
        "full_path": "group1",
        "parent_id": null,
        "ldap_cn": null,
        "ldap_access": null
      }
    ],
    "applies_to_all_protected_branches": false,
    "protected_branches": [
      {
        "id": 1,
        "name": "main",
        "push_access_levels": [
          {
            "access_level": 30,
            "access_level_description": "Developers + Maintainers"
          }
        ],
        "merge_access_levels": [
          {
            "access_level": 30,
            "access_level_description": "Developers + Maintainers"
          }
        ],
        "unprotect_access_levels": [
          {
            "access_level": 40,
            "access_level_description": "Maintainers"
          }
        ],
        "code_owner_approval_required": "false"
      }
    ],
    "contains_hidden_groups": false,
  },
  {
    "id": 2,
    "name": "Coverage-Check",
    "rule_type": "report_approver",
    "report_type": "code_coverage",
    "eligible_approvers": [
      {
        "id": 5,
        "name": "John Doe",
        "username": "jdoe",
        "state": "active",
        "avatar_url": "https://www.gravatar.com/avatar/0?s=80&d=identicon",
        "web_url": "http://localhost/jdoe"
      },
      {
        "id": 50,
        "name": "Group Member 1",
        "username": "group_member_1",
        "state": "active",
        "avatar_url": "https://www.gravatar.com/avatar/0?s=80&d=identicon",
        "web_url": "http://localhost/group_member_1"
      }
    ],
    "approvals_required": 3,
    "users": [
      {
        "id": 5,
        "name": "John Doe",
        "username": "jdoe",
        "state": "active",
        "avatar_url": "https://www.gravatar.com/avatar/0?s=80&d=identicon",
        "web_url": "http://localhost/jdoe"
      }
    ],
    "groups": [
      {
        "id": 5,
        "name": "group1",
        "path": "group1",
        "description": "",
        "visibility": "public",
        "lfs_enabled": false,
        "avatar_url": null,
        "web_url": "http://localhost/groups/group1",
        "request_access_enabled": false,
        "full_name": "group1",
        "full_path": "group1",
        "parent_id": null,
        "ldap_cn": null,
        "ldap_access": null
      }
    ],
    "applies_to_all_protected_branches": false,
    "protected_branches": [
      {
        "id": 1,
        "name": "main",
        "push_access_levels": [
          {
            "access_level": 30,
            "access_level_description": "Developers + Maintainers"
          }
        ],
        "merge_access_levels": [
          {
            "access_level": 30,
            "access_level_description": "Developers + Maintainers"
          }
        ],
        "unprotect_access_levels": [
          {
            "access_level": 40,
            "access_level_description": "Maintainers"
          }
        ],
        "code_owner_approval_required": "false"
      }
    ],
    "contains_hidden_groups": false,
  }
]

Get a single project-level rule

applies_to_all_protected_branches property introduced in GitLab 15.3.

usernames property introduced in GitLab 15.8.

You can request information about a single project approval rules using the following endpoint:

GET /projects/:id/approval_rules/:approval_rule_id

Supported attributes:

Attribute	Type	Required	Description
`id`	integer or string	Yes	The ID or URL-encoded path of a project.
`approval_rule_id`	integer	Yes	The ID of a approval rule.

{
  "id": 1,
  "name": "security",
  "rule_type": "regular",
  "report_type": null,
  "eligible_approvers": [
    {
      "id": 5,
      "name": "John Doe",
      "username": "jdoe",
      "state": "active",
      "avatar_url": "https://www.gravatar.com/avatar/0?s=80&d=identicon",
      "web_url": "http://localhost/jdoe"
    },
    {
      "id": 50,
      "name": "Group Member 1",
      "username": "group_member_1",
      "state": "active",
      "avatar_url": "https://www.gravatar.com/avatar/0?s=80&d=identicon",
      "web_url": "http://localhost/group_member_1"
    }
  ],
  "approvals_required": 3,
  "users": [
    {
      "id": 5,
      "name": "John Doe",
      "username": "jdoe",
      "state": "active",
      "avatar_url": "https://www.gravatar.com/avatar/0?s=80&d=identicon",
      "web_url": "http://localhost/jdoe"
    }
  ],
  "groups": [
    {
      "id": 5,
      "name": "group1",
      "path": "group1",
      "description": "",
      "visibility": "public",
      "lfs_enabled": false,
      "avatar_url": null,
      "web_url": "http://localhost/groups/group1",
      "request_access_enabled": false,
      "full_name": "group1",
      "full_path": "group1",
      "parent_id": null,
      "ldap_cn": null,
      "ldap_access": null
    }
  ],
  "applies_to_all_protected_branches": false,
  "protected_branches": [
    {
      "id": 1,
      "name": "main",
      "push_access_levels": [
        {
          "access_level": 30,
          "access_level_description": "Developers + Maintainers"
        }
      ],
      "merge_access_levels": [
        {
          "access_level": 30,
          "access_level_description": "Developers + Maintainers"
        }
      ],
      "unprotect_access_levels": [
        {
          "access_level": 40,
          "access_level_description": "Maintainers"
        }
      ],
      "code_owner_approval_required": "false"
    }
  ],
  "contains_hidden_groups": false
}

Create project-level rule

Removed the Vulnerability-Check feature in GitLab 15.0.

applies_to_all_protected_branches property introduced in GitLab 15.3.

usernames property introduced in GitLab 15.8.

You can create project approval rules using the following endpoint:

POST /projects/:id/approval_rules

Supported attributes:

Attribute	Type	Required	Description
`id`	integer or string	Yes	The ID or URL-encoded path of a project.
`approvals_required`	integer	Yes	The number of required approvals for this rule.
`name`	string	Yes	The name of the approval rule.
`applies_to_all_protected_branches`	boolean	No	Whether to apply the rule to all protected branches. If set to `true`, ignores the value of `protected_branch_ids`. Default is `false`. Introduced in GitLab 15.3.
`group_ids`	Array	No	The IDs of groups as approvers.
`protected_branch_ids`	Array	No	The IDs of protected branches to scope the rule by. To identify the ID, use the API.
`report_type`	string	No	The report type required when the rule type is `report_approver`. The supported report types are `license_scanning` (Deprecated in GitLab 15.9) and `code_coverage`.
`rule_type`	string	No	The rule type. `any_approver` is a pre-configured default rule with `approvals_required` at `0`. Other rules are `regular` (used for regular merge request approval rules) and `report_approver`. Don't use this field to build approval rules from the API. The `report_approver` field is used when GitLab creates an approval rule from configured and enabled merge request approval policies.
`user_ids`	Array	No	The IDs of users as approvers. If you provide both `user_ids` and `usernames`, it adds both lists of users.
`usernames`	string array	No	The usernames of approvers for this rule (same as `user_ids` but requires a list of usernames). If you provide both `user_ids` and `usernames`, it adds both lists of users.

{
  "id": 1,
  "name": "security",
  "rule_type": "regular",
  "eligible_approvers": [
    {
      "id": 2,
      "name": "John Doe",
      "username": "jdoe",
      "state": "active",
      "avatar_url": "https://www.gravatar.com/avatar/0?s=80&d=identicon",
      "web_url": "http://localhost/jdoe"
    },
    {
      "id": 50,
      "name": "Group Member 1",
      "username": "group_member_1",
      "state": "active",
      "avatar_url": "https://www.gravatar.com/avatar/0?s=80&d=identicon",
      "web_url": "http://localhost/group_member_1"
    }
  ],
  "approvals_required": 1,
  "users": [
    {
      "id": 2,
      "name": "John Doe",
      "username": "jdoe",
      "state": "active",
      "avatar_url": "https://www.gravatar.com/avatar/0?s=80&d=identicon",
      "web_url": "http://localhost/jdoe"
    }
  ],
  "groups": [
    {
      "id": 5,
      "name": "group1",
      "path": "group1",
      "description": "",
      "visibility": "public",
      "lfs_enabled": false,
      "avatar_url": null,
      "web_url": "http://localhost/groups/group1",
      "request_access_enabled": false,
      "full_name": "group1",
      "full_path": "group1",
      "parent_id": null,
      "ldap_cn": null,
      "ldap_access": null
    }
  ],
  "applies_to_all_protected_branches": false,
  "protected_branches": [
    {
      "id": 1,
      "name": "main",
      "push_access_levels": [
        {
          "access_level": 30,
          "access_level_description": "Developers + Maintainers"
        }
      ],
      "merge_access_levels": [
        {
          "access_level": 30,
          "access_level_description": "Developers + Maintainers"
        }
      ],
      "unprotect_access_levels": [
        {
          "access_level": 40,
          "access_level_description": "Maintainers"
        }
      ],
      "code_owner_approval_required": "false"
    }
  ],
  "contains_hidden_groups": false
}

You can increase the default number of 0 required approvers like this:

curl --request POST \
  --header "PRIVATE-TOKEN: <your_access_token>" \
  --header 'Content-Type: application/json' \
  --data '{"name": "Any name", "rule_type": "any_approver", "approvals_required": 2}'

Another example is creating a user-specific rule:

curl --request POST \
  --header "PRIVATE-TOKEN: <your_access_token>" \
  --header 'Content-Type: application/json' \
  --data '{"name": "Name of your rule", "approvals_required": 3, "user_ids": [123, 456, 789]}' \
  --url "https://gitlab.example.com/api/v4/projects/<project_id>/approval_rules"

Update project-level rule

Removed the Vulnerability-Check feature in GitLab 15.0.

applies_to_all_protected_branches property introduced in GitLab 15.3.

usernames property introduced in GitLab 15.8.

You can update project approval rules using the following endpoint:

PUT /projects/:id/approval_rules/:approval_rule_id

NOTE: Approvers and groups (except hidden groups not in the users or groups parameters) are removed. Hidden groups are private groups the user doesn't have permission to view. Hidden groups are not removed by default unless the remove_hidden_groups parameter is true. This ensures hidden groups are not removed unintentionally when a user updates an approval rule.

Supported attributes:

Attribute	Type	Required	Description
`id`	integer or string	Yes	The ID or URL-encoded path of a project.
`approvals_required`	integer	Yes	The number of required approvals for this rule.
`approval_rule_id`	integer	Yes	The ID of a approval rule.
`name`	string	Yes	The name of the approval rule.
`applies_to_all_protected_branches`	boolean	No	Whether to apply the rule to all protected branches. If set to `true`, it ignores the value of `protected_branch_ids`. Default is `false`. Introduced in GitLab 15.3.
`group_ids`	Array	No	The IDs of groups as approvers.
`protected_branch_ids`	Array	No	The IDs of protected branches to scope the rule by. To identify the ID, use the API.
`remove_hidden_groups`	boolean	No	Whether to remove hidden groups from the approval rule.
`user_ids`	Array	No	The IDs of users as approvers. If you provide both `user_ids` and `usernames`, it adds both lists of users.
`usernames`	string array	No	The usernames of approvers for this rule (same as `user_ids` but requires a list of usernames). If you provide both `user_ids` and `usernames`, it adds both lists of users.

{
  "id": 1,
  "name": "security",
  "rule_type": "regular",
  "eligible_approvers": [
    {
      "id": 2,
      "name": "John Doe",
      "username": "jdoe",
      "state": "active",
      "avatar_url": "https://www.gravatar.com/avatar/0?s=80&d=identicon",
      "web_url": "http://localhost/jdoe"
    },
    {
      "id": 50,
      "name": "Group Member 1",
      "username": "group_member_1",
      "state": "active",
      "avatar_url": "https://www.gravatar.com/avatar/0?s=80&d=identicon",
      "web_url": "http://localhost/group_member_1"
    }
  ],
  "approvals_required": 1,
  "users": [
    {
      "id": 2,
      "name": "John Doe",
      "username": "jdoe",
      "state": "active",
      "avatar_url": "https://www.gravatar.com/avatar/0?s=80&d=identicon",
      "web_url": "http://localhost/jdoe"
    }
  ],
  "groups": [
    {
      "id": 5,
      "name": "group1",
      "path": "group1",
      "description": "",
      "visibility": "public",
      "lfs_enabled": false,
      "avatar_url": null,
      "web_url": "http://localhost/groups/group1",
      "request_access_enabled": false,
      "full_name": "group1",
      "full_path": "group1",
      "parent_id": null,
      "ldap_cn": null,
      "ldap_access": null
    }
  ],
  "applies_to_all_protected_branches": false,
  "protected_branches": [
    {
      "id": 1,
      "name": "main",
      "push_access_levels": [
        {
          "access_level": 30,
          "access_level_description": "Developers + Maintainers"
        }
      ],
      "merge_access_levels": [
        {
          "access_level": 30,
          "access_level_description": "Developers + Maintainers"
        }
      ],
      "unprotect_access_levels": [
        {
          "access_level": 40,
          "access_level_description": "Maintainers"
        }
      ],
      "code_owner_approval_required": "false"
    }
  ],
  "contains_hidden_groups": false
}

Delete project-level rule

You can delete project approval rules using the following endpoint:

DELETE /projects/:id/approval_rules/:approval_rule_id

Supported attributes:

Attribute	Type	Required	Description
`id`	integer or string	Yes	The ID or URL-encoded path of a project.
`approval_rule_id`	integer	Yes	The ID of a approval rule.

Merge request-level MR approvals

Configuration for approvals on a specific merge request. All endpoints require authentication.

You can request information about a merge request's approval status using the following endpoint:

GET /projects/:id/merge_requests/:merge_request_iid/approvals

Supported attributes:

Attribute	Type	Required	Description
`id`	integer or string	Yes	The ID or URL-encoded path of a project.
`merge_request_iid`	integer	Yes	The IID of the merge request.

{
  "id": 5,
  "iid": 5,
  "project_id": 1,
  "title": "Approvals API",
  "description": "Test",
  "state": "opened",
  "created_at": "2016-06-08T00:19:52.638Z",
  "updated_at": "2016-06-08T21:20:42.470Z",
  "merge_status": "cannot_be_merged",
  "approvals_required": 2,
  "approvals_left": 1,
  "approved_by": [
    {
      "user": {
        "name": "Administrator",
        "username": "root",
        "id": 1,
        "state": "active",
        "avatar_url": "http://www.gravatar.com/avatar/e64c7d89f26bd1972efa854d13d7dd61?s=80\u0026d=identicon",
        "web_url": "http://localhost:3000/root"
      }
    }
  ]
}

Get the approval state of merge requests

You can request information about a merge request's approval state by using the following endpoint:

GET /projects/:id/merge_requests/:merge_request_iid/approval_state

The approval_rules_overwritten are true if the merge request level rules are created for the merge request. If there are none, it is false.

This includes more information about the users who have already approved (approved_by) and whether a rule is already approved (approved).

Supported attributes:

Attribute	Type	Required	Description
`id`	integer or string	Yes	The ID or URL-encoded path of a project.
`merge_request_iid`	integer	Yes	The IID of the merge request.

{
  "approval_rules_overwritten": true,
  "rules": [
    {
      "id": 1,
      "name": "Ruby",
      "rule_type": "regular",
      "eligible_approvers": [
        {
          "id": 4,
          "name": "John Doe",
          "username": "jdoe",
          "state": "active",
          "avatar_url": "https://www.gravatar.com/avatar/0?s=80&d=identicon",
          "web_url": "http://localhost/jdoe"
        }
      ],
      "approvals_required": 2,
      "users": [
        {
          "id": 4,
          "name": "John Doe",
          "username": "jdoe",
          "state": "active",
          "avatar_url": "https://www.gravatar.com/avatar/0?s=80&d=identicon",
          "web_url": "http://localhost/jdoe"
        }
      ],
      "groups": [],
      "contains_hidden_groups": false,
      "approved_by": [
        {
          "id": 4,
          "name": "John Doe",
          "username": "jdoe",
          "state": "active",
          "avatar_url": "https://www.gravatar.com/avatar/0?s=80&d=identicon",
          "web_url": "http://localhost/jdoe"
        }
      ],
      "source_rule": null,
      "approved": true,
      "overridden": false
    }
  ]
}

Get merge request level rules

Pagination support introduced in GitLab 15.3 with a flag named approval_rules_pagination. Enabled by default.

Pagination support generally available in GitLab 15.7. Feature flag approval_rules_pagination removed.

You can request information about a merge request's approval rules using the following endpoint:

GET /projects/:id/merge_requests/:merge_request_iid/approval_rules

Use the page and per_page pagination parameters to restrict the list of approval rules.

Supported attributes:

Attribute	Type	Required	Description
`id`	integer or string	Yes	The ID or URL-encoded path of a project.
`merge_request_iid`	integer	Yes	The IID of the merge request.

[
  {
    "id": 1,
    "name": "security",
    "rule_type": "regular",
    "report_type": null,
    "eligible_approvers": [
      {
        "id": 5,
        "name": "John Doe",
        "username": "jdoe",
        "state": "active",
        "avatar_url": "https://www.gravatar.com/avatar/0?s=80&d=identicon",
        "web_url": "http://localhost/jdoe"
      },
      {
        "id": 50,
        "name": "Group Member 1",
        "username": "group_member_1",
        "state": "active",
        "avatar_url": "https://www.gravatar.com/avatar/0?s=80&d=identicon",
        "web_url": "http://localhost/group_member_1"
      }
    ],
    "approvals_required": 3,
    "source_rule": null,
    "users": [
      {
        "id": 5,
        "name": "John Doe",
        "username": "jdoe",
        "state": "active",
        "avatar_url": "https://www.gravatar.com/avatar/0?s=80&d=identicon",
        "web_url": "http://localhost/jdoe"
      }
    ],
    "groups": [
      {
        "id": 5,
        "name": "group1",
        "path": "group1",
        "description": "",
        "visibility": "public",
        "lfs_enabled": false,
        "avatar_url": null,
        "web_url": "http://localhost/groups/group1",
        "request_access_enabled": false,
        "full_name": "group1",
        "full_path": "group1",
        "parent_id": null,
        "ldap_cn": null,
        "ldap_access": null
      }
    ],
    "contains_hidden_groups": false,
    "overridden": false
  },
  {
    "id": 2,
    "name": "Coverage-Check",
    "rule_type": "report_approver",
    "report_type": "code_coverage",
    "eligible_approvers": [
      {
        "id": 5,
        "name": "John Doe",
        "username": "jdoe",
        "state": "active",
        "avatar_url": "https://www.gravatar.com/avatar/0?s=80&d=identicon",
        "web_url": "http://localhost/jdoe"
      },
      {
        "id": 50,
        "name": "Group Member 1",
        "username": "group_member_1",
        "state": "active",
        "avatar_url": "https://www.gravatar.com/avatar/0?s=80&d=identicon",
        "web_url": "http://localhost/group_member_1"
      }
    ],
    "approvals_required": 3,
    "source_rule": null,
    "users": [
      {
        "id": 5,
        "name": "John Doe",
        "username": "jdoe",
        "state": "active",
        "avatar_url": "https://www.gravatar.com/avatar/0?s=80&d=identicon",
        "web_url": "http://localhost/jdoe"
      }
    ],
    "groups": [
      {
        "id": 5,
        "name": "group1",
        "path": "group1",
        "description": "",
        "visibility": "public",
        "lfs_enabled": false,
        "avatar_url": null,
        "web_url": "http://localhost/groups/group1",
        "request_access_enabled": false,
        "full_name": "group1",
        "full_path": "group1",
        "parent_id": null,
        "ldap_cn": null,
        "ldap_access": null
      }
    ],
    "contains_hidden_groups": false,
    "overridden": false
  }
]

Get a single merge request level rule

You can request information about a single merge request approval rule using the following endpoint:

GET /projects/:id/merge_requests/:merge_request_iid/approval_rules/:approval_rule_id

Supported attributes:

Attribute	Type	Required	Description
`id`	integer or string	Yes	The ID or URL-encoded path of a project.
`approval_rule_id`	integer	Yes	The ID of an approval rule.
`merge_request_iid`	integer	Yes	The IID of a merge request.

{
  "id": 1,
  "name": "security",
  "rule_type": "regular",
  "report_type": null,
  "eligible_approvers": [
    {
      "id": 5,
      "name": "John Doe",
      "username": "jdoe",
      "state": "active",
      "avatar_url": "https://www.gravatar.com/avatar/0?s=80&d=identicon",
      "web_url": "http://localhost/jdoe"
    },
    {
      "id": 50,
      "name": "Group Member 1",
      "username": "group_member_1",
      "state": "active",
      "avatar_url": "https://www.gravatar.com/avatar/0?s=80&d=identicon",
      "web_url": "http://localhost/group_member_1"
    }
  ],
  "approvals_required": 3,
  "source_rule": null,
  "users": [
    {
      "id": 5,
      "name": "John Doe",
      "username": "jdoe",
      "state": "active",
      "avatar_url": "https://www.gravatar.com/avatar/0?s=80&d=identicon",
      "web_url": "http://localhost/jdoe"
    }
  ],
  "groups": [
    {
      "id": 5,
      "name": "group1",
      "path": "group1",
      "description": "",
      "visibility": "public",
      "lfs_enabled": false,
      "avatar_url": null,
      "web_url": "http://localhost/groups/group1",
      "request_access_enabled": false,
      "full_name": "group1",
      "full_path": "group1",
      "parent_id": null,
      "ldap_cn": null,
      "ldap_access": null
    }
  ],
  "contains_hidden_groups": false,
  "overridden": false
}

Create merge request level rule

You can create merge request approval rules using the following endpoint:

POST /projects/:id/merge_requests/:merge_request_iid/approval_rules

Supported attributes:

Attribute	Type	Required	Description
`id`	integer or string	Yes	The ID or URL-encoded path of a project
`approvals_required`	integer	Yes	The number of required approvals for this rule.
`merge_request_iid`	integer	Yes	The IID of the merge request.
`name`	string	Yes	The name of the approval rule.
`approval_project_rule_id`	integer	No	The ID of a project-level approval rule.
`group_ids`	Array	No	The IDs of groups as approvers.
`user_ids`	Array	No	The IDs of users as approvers. If you provide both `user_ids` and `usernames`, it adds both lists of users.
`usernames`	string array	No	The usernames of approvers for this rule (same as `user_ids` but requires a list of usernames). If you provide both `user_ids` and `usernames`, it adds both lists of users.

NOTE: Setting approval_project_rule_id copies the name, users and groups of the project-level rule. It uses the approvals_required you specify.

{
  "id": 1,
  "name": "security",
  "rule_type": "regular",
  "eligible_approvers": [
    {
      "id": 2,
      "name": "John Doe",
      "username": "jdoe",
      "state": "active",
      "avatar_url": "https://www.gravatar.com/avatar/0?s=80&d=identicon",
      "web_url": "http://localhost/jdoe"
    },
    {
      "id": 50,
      "name": "Group Member 1",
      "username": "group_member_1",
      "state": "active",
      "avatar_url": "https://www.gravatar.com/avatar/0?s=80&d=identicon",
      "web_url": "http://localhost/group_member_1"
    }
  ],
  "approvals_required": 1,
  "source_rule": null,
  "users": [
    {
      "id": 2,
      "name": "John Doe",
      "username": "jdoe",
      "state": "active",
      "avatar_url": "https://www.gravatar.com/avatar/0?s=80&d=identicon",
      "web_url": "http://localhost/jdoe"
    }
  ],
  "groups": [
    {
      "id": 5,
      "name": "group1",
      "path": "group1",
      "description": "",
      "visibility": "public",
      "lfs_enabled": false,
      "avatar_url": null,
      "web_url": "http://localhost/groups/group1",
      "request_access_enabled": false,
      "full_name": "group1",
      "full_path": "group1",
      "parent_id": null,
      "ldap_cn": null,
      "ldap_access": null
    }
  ],
  "contains_hidden_groups": false,
  "overridden": false
}

Update merge request level rule

To update merge request approval rules, use this endpoint:

PUT /projects/:id/merge_requests/:merge_request_iid/approval_rules/:approval_rule_id

This endpoint removes any approvers and groups not in the users or groups parameters.

You can't update report_approver or code_owner rules, as these rules are system-generated.

Supported attributes:

Attribute	Type	Required	Description
`id`	integer or string	Yes	The ID or URL-encoded path of a project.
`approval_rule_id`	integer	Yes	The ID of an approval rule.
`merge_request_iid`	integer	Yes	The IID of a merge request.
`approvals_required`	integer	No	The number of required approvals for this rule.
`group_ids`	Array	No	The IDs of groups as approvers.
`name`	string	No	The name of the approval rule.
`remove_hidden_groups`	boolean	No	Whether to remove hidden groups.
`user_ids`	Array	No	The IDs of users as approvers. If you provide both `user_ids` and `usernames`, it adds both lists of users.
`usernames`	string array	No	The usernames of approvers for this rule (same as `user_ids` but requires a list of usernames). If you provide both `user_ids` and `usernames`, it adds both lists of users.

{
  "id": 1,
  "name": "security",
  "rule_type": "regular",
  "eligible_approvers": [
    {
      "id": 2,
      "name": "John Doe",
      "username": "jdoe",
      "state": "active",
      "avatar_url": "https://www.gravatar.com/avatar/0?s=80&d=identicon",
      "web_url": "http://localhost/jdoe"
    },
    {
      "id": 50,
      "name": "Group Member 1",
      "username": "group_member_1",
      "state": "active",
      "avatar_url": "https://www.gravatar.com/avatar/0?s=80&d=identicon",
      "web_url": "http://localhost/group_member_1"
    }
  ],
  "approvals_required": 1,
  "source_rule": null,
  "users": [
    {
      "id": 2,
      "name": "John Doe",
      "username": "jdoe",
      "state": "active",
      "avatar_url": "https://www.gravatar.com/avatar/0?s=80&d=identicon",
      "web_url": "http://localhost/jdoe"
    }
  ],
  "groups": [
    {
      "id": 5,
      "name": "group1",
      "path": "group1",
      "description": "",
      "visibility": "public",
      "lfs_enabled": false,
      "avatar_url": null,
      "web_url": "http://localhost/groups/group1",
      "request_access_enabled": false,
      "full_name": "group1",
      "full_path": "group1",
      "parent_id": null,
      "ldap_cn": null,
      "ldap_access": null
    }
  ],
  "contains_hidden_groups": false,
  "overridden": false
}

Delete merge request level rule

You can delete merge request approval rules using the following endpoint:

DELETE /projects/:id/merge_requests/:merge_request_iid/approval_rules/:approval_rule_id

You can't update report_approver or code_owner rules, as these rules are system-generated.

Supported attributes:

Attribute	Type	Required	Description
`id`	integer or string	Yes	The ID or URL-encoded path of a project.
`approval_rule_id`	integer	Yes	The ID of an approval rule.
`merge_request_iid`	integer	Yes	The IID of the merge request.

Approve merge request

Users with the appropriate role can approve a merge request using this endpoint:

POST /projects/:id/merge_requests/:merge_request_iid/approve

Supported attributes:

Attribute	Type	Required	Description
`id`	integer or string	Yes	The ID or URL-encoded path of a project.
`approval_password`	string	No	Current user's password. Required if Require user re-authentication to approve is enabled in the project settings. Always fails if the group or self-managed instance is configured to force SAML authentication.
`merge_request_iid`	integer	Yes	The IID of the merge request.
`sha`	string	No	The `HEAD` of the merge request.

The sha parameter works in the same way as when accepting a merge request: if passed, then it must match the current HEAD of the merge request to add the approval. If it does not match, the response code is 409.

{
  "id": 5,
  "iid": 5,
  "project_id": 1,
  "title": "Approvals API",
  "description": "Test",
  "state": "opened",
  "created_at": "2016-06-08T00:19:52.638Z",
  "updated_at": "2016-06-09T21:32:14.105Z",
  "merge_status": "can_be_merged",
  "approvals_required": 2,
  "approvals_left": 0,
  "approved_by": [
    {
      "user": {
        "name": "Administrator",
        "username": "root",
        "id": 1,
        "state": "active",
        "avatar_url": "http://www.gravatar.com/avatar/e64c7d89f26bd1972efa854d13d7dd61?s=80\u0026d=identicon",
        "web_url": "http://localhost:3000/root"
      }
    },
    {
      "user": {
        "name": "Nico Cartwright",
        "username": "ryley",
        "id": 2,
        "state": "active",
        "avatar_url": "http://www.gravatar.com/avatar/cf7ad14b34162a76d593e3affca2adca?s=80\u0026d=identicon",
        "web_url": "http://localhost:3000/ryley"
      }
    }
  ]
}

Unapprove merge request

If you did approve a merge request, you can unapprove it using the following endpoint:

POST /projects/:id/merge_requests/:merge_request_iid/unapprove

Supported attributes:

Attribute	Type	Required	Description
`id`	integer or string	Yes	The ID or URL-encoded path of a project.
`merge_request_iid`	integer	Yes	The IID of a merge request.

Reset approvals of a merge request

Clear all approvals of merge request.

Available only for bot users based on project or group tokens. Users without bot permissions receive a 401 Unauthorized response.

PUT /projects/:id/merge_requests/:merge_request_iid/reset_approvals

Attribute	Type	Required	Description
`id`	integer or string	Yes	The ID or URL-encoded path of the project owned by the authenticated user.
`merge_request_iid`	integer	Yes	The internal ID of the merge request.

curl --request PUT \
  --header "PRIVATE-TOKEN: <your_access_token>" \
  --url "https://gitlab.example.com/api/v4/projects/76/merge_requests/1/reset_approvals"