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Protected branches API

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

Valid access levels

The access levels are defined in the ProtectedRefAccess.allowed_access_levels method. The following levels are recognized:

0  => No access
30 => Developer access
40 => Maintainer access
60 => Admin access

List protected branches

  • Deploy key information introduced in GitLab 16.0.

Gets a list of protected branches from a project as they are defined in the UI. If a wildcard is set, it is returned instead of the exact name of the branches that match that wildcard.

GET /projects/:id/protected_branches
Attribute Type Required Description
id integer/string yes The ID or URL-encoded path of the project owned by the authenticated user
search string no Name or part of the name of protected branches to be searched for 
curl --header "PRIVATE-TOKEN: <your_access_token>" "https://gitlab.example.com/api/v4/projects/5/protected_branches"

Example response:

[
  {
    "id": 1,
    "name": "main",
    "push_access_levels": [
      {
        "id":  1,
        "access_level": 40,
        "access_level_description": "Maintainers"
      },
      {
        "id": 2,
        "access_level": 40,
        "access_level_description": "Deploy key",
        "deploy_key_id": 1
      }
    ],
    "merge_access_levels": [
      {
        "id":  1,
        "access_level": 40,
        "access_level_description": "Maintainers"
      }
    ],
    "allow_force_push":false,
    "code_owner_approval_required": false
  },
  {
    "id": 1,
    "name": "release/*",
    "push_access_levels": [
      {
        "id":  1,
        "access_level": 40,
        "access_level_description": "Maintainers"
      }
    ],
    "merge_access_levels": [
      {
        "id":  1,
        "access_level": 40,
        "access_level_description": "Maintainers"
      }
    ],
    "allow_force_push":false,
    "code_owner_approval_required": false
  },
  ...
]

Users on GitLab Premium or Ultimate also see the user_id, group_id and inherited parameters. If the inherited parameter exists, means the setting was inherited from the project's group.

Example response:

[
  {
    "id": 1,
    "name": "main",
    "push_access_levels": [
      {
        "id":  1,
        "access_level": 40,
        "user_id": null,
        "group_id": null,
        "access_level_description": "Maintainers"
      },
      {
        "id": 2,
        "access_level": 40,
        "access_level_description": "Deploy key",
        "deploy_key_id": 1,
        "user_id": null,
        "group_id": null
      }
    ],
    "merge_access_levels": [
      {
        "id":  1,
        "access_level": null,
        "user_id": null,
        "group_id": 1234,
        "access_level_description": "Example Merge Group"
      }
    ],
    "allow_force_push":false,
    "code_owner_approval_required": false,
    "inherited": true
  },
  ...
]

Get a single protected branch or wildcard protected branch

Gets a single protected branch or wildcard protected branch.

GET /projects/:id/protected_branches/:name
Attribute Type Required Description
id integer/string yes The ID or URL-encoded path of the project owned by the authenticated user
name string yes The name of the branch or wildcard 
curl --header "PRIVATE-TOKEN: <your_access_token>" "https://gitlab.example.com/api/v4/projects/5/protected_branches/main"

Example response:

{
  "id": 1,
  "name": "main",
  "push_access_levels": [
    {
      "id":  1,
      "access_level": 40,
      "access_level_description": "Maintainers"
    }
  ],
  "merge_access_levels": [
    {
      "id":  1,
      "access_level": 40,
      "access_level_description": "Maintainers"
    }
  ],
  "allow_force_push":false,
  "code_owner_approval_required": false
}

Users on GitLab Premium or Ultimate also see the user_id and group_id parameters:

Example response:

{
  "id": 1,
  "name": "main",
  "push_access_levels": [
    {
      "id":  1,
      "access_level": 40,
      "user_id": null,
      "group_id": null,
      "access_level_description": "Maintainers"
    }
  ],
  "merge_access_levels": [
    {
      "id":  1,
      "access_level": null,
      "user_id": null,
      "group_id": 1234,
      "access_level_description": "Example Merge Group"
    }
  ],
  "allow_force_push":false,
  "code_owner_approval_required": false
}

Protect repository branches

Protects a single repository branch or several project repository branches using a wildcard protected branch.

POST /projects/:id/protected_branches
curl --request POST --header "PRIVATE-TOKEN: <your_access_token>" "https://gitlab.example.com/api/v4/projects/5/protected_branches?name=*-stable&push_access_level=30&merge_access_level=30&unprotect_access_level=40"
Attribute Type Required Description
id integer/string yes The ID or URL-encoded path of the project owned by the authenticated user.
name string yes The name of the branch or wildcard.
allow_force_push boolean no When enabled, members who can push to this branch can also force push. (default: false)
allowed_to_merge array no Array of merge access levels, with each described by a hash of the form {user_id: integer}, {group_id: integer}, or {access_level: integer}. Premium and Ultimate only.
allowed_to_push array no Array of push access levels, with each described by a hash of the form {user_id: integer}, {group_id: integer}, or {access_level: integer}. Premium and Ultimate only.
allowed_to_unprotect array no Array of unprotect access levels, with each described by a hash of the form {user_id: integer}, {group_id: integer}, or {access_level: integer}. The access level No access is not available for this field. Premium and Ultimate only.
code_owner_approval_required boolean no Prevent pushes to this branch if it matches an item in the CODEOWNERS file. (defaults: false) Premium and Ultimate only.
merge_access_level integer no Access levels allowed to merge. (defaults: 40, Maintainer role).
push_access_level integer no Access levels allowed to push. (defaults: 40, Maintainer role)
unprotect_access_level integer no Access levels allowed to unprotect. (defaults: 40, Maintainer role)

Example response:

{
  "id": 1,
  "name": "*-stable",
  "push_access_levels": [
    {
      "id":  1,
      "access_level": 30,
      "access_level_description": "Developers + Maintainers"
    }
  ],
  "merge_access_levels": [
    {
      "id":  1,
      "access_level": 30,
      "access_level_description": "Developers + Maintainers"
    }
  ],
  "unprotect_access_levels": [
    {
      "id":  1,
      "access_level": 40,
      "access_level_description": "Maintainers"
    }
  ],
  "allow_force_push":false,
  "code_owner_approval_required": false
}

Users on GitLab Premium or Ultimate also see the user_id and group_id parameters:

Example response:

{
  "id": 1,
  "name": "*-stable",
  "push_access_levels": [
    {
      "id":  1,
      "access_level": 30,
      "user_id": null,
      "group_id": null,
      "access_level_description": "Developers + Maintainers"
    }
  ],
  "merge_access_levels": [
    {
      "id":  1,
      "access_level": 30,
      "user_id": null,
      "group_id": null,
      "access_level_description": "Developers + Maintainers"
    }
  ],
  "unprotect_access_levels": [
    {
      "id":  1,
      "access_level": 40,
      "user_id": null,
      "group_id": null,
      "access_level_description": "Maintainers"
    }
  ],
  "allow_force_push":false,
  "code_owner_approval_required": false
}

Example with user / group level access

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

Elements in the allowed_to_push / allowed_to_merge / allowed_to_unprotect array should take the form {user_id: integer}, {group_id: integer}, or {access_level: integer}. Each user must have access to the project and each group must have this project shared. These access levels allow more granular control over protected branch access.

curl --request POST --header "PRIVATE-TOKEN: <your_access_token>" "https://gitlab.example.com/api/v4/projects/5/protected_branches?name=*-stable&allowed_to_push%5B%5D%5Buser_id%5D=1"

Example response:

{
  "id": 1,
  "name": "*-stable",
  "push_access_levels": [
    {
      "id":  1,
      "access_level": null,
      "user_id": 1,
      "group_id": null,
      "access_level_description": "Administrator"
    }
  ],
  "merge_access_levels": [
    {
      "id":  1,
      "access_level": 40,
      "user_id": null,
      "group_id": null,
      "access_level_description": "Maintainers"
    }
  ],
  "unprotect_access_levels": [
    {
      "id":  1,
      "access_level": 40,
      "user_id": null,
      "group_id": null,
      "access_level_description": "Maintainers"
    }
  ],
  "allow_force_push":false,
  "code_owner_approval_required": false
}

Example with allow to push and allow to merge access

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

  • Moved to GitLab Premium in 13.9.

Example request:

curl --request POST \
     --header "PRIVATE-TOKEN: <your_access_token>" \
     --header "Content-Type: application/json" \
     --data '{
      "name": "main",
      "allowed_to_push": [{"access_level": 30}],
      "allowed_to_merge": [{
          "access_level": 30
        },{
          "access_level": 40
        }
      ]}'
     "https://gitlab.example.com/api/v4/projects/5/protected_branches"

Example response:

{
    "id": 5,
    "name": "main",
    "push_access_levels": [
        {
            "id": 1,
            "access_level": 30,
            "access_level_description": "Developers + Maintainers",
            "user_id": null,
            "group_id": null
        }
    ],
    "merge_access_levels": [
        {
            "id": 1,
            "access_level": 30,
            "access_level_description": "Developers + Maintainers",
            "user_id": null,
            "group_id": null
        },
        {
            "id": 2,
            "access_level": 40,
            "access_level_description": "Maintainers",
            "user_id": null,
            "group_id": null
        }
    ],
    "unprotect_access_levels": [
        {
            "id": 1,
            "access_level": 40,
            "access_level_description": "Maintainers",
            "user_id": null,
            "group_id": null
        }
    ],
    "allow_force_push":false,
    "code_owner_approval_required": false
}

Unprotect repository branches

Unprotects the given protected branch or wildcard protected branch.

DELETE /projects/:id/protected_branches/:name
curl --request DELETE --header "PRIVATE-TOKEN: <your_access_token>" "https://gitlab.example.com/api/v4/projects/5/protected_branches/*-stable"
Attribute Type Required Description
id integer/string yes The ID or URL-encoded path of the project owned by the authenticated user
name string yes The name of the branch

Update a protected branch

Updates a protected branch.

PATCH /projects/:id/protected_branches/:name
curl --request PATCH --header "PRIVATE-TOKEN: <your_access_token>" "https://gitlab.example.com/api/v4/projects/5/protected_branches/feature-branch?allow_force_push=true&code_owner_approval_required=true"
Attribute Type Required Description
id integer/string yes The ID or URL-encoded path of the project owned by the authenticated user.
name string yes The name of the branch or wildcard.
allow_force_push boolean no When enabled, members who can push to this branch can also force push.
allowed_to_merge array no Array of merge access levels, with each described by a hash of the form {user_id: integer}, {group_id: integer}, or {access_level: integer}. Premium and Ultimate only.
allowed_to_push array no Array of push access levels, with each described by a hash of the form {user_id: integer}, {group_id: integer}, or {access_level: integer}. Premium and Ultimate only.
allowed_to_unprotect array no Array of unprotect access levels, with each described by a hash of the form {user_id: integer}, {group_id: integer}, {access_level: integer}, or {id: integer, _destroy: true} to destroy an existing access level. The access level No access is not available for this field. Premium and Ultimate only.
code_owner_approval_required boolean no Prevent pushes to this branch if it matches an item in the CODEOWNERS file. Premium and Ultimate only.

Elements in the allowed_to_push, allowed_to_merge and allowed_to_unprotect arrays should be one of user_id, group_id or access_level, and take the form {user_id: integer}, {group_id: integer} or {access_level: integer}.

To update:

  • user_id: Ensure the updated user has access to the project. You must also pass the id of the access_level in the respective hash.
  • group_id: Ensure the updated group has this project shared. You must also pass the id of the access_level in the respective hash.

To delete:

  • You must pass _destroy set to true. See the following examples.

Example: create a push_access_level record

curl --header 'Content-Type: application/json' --request PATCH \
     --data '{"allowed_to_push": [{"access_level": 40}]}' \
     --header "PRIVATE-TOKEN: <your_access_token>" \
     "https://gitlab.example.com/api/v4/projects/22034114/protected_branches/main"

Example response:

{
   "name": "main",
   "push_access_levels": [
      {
         "id": 12,
         "access_level": 40,
         "access_level_description": "Maintainers",
         "user_id": null,
         "group_id": null
      }
   ]
}

Example: update a push_access_level record

curl --header 'Content-Type: application/json' --request PATCH \
     --data '{"allowed_to_push": [{"id": 12, "access_level": 0}]}' \
     --header "PRIVATE-TOKEN: <your_access_token>" "https://gitlab.example.com/api/v4/projects/22034114/protected_branches/main"

Example response:

{
   "name": "main",
   "push_access_levels": [
      {
         "id": 12,
         "access_level": 0,
         "access_level_description": "No One",
         "user_id": null,
         "group_id": null
      }
   ]
}

Example: delete a push_access_level record

curl --header 'Content-Type: application/json' --request PATCH \
     --data '{"allowed_to_push": [{"id": 12, "_destroy": true}]}' \
     --header "PRIVATE-TOKEN: <your_access_token>" "https://gitlab.example.com/api/v4/projects/22034114/protected_branches/main"

Example response:

{
   "name": "main",
   "push_access_levels": []
}

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