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Configure GitLab as an OAuth 2.0 authentication identity provider

OAuth 2.0 provides secure delegated server resource access to client applications on behalf of a resource owner. OAuth 2 allows authorization servers to issue access tokens to third-party clients with the approval of the resource owner or the end-user.

You can use GitLab as an OAuth 2 authentication identity provider by adding the following types of OAuth 2 application to an instance:

These methods only differ by permission level. The default callback URL is the SSL URL https://your-gitlab.example.com/users/auth/gitlab/callback. You can use a non-SSL URL instead, but you should use an SSL URL.

After adding an OAuth 2 application to an instance, you can use OAuth 2 to:

  • Enable users to sign in to your application with their GitLab.com account.

  • Set up GitLab.com for authentication to your GitLab instance. For more information, see integrating your server with GitLab.com.

  • After an application is created, external services can manage access tokens using the OAuth 2 API.

Create a user-owned application

To create a new application for your user:

  1. On the left sidebar, select your avatar.

  2. Select Edit profile.

  3. On the left sidebar, select Applications.

  4. Select Add new application.

  5. Enter a Name and Redirect URI.

  6. Select OAuth 2 Scopes as defined in Authorized Applications.

  7. In the Redirect URI, enter the URL where users are sent after they authorize with GitLab.

  8. Select Save application. GitLab provides:

    • The OAuth 2 Client ID in the Application ID field.
    • The OAuth 2 Client Secret, accessible by selecting Copy in the Secret field.
    • The Renew secret function in GitLab 15.9 and later. Use this function to generate and copy a new secret for this application. Renewing a secret prevents the existing application from functioning until the credentials are updated.

Create a group-owned application

To create a new application for a group:

  1. Go to the desired group.

  2. On the left sidebar, select Settings > Applications.

  3. Enter a Name and Redirect URI.

  4. Select OAuth 2 scopes as defined in Authorized Applications.

  5. In the Redirect URI, enter the URL where users are sent after they authorize with GitLab.

  6. Select Save application. GitLab provides:

    • The OAuth 2 Client ID in the Application ID field.
    • The OAuth 2 Client Secret, accessible by selecting Copy in the Secret field.
    • The Renew secret function in GitLab 15.9 and later. Use this function to generate and copy a new secret for this application. Renewing a secret prevents the existing application from functioning until the credentials are updated.

Create an instance-wide application

DETAILS: Tier: Free, Premium, Ultimate Offering: Self-managed

To create an application for your GitLab instance:

  1. On the left sidebar, at the bottom, select Admin.
  2. Select Applications.
  3. Select New application.

When creating application in the Admin area , mark it as trusted. The user authorization step is automatically skipped for this application.

View all authorized applications

  • k8s_proxy introduced in GitLab 16.4 with a flag named k8s_proxy_pat. Enabled by default.
  • Feature flag k8s_proxy_pat removed in GitLab 16.5.

To see all the application you've authorized with your GitLab credentials:

  1. On the left sidebar, select your avatar.
  2. Select Edit profile and then select Applications.
  3. See the Authorized applications section.

The GitLab OAuth 2 applications support scopes, which allow application to perform different actions. See the following table for all available scopes.

Scope Description
api Grants complete read/write access to the API, including all groups and projects, the container registry, the dependency proxy, and the package registry.
read_user Grants read-only access to the authenticated user's profile through the /user API endpoint, which includes username, public email, and full name. Also grants access to read-only API endpoints under /users.
read_api Grants read access to the API, including all groups and projects, the container registry, and the package registry.
read_repository Grants read-only access to repositories on private projects using Git-over-HTTP or the Repository Files API.
write_repository Grants read-write access to repositories on private projects using Git-over-HTTP (not using the API).
read_registry Grants read-only access to container registry images on private projects.
write_registry Grants read-only access to container registry images on private projects.
sudo Grants permission to perform API actions as any user in the system, when authenticated as an administrator user.
openid Grants permission to authenticate with GitLab using OpenID Connect. Also gives read-only access to the user's profile and group memberships.
profile Grants read-only access to the user's profile data using OpenID Connect.
email Grants read-only access to the user's primary email address using OpenID Connect.
create_runner Grants permission to create runners.
manage_runner Grants permission to manage runners.
k8s_proxy Grants permission to perform Kubernetes API calls using the agent for Kubernetes.

At any time you can revoke any access by selecting Revoke.

Access token expiration

  • Database validation on expires_in introduced in GitLab 15.10. If your GitLab instance has any remaining OAuth access tokens without expires_in set when you are upgrading to 15.10 or later, the database migration will raise an error. For workaround instructions, see the GitLab 15.10.0 upgrade documentation.

WARNING: The ability to opt out of expiring access tokens was removed in GitLab 15.0. All existing integrations must be updated to support access token refresh.

Access tokens expire after two hours. Integrations that use access tokens must generate new ones using the refresh_token attribute. Refresh tokens may be used even after the access_token itself expires. See OAuth 2.0 token documentation for more detailed information on how to refresh expired access tokens.

This expiration setting is set in the GitLab codebase using the access_token_expires_in configuration from Doorkeeper, the library that provides GitLab as an OAuth provider functionality. The expiration setting is not configurable.

When applications are deleted, all grants and tokens associated with the application are also deleted.

Hashed OAuth application secrets

FLAG: On self-managed GitLab, by default this feature is available. To hide the feature, an administrator can disable the feature flag named hash_oauth_secrets. On GitLab.com, this feature is available.

By default, GitLab stores OAuth application secrets in the database in hashed format. These secrets are only available to users immediately after creating OAuth applications. In earlier versions of GitLab, application secrets are stored as plain text in the database.

Other ways to use OAuth 2 in GitLab

You can:

  • Create and manage OAuth 2 applications using the Applications API.
  • Enable users to sign in to GitLab using third-party OAuth 2 providers. For more information, see the OmniAuth documentation.
  • Use the GitLab Importer with OAuth 2 to give access to repositories without sharing user credentials to your GitLab.com account.