GitLab 25 🦊 Cheat Sheet

1. Repositories & SSH/HTTPS Authentication

git clone git@gitlab.com:group/project.git       # Clone via SSH
git clone https://gitlab.com/group/project.git   # Clone via HTTPS
ssh-keygen -t ed25519 -C "email@example.com"     # Generate SSH key
ssh -T git@gitlab.com                            # Test SSH connection

# PAT (Personal Access Token) clone
git clone https://<username>:<token>@gitlab.com/group/project.git

2. Project & Group Hierarchy

Level	Purpose	Contains
Group	Organization	Subgroups, projects
Subgroup	Team	Subgroups, projects
Project	Repository	Code, issues, MRs, CI/CD

Create group: Menu → Groups → New group
Create project: Menu → Projects → New project
Max nesting: 20 levels

3. Merge Requests (MRs)

glab mr create --fill --reviewer username        # Create MR via CLI
glab mr list                                     # List MRs
glab mr checkout 42                              # Checkout MR branch
glab mr merge 42 --squash --remove-source-branch # Merge MR via CLI

# Resolve conflicts locally
git fetch origin
git merge origin/main
# Edit conflicted files, then:
git add <file> && git commit && git push

4. Protected Branches

Settings → Repository → Protected branches
Branch: main
Allowed to merge: Maintainers
Allowed to push: Maintainers
Allowed to force push: Disabled

Role	Can Push to main? (Default)
Guest	No
Reporter	No
Developer	No (protected)
Maintainer	Yes
Owner	Yes

5. .gitlab-ci.yml Basic Structure

stages:
  - build
  - test
  - deploy

build-job:
  stage: build
  script:
    - npm ci
    - npm run build
  artifacts:
    paths:
      - dist/

test-job:
  stage: test
  needs: [build-job]
  script:
    - npm test

6. CI/CD Pipeline Keywords

Keyword	Purpose
stages	Defines execution order
script	Commands to run
image	Container environment
needs	Bypass stage barrier (DAG)
rules	Conditional execution
artifacts	Pass files between jobs
cache	Reuse dependencies
environment	Deployment target

7. rules and Conditional Execution

deploy:
  rules:
    - if: $CI_COMMIT_BRANCH == "main"
      when: manual
    - if: $CI_COMMIT_TAG
    - when: never

when Value	Meaning
on_success	Run if previous jobs pass
on_failure	Run only on failure
always	Always run
never	Never run
manual	Require manual trigger
delayed	Delay start

8. CI/CD Variables

Settings → CI/CD → Variables → Add variable
Key: DEPLOY_TOKEN
Value: <secret>
Masked: Yes
Protected: Yes
Environment scope: production

Variable	Purpose
CI_COMMIT_SHA	Commit hash
CI_COMMIT_BRANCH	Branch name
CI_PIPELINE_ID	Pipeline ID
CI_REGISTRY_IMAGE	Container registry path
CI_JOB_TOKEN	Short-lived job token

9. Runners

sudo gitlab-runner register --token "glrt-xxxx" --executor "docker"
sudo systemctl restart gitlab-runner

Executor	Use Case
docker	Container isolation
shell	Direct host execution
kubernetes	Pod-based scaling

10. Container Registry (GHCR Equivalent)

before_script:
  - echo "$CI_REGISTRY_PASSWORD" | docker login $CI_REGISTRY -u $CI_REGISTRY_USER --password-stdin
script:
  - docker build -t $CI_REGISTRY_IMAGE:$CI_COMMIT_SHORT_SHA .
  - docker push $CI_REGISTRY_IMAGE:$CI_COMMIT_SHORT_SHA

11. DevSecOps Scanners

include:
  - template: Security/SAST.gitlab-ci.yml
  - template: Security/Secret-Detection.gitlab-ci.yml
  - template: Jobs/Dependency-Scanning.gitlab-ci.yml

Scanner	Template
SAST	Security/SAST.gitlab-ci.yml
Secret Detection	Security/Secret-Detection.gitlab-ci.yml
Dependency Scanning	Jobs/Dependency-Scanning.gitlab-ci.yml

12. Environments and Deployments

deploy-staging:
  environment:
    name: staging
    url: https://staging.example.com
  script: ./deploy.sh

deploy-prod:
  environment:
    name: production
  when: manual
  allow_failure: false
  script: ./deploy.sh

Settings → CI/CD → Protected environments
Environment: production
Allowed to deploy: Maintainers
Required approvals: 1

13. Kubernetes Agent

helm upgrade --install my-agent gitlab/gitlab-agent \
  --namespace gitlab-agent \
  --set config.token=<token> \
  --set config.kasAddress=wss://kas.gitlab.com

# .gitlab/agents/my-agent/config.yaml
gitops:
  manifest_projects:
    - id: my-group/manifests

14. Access Control

Role	Key Permissions
Guest	View issues, comment
Reporter	View code, clone
Developer	Push, create MRs
Maintainer	Manage settings, protect branches
Owner	Delete project, transfer

Visibility	Visible To
Private	Members only
Internal	Authenticated users
Public	Anyone

15. Webhooks & API

curl --header "PRIVATE-TOKEN: <token>" \
  "https://gitlab.example.com/api/v4/projects"

Header	Token Type
PRIVATE-TOKEN	Personal access token
JOB-TOKEN	CI/CD job token
Authorization: Bearer	OAuth

16. Analytics

Metric	Definition
Lead Time	Issue creation to closure
Cycle Time	First commit to issue closure
DORA: Deployment Frequency	Deployments per day
DORA: Change Failure Rate	Failed deployments %

17. Migration

Source	Tool
GitHub	Create new → Import project → GitHub
Bitbucket Cloud	Create new → Import project → Bitbucket Cloud
Git History only	Repository by URL

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