Project-level CI/CD variables API

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List project variables

Get list of a project’s variables. 

GET /projects/:id/variables
Attribute Type Required Description
id integer/string Yes ID or URL-encoded path of the project 
curl --header "PRIVATE-TOKEN: <your_access_token>" "https://gitlab.example.com/api/v4/projects/1/variables" 
[ { "variable_type": "env_var", "key": "TEST_VARIABLE_1", "value": "TEST_1", "protected": false, "masked": true, "raw": false, "environment_scope": "*", "description": null }, { "variable_type": "env_var", "key": "TEST_VARIABLE_2", "value": "TEST_2", "protected": false, "masked": false, "raw": false, "environment_scope": "*", "description": null } ]

Get a single variable

Get the details of a single variable. If there are multiple variables with the same key, use filter to select the correct environment_scope. 

GET /projects/:id/variables/:key
Attribute Type Required Description
id integer/string Yes ID or URL-encoded path of the project
key string Yes The key of a variable
filter hash No Available filters: [environment_scope]. See the filter parameter details. 
curl --header "PRIVATE-TOKEN: <your_access_token>" "https://gitlab.example.com/api/v4/projects/1/variables/TEST_VARIABLE_1" 
{ "key": "TEST_VARIABLE_1", "variable_type": "env_var", "value": "TEST_1", "protected": false, "masked": true, "raw": false, "environment_scope": "*", "description": null }

Create a variable

Create a new variable. If a variable with the same key already exists, the new variable must have a different environment_scope. Otherwise, GitLab returns a message similar to: VARIABLE_NAME has already been taken. 

POST /projects/:id/variables
Attribute Type Required Description
id integer/string Yes ID or URL-encoded path of the project
key string Yes The key of a variable; must have no more than 255 characters; only A-Z, a-z, 0-9, and _ are allowed
value string Yes The value of a variable
description string No The description of the variable. Default: null. Introduced in GitLab 16.2.
environment_scope string No The environment_scope of the variable. Default: *
masked boolean No Whether the variable is masked. Default: false
protected boolean No Whether the variable is protected. Default: false
raw boolean No Whether the variable is treated as a raw string. Default: false. When true, variables in the value are not expanded.
variable_type string No The type of a variable. Available types are: env_var (default) and file 
curl --request POST --header "PRIVATE-TOKEN: <your_access_token>" \ "https://gitlab.example.com/api/v4/projects/1/variables" --form "key=NEW_VARIABLE" --form "value=new value" 
{ "variable_type": "env_var", "key": "NEW_VARIABLE", "value": "new value", "protected": false, "masked": false, "raw": false, "environment_scope": "*", "description": null }

Update a variable

Update a project’s variable. If there are multiple variables with the same key, use filter to select the correct environment_scope. 

PUT /projects/:id/variables/:key
Attribute Type Required Description
id integer/string Yes ID or URL-encoded path of the project
key string Yes The key of a variable
value string Yes The value of a variable
description string No The description of the variable. Default: null. Introduced in GitLab 16.2.
environment_scope string No The environment_scope of the variable
filter hash No Available filters: [environment_scope]. See the filter parameter details.
masked boolean No Whether the variable is masked
protected boolean No Whether the variable is protected
raw boolean No Whether the variable is treated as a raw string. Default: false. When true, variables in the value are not expanded.
variable_type string No The type of a variable. Available types are: env_var (default) and file 
curl --request PUT --header "PRIVATE-TOKEN: <your_access_token>" \ "https://gitlab.example.com/api/v4/projects/1/variables/NEW_VARIABLE" --form "value=updated value" 
{ "variable_type": "env_var", "key": "NEW_VARIABLE", "value": "updated value", "protected": true, "masked": false, "raw": false, "environment_scope": "*", "description": "null" }

Delete a variable

Delete a project’s variable. If there are multiple variables with the same key, use filter to select the correct environment_scope. 

DELETE /projects/:id/variables/:key
Attribute Type Required Description
id integer/string Yes ID or URL-encoded path of the project
key string Yes The key of a variable
filter hash No Available filters: [environment_scope]. See the filter parameter details. 
curl --request DELETE --header "PRIVATE-TOKEN: <your_access_token>" "https://gitlab.example.com/api/v4/projects/1/variables/VARIABLE_1"

The filter parameter

When multiple variables have the same key, GET, PUT, or DELETE requests might return: 

There are multiple variables with provided parameters. Please use 'filter[environment_scope]'.

Use filter[environment_scope] to select the variable with the matching environment_scope attribute.

For example:

  • GET: 

    curl --globoff --header "PRIVATE-TOKEN: <your_access_token>" \ "https://gitlab.example.com/api/v4/projects/1/variables/SCOPED_VARIABLE_1?filter[environment_scope]=production"

  • PUT: 

    curl --request PUT --globoff --header "PRIVATE-TOKEN: <your_access_token>" \ "https://gitlab.example.com/api/v4/projects/1/variables/SCOPED_VARIABLE_1?value=scoped-variable-updated-value&environment_scope=production&filter[environment_scope]=production"

  • DELETE: 

    curl --request DELETE --globoff --header "PRIVATE-TOKEN: <your_access_token>" \ "https://gitlab.example.com/api/v4/projects/1/variables/SCOPED_VARIABLE_1?filter[environment_scope]=production"