Group-level Variables API

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  • Tier: Free, Premium, Ultimate
  • Offering: GitLab.com, GitLab Self-Managed, GitLab Dedicated

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List group variables

Get list of a group’s variables. 

GET /groups/:id/variables
Attribute Type Required Description
id integer/string Yes The ID of a group or URL-encoded path of the group 
curl \
  --header "PRIVATE-TOKEN: <your_access_token>" \
  --url "https://gitlab.example.com/api/v4/groups/1/variables"

[
    {
        "key": "TEST_VARIABLE_1",
        "variable_type": "env_var",
        "value": "TEST_1",
        "protected": false,
        "masked": false,
        "hidden": false,
        "raw": false,
        "environment_scope": "*",
        "description": null
    },
    {
        "key": "TEST_VARIABLE_2",
        "variable_type": "env_var",
        "value": "TEST_2",
        "protected": false,
        "masked": false,
        "hidden": false,
        "raw": false,
        "environment_scope": "*",
        "description": null
    }
]

Show variable details

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  • The filter parameter was introduced in GitLab 16.9.

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

GET /groups/:id/variables/:key
Attribute Type Required Description
id integer/string Yes The ID of a group or URL-encoded path of the group
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>" \
  --url "https://gitlab.example.com/api/v4/groups/1/variables/TEST_VARIABLE_1"

{
    "key": "TEST_VARIABLE_1",
    "variable_type": "env_var",
    "value": "TEST_1",
    "protected": false,
    "masked": false,
    "hidden": false,
    "raw": false,
    "environment_scope": "*",
    "description": null
}

Create variable

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  • masked_and_hidden and hidden attributes introduced in GitLab 17.4.

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Create a new variable. 

POST /groups/:id/variables
Attribute Type Required Description
id integer/string Yes The ID of a group or URL-encoded path of the group.
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; must have no more than 255 characters. Default: null.
environment_scope string No The environment scope of a variable. Premium and Ultimate only.
masked boolean No Whether the variable is masked.
masked_and_hidden boolean No Whether the variable is masked and hidden. Default: false
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 POST \
  --header "PRIVATE-TOKEN: <your_access_token>" \
  --url "https://gitlab.example.com/api/v4/groups/1/variables" \
  --form "key=NEW_VARIABLE" \
  --form "value=new value"

{
    "key": "NEW_VARIABLE",
    "value": "new value",
    "variable_type": "env_var",
    "protected": false,
    "masked": false,
    "hidden": false,
    "raw": false,
    "environment_scope": "*",
    "description": null
}

Update variable

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  • The filter parameter was introduced in GitLab 16.9.

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

PUT /groups/:id/variables/:key
Attribute Type Required Description
id integer/string Yes The ID of a group or URL-encoded path of the group
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 a variable. Premium and Ultimate only.
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>" \
  --url "https://gitlab.example.com/api/v4/groups/1/variables/NEW_VARIABLE" \
  --form "value=updated value"

{
    "key": "NEW_VARIABLE",
    "value": "updated value",
    "variable_type": "env_var",
    "protected": true,
    "masked": true,
    "hidden": false,
    "raw": true,
    "environment_scope": "*",
    "description": null
}

Remove variable

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  • The filter parameter was introduced in GitLab 16.9.

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

DELETE /groups/:id/variables/:key
Attribute Type Required Description
id integer/string Yes The ID of a group or URL-encoded path of the group
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>" \
  --url "https://gitlab.example.com/api/v4/groups/1/variables/VARIABLE_1"

The filter parameter

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  • Tier: Premium, Ultimate
  • Offering: GitLab.com, GitLab Self-Managed, GitLab Dedicated

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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>" \
  --url "https://gitlab.example.com/api/v4/groups/1/variables/SCOPED_VARIABLE_1?filter[environment_scope]=production"

  • PUT: 

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