--- stage: Create group: Source Code info: To determine the technical writer assigned to the Stage/Group associated with this page, see https://handbook.gitlab.com/handbook/product/ux/technical-writing/#assignments description: Documentation for the REST API for Git repositories in GitLab. title: Repositories API --- {{< details >}} - Tier: Free, Premium, Ultimate - Offering: GitLab.com, GitLab Self-Managed, GitLab Dedicated {{< /details >}} Use this API to manage your [GitLab repository](../user/project/repository/_index.md). ## List repository tree Get a list of repository files and directories in a project. This endpoint can be accessed without authentication if the repository is publicly accessible. This command provides essentially the same features as the `git ls-tree` command. For more information, refer to the section [Tree Objects](https://git-scm.com/book/en/v2/Git-Internals-Git-Objects.html#_tree_objects) in the Git internals documentation. {{< alert type="warning" >}} GitLab version 17.7 changes the error handling behavior when a requested path is not found. The endpoint now returns a status code `404 Not Found`. Previously, the status code was `200 OK`. If your implementation relies on receiving a `200` status code with an empty array for missing paths, you must update your error handling to handle the new `404` responses. {{< /alert >}} ```plaintext GET /projects/:id/repository/tree ``` Supported attributes: | Attribute | Type | Required | Description | | :---------- | :------------- | :------- | :---------- | | `id` | integer or string | yes | The ID or [URL-encoded path of the project](rest/_index.md#namespaced-paths). | | `page_token` | string | no | The tree record ID at which to fetch the next page. Used only with keyset pagination. | | `pagination` | string | no | If `keyset`, use the [keyset-based pagination method](rest/_index.md#keyset-based-pagination). | | `path` | string | no | The path inside the repository. Used to get content of subdirectories. | | `per_page` | integer | no | Number of results to show per page. If not specified, defaults to `20`. For more information, see [Pagination](rest/_index.md#pagination). | | `recursive` | boolean | no | Boolean value used to get a recursive tree. Default is `false`. | | `ref` | string | no | The name of a repository branch or tag or, if not given, the default branch. | ```json [ { "id": "a1e8f8d745cc87e3a9248358d9352bb7f9a0aeba", "name": "html", "type": "tree", "path": "files/html", "mode": "040000" }, { "id": "4535904260b1082e14f867f7a24fd8c21495bde3", "name": "images", "type": "tree", "path": "files/images", "mode": "040000" }, { "id": "31405c5ddef582c5a9b7a85230413ff90e2fe720", "name": "js", "type": "tree", "path": "files/js", "mode": "040000" }, { "id": "cc71111cfad871212dc99572599a568bfe1e7e00", "name": "lfs", "type": "tree", "path": "files/lfs", "mode": "040000" }, { "id": "fd581c619bf59cfdfa9c8282377bb09c2f897520", "name": "markdown", "type": "tree", "path": "files/markdown", "mode": "040000" }, { "id": "23ea4d11a4bdd960ee5320c5cb65b5b3fdbc60db", "name": "ruby", "type": "tree", "path": "files/ruby", "mode": "040000" }, { "id": "7d70e02340bac451f281cecf0a980907974bd8be", "name": "whitespace", "type": "blob", "path": "files/whitespace", "mode": "100644" } ] ``` ## Get a blob from repository Allows you to receive information, such as size and content, about blobs in a repository. Blob content is Base64 encoded. This endpoint can be accessed without authentication, if the repository is publicly accessible. For blobs larger than 10 MB, this endpoint has a rate limit of 5 requests per minute. ```plaintext GET /projects/:id/repository/blobs/:sha ``` Supported attributes: | Attribute | Type | Required | Description | | :-------- | :------------- | :------- | :---------- | | `id` | integer or string | yes | The ID or [URL-encoded path of the project](rest/_index.md#namespaced-paths). | | `sha` | string | yes | The blob SHA. | ## Get raw blob content Get the raw file contents for a blob, by blob SHA. This endpoint can be accessed without authentication if the repository is publicly accessible. ```plaintext GET /projects/:id/repository/blobs/:sha/raw ``` Supported attributes: | Attribute | Type | Required | Description | | :-------- | :------- | :------- | :---------- | | `id` | integer or string | yes | The ID or [URL-encoded path of the project](rest/_index.md#namespaced-paths). | | `sha` | string | yes | The blob SHA. | ## Get file archive Get an archive of the repository. This endpoint can be accessed without authentication if the repository is publicly accessible. For GitLab.com users, this endpoint has a rate limit threshold of 5 requests per minute. ```plaintext GET /projects/:id/repository/archive[.format] ``` `format` is an optional suffix for the archive format, and defaults to `tar.gz`. For example, specifying `archive.zip` sends an archive in ZIP format. Available options are: - `bz2` - `tar` - `tar.bz2` - `tar.gz` - `tb2` - `tbz` - `tbz2` - `zip` Supported attributes: | Attribute | Type | Required | Description | |:------------|:---------------|:---------|:----------------------| | `id` | integer or string | yes | The ID or [URL-encoded path of the project](rest/_index.md#namespaced-paths). | | `path` | string | no | The subpath of the repository to download. If an empty string, defaults to the whole repository. | | `sha` | string | no | The commit SHA to download. A tag, branch reference, or SHA can be used. If not specified, defaults to the tip of the default branch. | | `include_lfs_blobs` | boolean | no | Determines whether LFS objects are included in the archive. Default is `true`. When set to `false`, LFS objects are excluded. | | `exclude_paths` | string | no | Comma-separated list of paths to exclude from the archive. | Example request: ```shell curl --header "PRIVATE-TOKEN: " \ --url "https://gitlab.com/api/v4/projects//repository/archive?sha=&path=&exclude_paths=" ``` ## Compare branches, tags or commits This endpoint can be accessed without authentication if the repository is publicly accessible. Diffs can have an empty diff string if diff limits are reached. ```plaintext GET /projects/:id/repository/compare ``` Supported attributes: | Attribute | Type | Required | Description | | :--------- | :------------- | :------- | :---------- | | `id` | integer or string | yes | The ID or [URL-encoded path of the project](rest/_index.md#namespaced-paths). | | `from` | string | yes | The commit SHA or branch name. | | `to` | string | yes | The commit SHA or branch name. | | `from_project_id` | integer | no | The ID to compare from. | | `straight` | boolean | no | Comparison method: `true` for direct comparison between `from` and `to` (`from`..`to`), `false` to compare using merge base (`from`...`to`)'. Default is `false`. | | `unidiff` | boolean | No | Present diffs in the [unified diff](https://www.gnu.org/software/diffutils/manual/html_node/Detailed-Unified.html) format. Default is false. [Introduced](https://gitlab.com/gitlab-org/gitlab/-/merge_requests/130610) in GitLab 16.5. | ```plaintext GET /projects/:id/repository/compare?from=main&to=feature ``` Example response: ```json { "commit": { "id": "12d65c8dd2b2676fa3ac47d955accc085a37a9c1", "short_id": "12d65c8dd2b", "title": "JS fix", "author_name": "Example User", "author_email": "user@example.com", "created_at": "2014-02-27T10:27:00+02:00" }, "commits": [{ "id": "12d65c8dd2b2676fa3ac47d955accc085a37a9c1", "short_id": "12d65c8dd2b", "title": "JS fix", "author_name": "Example User", "author_email": "user@example.com", "created_at": "2014-02-27T10:27:00+02:00" }], "diffs": [{ "old_path": "files/js/application.js", "new_path": "files/js/application.js", "a_mode": null, "b_mode": "100644", "diff": "@@ -24,8 +24,10 @@\n //= require g.raphael-min\n //= require g.bar-min\n //= require branch-graph\n-//= require highlightjs.min\n-//= require ace/ace\n //= require_tree .\n //= require d3\n //= require underscore\n+\n+function fix() { \n+ alert(\"Fixed\")\n+}", "new_file": false, "renamed_file": false, "deleted_file": false }], "compare_timeout": false, "compare_same_ref": false, "web_url": "https://gitlab.example.com/janedoe/gitlab-foss/-/compare/ae73cb07c9eeaf35924a10f713b364d32b2dd34f...0b4bc9a49b562e85de7cc9e834518ea6828729b9" } ``` ## Get contributor list {{< history >}} - `ref` [introduced](https://gitlab.com/gitlab-org/gitlab/-/merge_requests/156852) in GitLab 17.4. {{< /history >}} Get repository contributors list. This endpoint can be accessed without authentication if the repository is publicly accessible. The commit count returned does not include merge commits. ```plaintext GET /projects/:id/repository/contributors ``` Supported attributes: | Attribute | Type | Required | Description | | :--------- | :------------- | :------- | :---------- | | `id` | integer or string | yes | The ID or [URL-encoded path of the project](rest/_index.md#namespaced-paths). | | `ref` | string | no | The name of a repository branch or tag. If not given, the default branch. | | `order_by` | string | no | Order contributors by `name`, `email`, or `commits` (number of commits). If not specified, contributors are ordered by commit date. | | `sort` | string | no | Return contributors sorted in `asc` or `desc` order. Default is `asc`. | Example request: ```shell curl --header "PRIVATE-TOKEN: " \ --url "https://gitlab.example.com/api/v4/projects/7/repository/contributors" ``` Example response: ```json [{ "name": "Example User", "email": "example@example.com", "commits": 117, "additions": 0, "deletions": 0 }, { "name": "Sample User", "email": "sample@example.com", "commits": 33, "additions": 0, "deletions": 0 }] ``` ## Get merge base Get the common ancestor for 2 or more refs, such as commit SHAs, branch names, or tags. ```plaintext GET /projects/:id/repository/merge_base ``` | Attribute | Type | Required | Description | | --------- | -------------- | -------- | ---------------------------------------------------------------------------------- | | `id` | integer or string | yes | The ID or [URL-encoded path of the project](rest/_index.md#namespaced-paths). | | `refs` | array | yes | The refs to find the common ancestor of. Accepts multiple refs. | Example request, with the refs truncated for readability: ```shell curl --header "PRIVATE-TOKEN: " \ --url "https://gitlab.example.com/api/v4/projects/5/repository/merge_base?refs[]=304d257d&refs[]=0031876f" ``` Example response: ```json { "id": "1a0b36b3cdad1d2ee32457c102a8c0b7056fa863", "short_id": "1a0b36b3", "title": "Initial commit", "created_at": "2014-02-27T08:03:18.000Z", "parent_ids": [], "message": "Initial commit\n", "author_name": "Example User", "author_email": "user@example.com", "authored_date": "2014-02-27T08:03:18.000Z", "committer_name": "Example User", "committer_email": "user@example.com", "committed_date": "2014-02-27T08:03:18.000Z" } ``` ## Add changelog data to a changelog file {{< history >}} - [Generally available](https://gitlab.com/gitlab-org/gitlab/-/issues/364101) in GitLab 17.3. Feature flag `changelog_commits_limitation` removed. {{< /history >}} Generate changelog data based on commits in a repository. Given a [semantic version](https://semver.org/) and a range of commits, GitLab generates a changelog for all commits that use a particular [Git trailer](https://git-scm.com/docs/git-interpret-trailers). GitLab adds a new Markdown-formatted section to a changelog file in the Git repository of the project. The output format can be customized. For performance and security reasons, parsing the changelog configuration is limited to `2` seconds. This limitation helps prevent potential DoS attacks from malformed changelog templates. If the request times out, consider reducing the size of your `changelog_config.yml` file. For user-facing documentation, see [Changelogs](../user/project/changelogs.md). ```plaintext POST /projects/:id/repository/changelog ``` ### Supported attributes {{< history >}} - `config_file_ref` [introduced](https://gitlab.com/gitlab-org/gitlab/-/issues/426108) in GitLab 18.2. {{< /history >}} Changelogs support these attributes: | Attribute | Type | Required | Description | | :-------- | :------- | :--------- | :---------- | | `version` | string | yes | The version to generate the changelog for. The format must follow [semantic versioning](https://semver.org/). | | `branch` | string | no | The branch to commit the changelog changes to. Defaults to the project's default branch. | | `config_file` | string | no | Path to the changelog configuration file in the project's Git repository. Defaults to `.gitlab/changelog_config.yml`. | | `config_file_ref` | string | no | The Git reference (for example, branch) where the changelog configuration file is defined. Defaults to the default repository branch. | | `date` | datetime | no | The date and time of the release. Defaults to the current time. | | `file` | string | no | The file to commit the changes to. Defaults to `CHANGELOG.md`. | | `from` | string | no | The SHA of the commit that marks the beginning of the range of commits to include in the changelog. This commit isn't included in the changelog. | | `message` | string | no | The commit message to use when committing the changes. Defaults to `Add changelog for version X`, where `X` is the value of the `version` argument. | | `to` | string | no | The SHA of the commit that marks the end of the range of commits to include in the changelog. This commit is included in the changelog. Defaults to the branch specified in the `branch` attribute. Limited to 15000 commits. | | `trailer` | string | no | The Git trailer to use for including commits. Defaults to `Changelog`. Case-sensitive: `Example` does not match `example` or `eXaMpLE`. | ### Requirements for `from` attribute If the `from` attribute is unspecified, GitLab uses the Git tag of the last stable version that came before the version specified in the `version` attribute. For GitLab to extract version numbers from tag names, Git tag names must follow a specific format. By default, GitLab considers tags using these formats: - `vX.Y.Z` - `X.Y.Z` Where `X.Y.Z` is a version that follows [semantic versioning](https://semver.org/). For example, consider a project with the following tags: - `v1.0.0-pre1` - `v1.0.0` - `v1.1.0` - `v2.0.0` If the `version` attribute is `2.1.0`, GitLab uses tag `v2.0.0`. And when the version is `1.1.1`, or `1.2.0`, GitLab uses tag `v1.1.0`. The tag `v1.0.0-pre1` is never used, because pre-release tags are ignored. The `version` attribute can start with `v`. For example: `v1.0.0`. The response is the same as for `version` value `1.0.0`. [Introduced](https://gitlab.com/gitlab-org/gitlab/-/issues/437616) in GitLab 17.0. If `from` is unspecified and no tag to use is found, the API produces an error. To solve such an error, you must explicitly specify a value for the `from` attribute. ### Migrating from a manually-managed changelog file to Git trailers When you migrate from an existing manually-managed changelog file to one that uses Git trailers, make sure that the changelog file matches [the expected format](../user/project/changelogs.md). Otherwise, new changelog entries added by the API might be inserted in an unexpected position. For example, if the version values in the manually-managed changelog file are specified as `vX.Y.Z` instead of `X.Y.Z`, then new changelog entries added using Git trailers are appended to the end of the changelog file. [Issue 444183](https://gitlab.com/gitlab-org/gitlab/-/issues/444183) proposes customizing the version header format in changelog files. However, until that issue has been completed, the expected version header format in changelog files is `X.Y.Z`. ### Examples These examples use [cURL](https://curl.se/) to perform HTTP requests. The example commands use these values: - **Project ID**: 42 - **Location**: hosted on GitLab.com - **Example API token**: `token` This command generates a changelog for version `1.0.0`. The commit range: - Starts with the tag of the last release. - Ends with the last commit on the target branch. The default target branch is the project's default branch. If the last tag is `v0.9.0` and the default branch is `main`, the range of commits included in this example is `v0.9.0..main`: ```shell curl --request POST \ --header "PRIVATE-TOKEN: token" \ --data "version=1.0.0" \ --url "https://gitlab.com/api/v4/projects/42/repository/changelog" ``` To generate the data on a different branch, specify the `branch` parameter. This command generates data from the `foo` branch: ```shell curl --request POST \ --header "PRIVATE-TOKEN: token" \ --data "version=1.0.0&branch=foo" \ --url "https://gitlab.com/api/v4/projects/42/repository/changelog" ``` To use a different trailer, use the `trailer` parameter: ```shell curl --request POST --header "PRIVATE-TOKEN: token" \ --data "version=1.0.0&trailer=Type" \ --url "https://gitlab.com/api/v4/projects/42/repository/changelog" ``` To store the results in a different file, use the `file` parameter: ```shell curl --request POST \ --header "PRIVATE-TOKEN: token" \ --data "version=1.0.0&file=NEWS" \ --url "https://gitlab.com/api/v4/projects/42/repository/changelog" ``` To specify a branch as a parameter, use the `to` attribute: ```shell curl --request GET \ --header "PRIVATE-TOKEN: token" \ --url "https://gitlab.com/api/v4/projects/42/repository/changelog?version=1.0.0&to=release/x.x.x" ``` ## Generate changelog data {{< history >}} - [Introduced](https://gitlab.com/gitlab-org/gitlab/-/merge_requests/172842) authentication through [CI/CD job token](../ci/jobs/ci_job_token.md) in GitLab 17.7. - `config_file_ref` attribute [introduced](https://gitlab.com/gitlab-org/gitlab/-/issues/426108) in GitLab 18.2. {{< /history >}} Generate changelog data based on commits in a repository, without committing them to a changelog file. Works exactly like `POST /projects/:id/repository/changelog`, except the changelog data isn't committed to any changelog file. ```plaintext GET /projects/:id/repository/changelog ``` Supported attributes: | Attribute | Type | Required | Description | | :-------- | :------- | :--------- | :---------- | | `version` | string | yes | The version to generate the changelog for. The format must follow [semantic versioning](https://semver.org/). | | `config_file` | string | no | The path of changelog configuration file in the project's Git repository. Defaults to `.gitlab/changelog_config.yml`. | | `config_file_ref` | string | no | The Git reference (for example, branch) where the changelog configuration file is defined. Defaults to the default repository branch. | | `date` | datetime | no | The date and time of the release. Uses ISO 8601 format. Example: `2016-03-11T03:45:40Z`. Defaults to the current time. | | `from` | string | no | The start of the range of commits (as a SHA) to use for generating the changelog. This commit itself isn't included in the list. | | `to` | string | no | The end of the range of commits (as a SHA) to use for the changelog. This commit is included in the list. Defaults to the HEAD of the default project branch. | | `trailer` | string | no | The Git trailer to use for including commits. Defaults to `Changelog`. | ```shell curl --header "PRIVATE-TOKEN: token" \ --url "https://gitlab.com/api/v4/projects/42/repository/changelog?version=1.0.0" ``` Example response, with line breaks added for readability: ```json { "notes": "## 1.0.0 (2021-11-17)\n\n### feature (2 changes)\n\n- [Title 2](namespace13/project13@ad608eb642124f5b3944ac0ac772fecaf570a6bf) ([merge request](namespace13/project13!2))\n- [Title 1](namespace13/project13@3c6b80ff7034fa0d585314e1571cc780596ce3c8) ([merge request](namespace13/project13!1))\n" } ``` ## Health {{< history >}} - [Introduced](https://gitlab.com/gitlab-org/gitlab/-/merge_requests/182220) in GitLab 17.10. Guarded behind the [`project_repositories_health`](https://gitlab.com/gitlab-org/gitlab/-/issues/521115) feature flag. - New fields [added](https://gitlab.com/gitlab-org/gitlab/-/merge_requests/191263) in GitLab 18.1. {{< /history >}} Get statistics related to the health of a project repository. This endpoint is rate-limited to 5 requests/hour per project. ```plaintext GET /projects/:id/repository/health ``` Supported attributes: | Attribute | Type | Required | Description | |:-----------|:--------|:---------|:---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------| | `generate` | boolean | no | Whether a new health report should be generated. Set this if the endpoint returns 404. | Example request: ```shell curl --header "PRIVATE-TOKEN: token" \ --url "https://gitlab.com/api/v4/projects/42/repository/health" ``` Example response: ```json { "size": 2619748827, "references": { "loose_count": 13, "packed_size": 333978, "reference_backend": "REFERENCE_BACKEND_FILES" }, "objects": { "size": 2180475409, "recent_size": 2180453999, "stale_size": 21410, "keep_size": 0, "packfile_count": 1, "reverse_index_count": 1, "cruft_count": 0, "keep_count": 0, "loose_objects_count": 36, "stale_loose_objects_count": 36, "loose_objects_garbage_count": 0 }, "commit_graph": { "commit_graph_chain_length": 1, "has_bloom_filters": true, "has_generation_data": true, "has_generation_data_overflow": false }, "bitmap": null, "multi_pack_index": { "packfile_count": 1, "version": 1 }, "multi_pack_index_bitmap": { "has_hash_cache": true, "has_lookup_table": true, "version": 1 }, "alternates": null, "is_object_pool": false, "last_full_repack": { "seconds": 1745892013, "nanos": 0 }, "updated_at": "2025-05-14T02:31:08.022Z" } ``` For a description of each field in the response, see the [`RepositoryInfoResponse`](https://gitlab.com/gitlab-org/gitaly/blob/fcb986a6482f82b088488db3ed7ca35adfa42fdc/proto/repository.proto#L444) protobuf message. ## Related topics - User documentation for [changelogs](../user/project/changelogs.md)