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Group-level Variables API

DETAILS: Tier: Free, Premium, Ultimate Offering: GitLab.com, Self-managed, GitLab Dedicated

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>" "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

  • The filter parameter was introduced in GitLab 16.9.

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>" "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

  • masked_and_hidden and hidden attributes introduced in GitLab 17.4.

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>" \
     "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

  • The filter parameter was introduced in GitLab 16.9.

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>" \
     "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

  • The filter parameter was introduced in GitLab 16.9.

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>" \
     "https://gitlab.example.com/api/v4/groups/1/variables/VARIABLE_1"

The filter parameter

DETAILS: Tier: Premium, Ultimate Offering: GitLab.com, Self-managed, GitLab Dedicated

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