Create GitLab Project Token

Property	Type	Description
name	string	Name of Access Key
token	string	The token to use for authorization to GitLab
scopes	array	Scopes for a project access token
repoUrl	string	URL to gitlab instance
expiresAt	string	Expiration date of the access token in ISO format (YYYY-MM-DD). If Empty, it will set to the maximum of 365 days.
projectId	any	Project ID/Name(slug) of the Gitlab Project
accessLevel	number	Access Level of the Token, 10 (Guest), 20 (Reporter), 30 (Developer), 40 (Maintainer), and 50 (Owner)

Property	Type	Description	Required
access_token	string	Access Token

Create a minimal project access token using integration credentials

Creates a token for an existing GitLab project using the default expiration. Use this when your GitLab integration provides the admin token and you only need to specify the project and instance.

Copy

steps:
  - id: fetch_skeleton
    action: fetch:template
    input:
      url: ./skeleton
      targetPath: .
      values:
        name: ${{ parameters.name }}

  - id: create_project_token
    action: gitlab:projectAccessToken:create
    input:
      projectId: acme/platform/my-service
      repoUrl: https://gitlab.com

Create a developer token with write access for repository and registry

Creates a token with developer access and write scopes for code and container registry. Use this for automation that pushes commits and images after fetch:template.

Copy

steps:
  - id: fetch_source
    action: fetch:template
    input:
      url: ./skeleton
      targetPath: .
      values:
        name: ${{ parameters.serviceName }}

  - id: create_dev_token
    action: gitlab:projectAccessToken:create
    input:
      projectId: acme/payments/billing-service
      repoUrl: https://gitlab.com
      token: ${{ secrets.gitlabToken }}
      name: scaffolder-ci-billing
      accessLevel: 30
      scopes:
        - write_repository
        - write_registry
        - read_api
      expiresAt: 2026-01-31

Create a short-lived read-only token for preview pipelines

Creates a read-only token for preview environments tied to a branch with a controlled expiration date. Use this to allow ephemeral jobs to fetch code and query read-only APIs.

Copy

steps:
  - id: fetch_template
    action: fetch:template
    input:
      url: ./skeleton
      targetPath: .
      values:
        branch: ${{ parameters.branchName }}
        service: ${{ parameters.service }}

  - id: create_preview_ro_token
    action: gitlab:projectAccessToken:create
    input:
      projectId: ${{ parameters.projectSlug }} # e.g. acme/web/storefront
      repoUrl: https://gitlab.com
      token: ${{ secrets.gitlabAdminToken }}
      name: preview-${{ parameters.branchName }}
      accessLevel: 20
      scopes:
        - read_repository
        - read_api
      expiresAt: ${{ parameters.tokenExpiry }} # YYYY-MM-DD

Create a maintainer token for a self-hosted GitLab project

Creates a maintainer-level token on a self-hosted instance with broad automation access. Use this for trusted release bots that need repository and registry write access.

Copy

steps:
  - id: fetch_assets
    action: fetch:template
    input:
      url: ./skeleton
      targetPath: .
      values:
        name: release-bot

  - id: create_maintainer_token
    action: gitlab:projectAccessToken:create
    input:
      projectId: 3421
      repoUrl: https://gitlab.mycorp.internal
      token: ${{ secrets.selfHostedGitlabToken }}
      name: release-bot-token
      accessLevel: 40
      scopes:
        - api
        - write_repository
        - write_registry
      expiresAt: 2025-12-31

Create a package publishing token with package registry scopes

Creates a token for publishing packages from CI with limited package registry permissions. Use this when your pipelines need to push to the project package registry but do not need full API access.

Copy

steps:
  - id: fetch_template_pkg
    action: fetch:template
    input:
      url: ./skeleton
      targetPath: .
      values:
        library: ${{ parameters.serviceName }}

  - id: create_pkg_registry_token
    action: gitlab:projectAccessToken:create
    input:
      projectId: acme/libs/data-utils
      repoUrl: https://gitlab.com
      token: ${{ secrets.gitlabToken }}
      name: pkg-publisher-${{ parameters.serviceName }}
      accessLevel: 30
      scopes:
        - write_package_registry
        - read_api
      expiresAt: 2025-06-30

Input Schema

Output Schema

Usage Examples

Create a minimal project access token using integration credentials

Create a developer token with write access for repository and registry

Create a short-lived read-only token for preview pipelines

Create a maintainer token for a self-hosted GitLab project

Create a package publishing token with package registry scopes

Other actions in @backstage/plugin-scaffolder-backend-module-gitlab

Publish GitLab Merge Request

Publish To GitLab

GitLab Repo Push

Create GitLab Project Variable

Create GitLab Deploy Token

Trigger GitLab Pipeline

Create GitLab Issue

Edit GitLab Issue

GitLab Project Migration

Ensure GitLab Group Exists