Create GitLab Project Variable

Property	Type	Description
key	string	The key of a variable; must have no more than 255 characters; only A-Z, a-z, 0-9, and _ are allowed
raw	boolean	Whether the variable is expandable
token	string	The token to use for authorization to GitLab
value	string	The value of a variable
masked	boolean	Whether the variable is masked
repoUrl	string	-
projectId	any	Project ID
variableType	string	Variable Type (env_var or file)
environmentScope	string	The environment_scope of the variable
variableProtected	boolean	Whether the variable is protected

Create a global environment variable for all environments

Use this to set a nonsecret variable that applies to all environments. After fetch:template, this step creates an env var available to GitLab CI jobs.

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

  - id: create-api-base-url
    action: gitlab:projectVariable:create
    input:
      repoUrl: gitlab.com?project=platform%2Fcatalog-service
      projectId: 53821
      key: API_BASE_URL
      value: https://api.internal.example.com
      variableType: env_var
      environmentScope: "*"

Create a protected and masked production token

Use this to store a sensitive token for production. The variable is protected and masked so it is only available on protected refs and its value is hidden.

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

  - id: create-prod-token
    action: gitlab:projectVariable:create
    input:
      repoUrl: ${{ parameters.repoUrl }}
      token: ${{ secrets.gitlabToken }}
      projectId: ${{ parameters.gitlabProjectId }}
      key: PROD_API_TOKEN
      value: ${{ secrets.prodApiToken }}
      variableType: env_var
      variableProtected: true
      masked: true
      environmentScope: "production"

Create a file variable for service account credentials

Use this to store JSON credentials as a file variable for a specific environment. GitLab will mount the content into a file when used in CI jobs.

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

  - id: create-gcp-creds-file
    action: gitlab:projectVariable:create
    input:
      repoUrl: gitlab.com?project=platform%2Fpayments-service
      token: ${{ secrets.gitlabToken }}
      projectId: 87122
      key: GCP_SA_JSON
      value: |-
        {
          "type": "service_account",
          "project_id": "payments-staging",
          "private_key_id": "abc1234567890abcdef",
          "private_key": "-----BEGIN PRIVATE KEY-----\nMIIEv...\n-----END PRIVATE KEY-----\n",
          "client_email": "svc@payments-staging.iam.gserviceaccount.com",
          "client_id": "10987654321"
        }
      variableType: file
      variableProtected: true
      environmentScope: "staging"

Create a raw variable to prevent expansion in GitLab CI

Use this when you want to store a value that contains GitLab CI variables and keep it unexpanded. Set raw to true to keep the literal value.

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

  - id: create-raw-image-var
    action: gitlab:projectVariable:create
    input:
      repoUrl: ${{ parameters.repoUrl }}
      projectId: ${{ parameters.gitlabProjectId }}
      key: DOCKER_IMAGE
      value: "${CI_REGISTRY_IMAGE}:${CI_COMMIT_REF_SLUG}"
      variableType: env_var
      raw: true
      environmentScope: "*"

Create a review app scoped variable using a wildcard environment scope

Use this to set a variable used only by review app environments. The wildcard scope applies to all review environments.

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

  - id: create-review-host-var
    action: gitlab:projectVariable:create
    input:
      repoUrl: gitlab.com?project=web%2Fstorefront
      token: ${{ secrets.gitlabToken }}
      projectId: 64213
      key: REVIEW_APP_HOST
      value: "app-${CI_COMMIT_REF_SLUG}.example.com"
      variableType: env_var
      environmentScope: "review/*"

Input Schema

Output Schema

Usage Examples

Create a global environment variable for all environments

Create a protected and masked production token

Create a file variable for service account credentials

Create a raw variable to prevent expansion in GitLab CI

Create a review app scoped variable using a wildcard environment scope

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

Publish GitLab Merge Request

Publish To GitLab

GitLab Repo Push

Create GitLab Deploy Token

Create GitLab Project Token

Trigger GitLab Pipeline

Create GitLab Issue

Edit GitLab Issue

GitLab Project Migration

Ensure GitLab Group Exists