Icons and SVG Illustrations

We manage our own icon and illustration library in the gitlab-svgs repository. This repository is published on npm, and is managed as a dependency with yarn. You can browse all available icons and illustrations. To upgrade to a new version run yarn upgrade @gitlab/svgs.

Icons

We are using SVG Icons in GitLab with a SVG Sprite. This means the icons are only loaded once, and are referenced through an ID. The sprite SVG is located under /assets/icons.svg.

Usage in HAML/Rails

To use a sprite Icon in HAML or Rails we use a specific helper function: 

sprite_icon(icon_name, size: nil, css_class: '')
  • icon_name: Use the icon_name for the SVG sprite in the list of (GitLab SVGs).
  • size (optional): Use one of the following sizes : 16, 24, 32, 48, 72 (this is translated into a s16 class)
  • css_class (optional): If you want to add additional CSS classes.

Example 

= sprite_icon('issues', size: 72, css_class: 'icon-danger')

Output from example above 

<svg class="s72 icon-danger">
  <use xmlns:xlink="http://www.w3.org/1999/xlink" xlink:href="/assets/icons.svg#issues"></use>
</svg>

Usage in Vue

GitLab UI, our components library, provides a component to display sprite icons.

Sample usage : 

<script>
import { GlIcon } from "@gitlab/ui";

export default {
  components: {
    GlIcon,
  },
};
<script>

<template>
  <gl-icon
    name="issues"
    :size="24"
    class="class-name"
  />
</template>
  • name: Name of the icon of the SVG sprite, as listed in the (GitLab SVG Previewer).
  • size: (optional) Number value for the size which is then mapped to a specific CSS class (Available sizes: 8, 12, 16, 18, 24, 32, 48, 72 are mapped to sXX CSS classes)
  • class (optional): Additional CSS classes to add to the SVG tag.

Usage in HTML/JS

Use the following function inside JS to render an icon: gl.utils.spriteIcon(iconName)

Loading icon

Usage in HAML/Rails

To insert a loading spinner in HAML or Rails use the gl_loading_icon helper: 

= gl_loading_icon

You can include one or more of the following properties with the gl_loading_icon helper, as demonstrated by the examples that follow:

  • inline (optional): uses in an inline element if true, otherwise, a block element (default), with the spinner centered.
  • color (optional): either dark (default) or light.
  • size (optional): either sm (default), md, lg, or xl.
  • css_class (optional): defaults to nothing, but can be used for utility classes to fine-tune alignment or spacing.

Example 1:

The following HAML expression generates a loading icon’s markup and centers the icon. 

= gl_loading_icon

Example 2:

The following HAML expression generates an inline loading icon’s markup with a custom size. It also appends a margin utility class. 

= gl_loading_icon(inline: true, size: 'lg', css_class: 'gl-mr-2')

Usage in Vue

The GitLab UI components library provides a GlLoadingIcon component. See the component’s storybook for more information about its usage.

Example:

The following code snippet demonstrates how to use GlLoadingIcon in a Vue component. 

<script>
import { GlLoadingIcon } from "@gitlab/ui";

export default {
  components: {
    GlLoadingIcon,
  },
};
<script>

<template>
  <gl-loading-icon inline />
</template>

SVG Illustrations

From now on, use img tags to display any SVG based illustrations with either image_tag or image_path helpers. Using the class svg-content around it ensures nice rendering.

Usage in HAML/Rails

Example 

.svg-content
  = image_tag 'illustrations/merge_requests.svg'

Usage in Vue

It is discouraged to pass down SVG paths from Rails. Instead of Rails => Haml => Vue we can import SVG illustrations directly in Vue.

To use an SVG illustration in a template import the SVG from @gitlab/svgs. You can find the available SVG paths via the GitLab SVG Previewer.

Below is an example of how to import an SVG illustration and use with the GlEmptyState component.

Component: 

<script>
import { GlEmptyState } from '@gitlab/ui';
// The ?url query string ensures the SVG is imported as an URL instead of an inilne SVG
// This is useful for bundle size and optimized loading
import mergeTrainsSvgPath from '@gitlab/svgs/dist/illustrations/train-sm.svg?url';

export default {
  components: {
    GlEmptyState
  },
  mergeTrainsSvgPath,
};
<script>

<template>
  <gl-empty-state
    title="This state is empty"
    description="Empty state description"
    :svg-path="$options.mergeTrainsSvgPath"
  />
</template>

Minimize SVGs

When you develop or export a new SVG illustration, minimize it with an SVGO powered tool, like SVGOMG, to save space. Illustrations added to GitLab SVG are automatically minimized, so no manual action is needed.