Repository files API

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

You can fetch, create, update, and delete files in your repository with this API. You can also configure rate limits for this API.

Available scopes for personal access tokens

Personal access tokens support these scopes:

Scope	Description
`api`	Allows read-write access to the repository files.
`read_api`	Allows read access to the repository files.
`read_repository`	Allows read-access to the repository files.

Get file from repository

Allows you to receive information about file in repository like name, size, and content. File content is Base64 encoded. You can access this endpoint without authentication, if the repository is publicly accessible.

GET /projects/:id/repository/files/:file_path

curl --header "PRIVATE-TOKEN: <your_access_token>" \
  --url "https://gitlab.example.com/api/v4/projects/13083/repository/files/app%2Fmodels%2Fkey%2Erb?ref=main"

Attribute	Type	Required	Description
`id`	integer or string	yes	The ID or URL-encoded path of the project.
`file_path`	string	yes	URL encoded full path to new file, such as `lib%2Fclass%2Erb`.
`ref`	string	yes	The name of branch, tag or commit. Use `HEAD` to automatically use the default branch.

If you don’t know the branch name or want to use the default branch, you can use HEAD as the ref value. For example:

curl --header "PRIVATE-TOKEN: " \
  --url "https://gitlab.example.com/api/v4/projects/13083/repository/files/app%2Fmodels%2Fkey%2Erb?ref=HEAD"

Response

In the response, blob_id is the blob SHA. See Get a blob from repository in the Repositories API.

Example response:

{
  "file_name": "key.rb",
  "file_path": "app/models/key.rb",
  "size": 1476,
  "encoding": "base64",
  "content": "IyA9PSBTY2hlbWEgSW5mb3...",
  "content_sha256": "4c294617b60715c1d218e61164a3abd4808a4284cbc30e6728a01ad9aada4481",
  "ref": "main",
  "blob_id": "79f7bbd25901e8334750839545a9bd021f0e4c83",
  "commit_id": "d5a3ff139356ce33e37e73add446f16869741b50",
  "last_commit_id": "570e7b2abdd848b95f2f578043fc23bd6f6fd24d",
  "execute_filemode": false
}

Get file metadata only

You can also use HEAD to fetch just file metadata.

HEAD /projects/:id/repository/files/:file_path

curl --head --header "PRIVATE-TOKEN: <your_access_token>" \
  --url "https://gitlab.example.com/api/v4/projects/13083/repository/files/app%2Fmodels%2Fkey%2Erb?ref=main"

Example response:

HTTP/1.1 200 OK
...
X-Gitlab-Blob-Id: 79f7bbd25901e8334750839545a9bd021f0e4c83
X-Gitlab-Commit-Id: d5a3ff139356ce33e37e73add446f16869741b50
X-Gitlab-Content-Sha256: 4c294617b60715c1d218e61164a3abd4808a4284cbc30e6728a01ad9aada4481
X-Gitlab-Encoding: base64
X-Gitlab-File-Name: key.rb
X-Gitlab-File-Path: app/models/key.rb
X-Gitlab-Last-Commit-Id: 570e7b2abdd848b95f2f578043fc23bd6f6fd24d
X-Gitlab-Ref: main
X-Gitlab-Size: 1476
X-Gitlab-Execute-Filemode: false
...

Get file blame from repository

Retrieve blame information. Each blame range contains lines and their corresponding commit information.

GET /projects/:id/repository/files/:file_path/blame

Attribute	Type	Required	Description
`file_path`	string	yes	URL-encoded full path to new file, such as`lib%2Fclass%2Erb`.
`id`	integer or string	yes	The ID or URL-encoded path of the project.
`range[end]`	integer	yes	The last line of the range to blame.
`range[start]`	integer	yes	The first line of the range to blame.
`ref`	string	yes	The name of branch, tag or commit. Use `HEAD` to automatically use the default branch.
`range`	hash	no	Blame range.

curl --header "PRIVATE-TOKEN: <your_access_token>" \
  --url "https://gitlab.example.com/api/v4/projects/13083/repository/files/path%2Fto%2Ffile.rb/blame?ref=main"

Example response:

[
  {
    "commit": {
      "id": "d42409d56517157c48bf3bd97d3f75974dde19fb",
      "message": "Add feature\n\nalso fix bug\n",
      "parent_ids": [
        "cc6e14f9328fa6d7b5a0d3c30dc2002a3f2a3822"
      ],
      "authored_date": "2015-12-18T08:12:22.000Z",
      "author_name": "John Doe",
      "author_email": "john.doe@example.com",
      "committed_date": "2015-12-18T08:12:22.000Z",
      "committer_name": "John Doe",
      "committer_email": "john.doe@example.com"
    },
    "lines": [
      "require 'fileutils'",
      "require 'open3'",
      ""
    ]
  },
  ...
]

Get file metadata only

Use the HEAD method to return just file metadata, as in Get file from repository:

curl --head --header "PRIVATE-TOKEN: <your_access_token>" \
  --url "https://gitlab.example.com/api/v4/projects/13083/repository/files/path%2Fto%2Ffile.rb/blame?ref=main"

Response

Example response:

HTTP/1.1 200 OK
...
X-Gitlab-Blob-Id: 79f7bbd25901e8334750839545a9bd021f0e4c83
X-Gitlab-Commit-Id: d5a3ff139356ce33e37e73add446f16869741b50
X-Gitlab-Content-Sha256: 4c294617b60715c1d218e61164a3abd4808a4284cbc30e6728a01ad9aada4481
X-Gitlab-Encoding: base64
X-Gitlab-File-Name: file.rb
X-Gitlab-File-Path: path/to/file.rb
X-Gitlab-Last-Commit-Id: 570e7b2abdd848b95f2f578043fc23bd6f6fd24d
X-Gitlab-Ref: main
X-Gitlab-Size: 1476
X-Gitlab-Execute-Filemode: false
...

Request a blame range

To request a blame range, specify range[start] and range[end] parameters with the starting and ending line numbers of the file.

curl --head --header "PRIVATE-TOKEN: <your_access_token>" \
  --url "https://gitlab.example.com/api/v4/projects/13083/repository/files/path%2Fto%2Ffile.rb/blame?ref=main&range[start]=1&range[end]=2"

Example response:

[
  {
    "commit": {
      "id": "d42409d56517157c48bf3bd97d3f75974dde19fb",
      "message": "Add feature\n\nalso fix bug\n",
      "parent_ids": [
        "cc6e14f9328fa6d7b5a0d3c30dc2002a3f2a3822"
      ],
      "authored_date": "2015-12-18T08:12:22.000Z",
      "author_name": "John Doe",
      "author_email": "john.doe@example.com",
      "committed_date": "2015-12-18T08:12:22.000Z",
      "committer_name": "John Doe",
      "committer_email": "john.doe@example.com"
    },
    "lines": [
      "require 'fileutils'",
      "require 'open3'"
    ]
  },
  ...
]

Get raw file from repository

GET /projects/:id/repository/files/:file_path/raw

Attribute	Type	Required	Description
`file_path`	string	yes	URL-encoded full path to new file, such as `lib%2Fclass%2Erb`.
`id`	integer or string	yes	The ID or URL-encoded path of the project.
`lfs`	boolean	no	Determines if the response should be Git LFS file contents, rather than the pointer. Ignored if the file is not tracked by Git LFS. Defaults to `false`. Introduced in GitLab 15.7.
`ref`	string	no	The name of branch, tag or commit. Default is the `HEAD` of the project.

curl --header "PRIVATE-TOKEN: <your_access_token>" \
  --url "https://gitlab.example.com/api/v4/projects/13083/repository/files/app%2Fmodels%2Fkey%2Erb/raw?ref=main"

Like Get file from repository, you can use HEAD to get just file metadata.

Create new file in repository

Allows you to create a single file. For creating multiple files with a single request, see the commits API.

POST /projects/:id/repository/files/:file_path

Attribute	Type	Required	Description
`branch`	string	yes	Name of the new branch to create. The commit is added to this branch.
`commit_message`	string	yes	The commit message.
`content`	string	yes	The file’s content.
`file_path`	string	yes	URL-encoded full path to new file. For example: `lib%2Fclass%2Erb`.
`id`	integer or string	yes	The ID or URL-encoded path of the project.
`author_email`	string	no	The commit author’s email address.
`author_name`	string	no	The commit author’s name.
`encoding`	string	no	Change encoding to `base64`. Default is `text`.
`execute_filemode`	boolean	no	Enables or disables the `execute` flag on the file. Can be `true` or `false`.
`start_branch`	string	no	Name of the base branch to create the new branch from.

curl --request POST \
  --header 'PRIVATE-TOKEN: <your_access_token>' \
  --header "Content-Type: application/json" \
  --data '{"branch": "main", "author_email": "author@example.com", "author_name": "Firstname Lastname",
            "content": "some content", "commit_message": "create a new file"}' \
  --url "https://gitlab.example.com/api/v4/projects/13083/repository/files/app%2Fproject%2Erb"

Example response:

{
  "file_path": "app/project.rb",
  "branch": "main"
}

Update existing file in repository

Allows you to update a single file. For updating multiple files with a single request, refer to the commits API.

PUT /projects/:id/repository/files/:file_path

Attribute	Type	Required	Description
`branch`	string	yes	Name of the new branch to create. The commit is added to this branch.
`commit_message`	string	yes	The commit message.
`content`	string	yes	The file’s content.
`file_path`	string	yes	URL-encoded full path to new file. For example: `lib%2Fclass%2Erb`.
`id`	integer or string	yes	The ID or URL-encoded path of the project
`author_email`	string	no	The commit author’s email address.
`author_name`	string	no	The commit author’s name.
`encoding`	string	no	Change encoding to `base64`. Default is `text`.
`execute_filemode`	boolean	no	Enables or disables the `execute` flag on the file. Can be `true` or `false`.
`last_commit_id`	string	no	Last known file commit ID.
`start_branch`	string	no	Name of the base branch to create the new branch from.

curl --request PUT \
  --header 'PRIVATE-TOKEN: <your_access_token>' \
  --header "Content-Type: application/json" \
  --data '{"branch": "main", "author_email": "author@example.com", "author_name": "Firstname Lastname",
       "content": "some content", "commit_message": "update file"}' \
  --url "https://gitlab.example.com/api/v4/projects/13083/repository/files/app%2Fproject%2Erb"

Example response:

{
  "file_path": "app/project.rb",
  "branch": "main"
}

If the commit fails for any reason we return a 400 Bad Request error with a non-specific error message. Possible causes for a failed commit include:

The file_path contained /../ (attempted directory traversal).
The commit was empty: new file contents were identical to the current file contents.
Someone updated the branch with git push while the file edit was in progress.

GitLab Shell has a Boolean return code, preventing GitLab from specifying the error.

Delete existing file in repository

Deletes a single file. To delete multiple files with a single request, see the commits API.

DELETE /projects/:id/repository/files/:file_path

Attribute	Type	Required	Description
`branch`	string	yes	Name of the new branch to create. The commit is added to this branch.
`commit_message`	string	yes	The commit message.
`file_path`	string	yes	URL-encoded full path to new file. For example: `lib%2Fclass%2Erb`.
`id`	integer or string	yes	The ID or URL-encoded path of the project.
`author_email`	string	no	The commit author’s email address.
`author_name`	string	no	The commit author’s name.
`last_commit_id`	string	no	Last known file commit ID.
`start_branch`	string	no	Name of the base branch to create the new branch from.

curl --request DELETE \
  --header 'PRIVATE-TOKEN: <your_access_token>' \
  --header "Content-Type: application/json" \
  --data '{"branch": "main", "author_email": "author@example.com", "author_name": "Firstname Lastname",
       "commit_message": "delete file"}' \
  --url "https://gitlab.example.com/api/v4/projects/13083/repository/files/app%2Fproject%2Erb"

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Repository files API

Available scopes for personal access tokens

Get file from repository

Response

Get file metadata only

Get file blame from repository

Get file metadata only

Response

Request a blame range

Get raw file from repository

Create new file in repository

Update existing file in repository

Delete existing file in repository

Help & feedback

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Feature availability and product trials

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