Instance-level CI/CD variables API

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

Use this API to interact with CI/CD variables for your instance.

List all instance variables

Lists all instance-level variables. Use the page and per_page pagination parameters to control the pagination of results.

GET /admin/ci/variables

curl \
  --header "PRIVATE-TOKEN: <your_access_token>" \
  --url "https://gitlab.example.com/api/v4/admin/ci/variables"

[
    {
        "key": "TEST_VARIABLE_1",
        "description": null,
        "variable_type": "env_var",
        "value": "TEST_1",
        "protected": false,
        "masked": false,
        "raw": false
    },
    {
        "key": "TEST_VARIABLE_2",
        "description": null,
        "variable_type": "env_var",
        "value": "TEST_2",
        "protected": false,
        "masked": false,
        "raw": false
    }
]

Retrieve instance variable details

Retrieves details of a specific instance-level variable.

GET /admin/ci/variables/:key

Attribute	Type	Required	Description
`key`	string	Yes	The `key` of a variable

curl \
  --header "PRIVATE-TOKEN: <your_access_token>" \
  --url "https://gitlab.example.com/api/v4/admin/ci/variables/TEST_VARIABLE_1"

{
    "key": "TEST_VARIABLE_1",
    "description": null,
    "variable_type": "env_var",
    "value": "TEST_1",
    "protected": false,
    "masked": false,
    "raw": false
}

Create instance variable

Creates a new instance-level variable.

The maximum number of instance-level variables can be changed.

POST /admin/ci/variables

Attribute	Type	Required	Description
`key`	string	Yes	The `key` of the variable. Maximum of 255 characters, only `A-Z`, `a-z`, `0-9`, and `_` are allowed.
`value`	string	Yes	The `value` of the variable. Maximum of 10,000 characters.
`description`	string	No	The description of the variable. Maximum of 255 characters.
`masked`	boolean	No	Whether the variable is masked.
`protected`	boolean	No	Whether the variable is protected.
`raw`	boolean	No	Whether the variable is expandable.
`variable_type`	string	No	The type of the variable. Available types are: `env_var` (default) and `file`.

curl --request POST \
  --header "PRIVATE-TOKEN: <your_access_token>" \
  --url "https://gitlab.example.com/api/v4/admin/ci/variables" \
  --form "key=NEW_VARIABLE" \
  --form "value=new value"

{
    "key": "NEW_VARIABLE",
    "description": null,
    "value": "new value",
    "variable_type": "env_var",
    "protected": false,
    "masked": false,
    "raw": false
}

Update instance variable

Updates an instance-level variable.

PUT /admin/ci/variables/:key

Attribute	Type	Required	Description
`description`	string	No	The description of the variable. Maximum of 255 characters.
`key`	string	Yes	The `key` of the variable. Maximum of 255 characters, only `A-Z`, `a-z`, `0-9`, and `_` are allowed.
`masked`	boolean	No	Whether the variable is masked.
`protected`	boolean	No	Whether the variable is protected.
`raw`	boolean	No	Whether the variable is expandable.
`value`	string	Yes	The `value` of the variable. Maximum of 10,000 characters.
`variable_type`	string	No	The type of the variable. Available types are: `env_var` (default) and `file`.

curl --request PUT \
  --header "PRIVATE-TOKEN: <your_access_token>" \
  --url "https://gitlab.example.com/api/v4/admin/ci/variables/NEW_VARIABLE" \
  --form "value=updated value"

{
    "key": "NEW_VARIABLE",
    "description": null,
    "value": "updated value",
    "variable_type": "env_var",
    "protected": true,
    "masked": true,
    "raw": true
}

Delete instance variable

Deletes an instance-level variable.

DELETE /admin/ci/variables/:key

Attribute	Type	Required	Description
`key`	string	Yes	The `key` of a variable

curl --request DELETE \
  --header "PRIVATE-TOKEN: <your_access_token>" \
  --url "https://gitlab.example.com/api/v4/admin/ci/variables/VARIABLE_1"