Stage, commit, and push changes

When you make changes to files in a repository, Git tracks the changes against the most recent version of the checked out branch. You can use Git commands to review and commit your changes to the branch, and push your work to GitLab.

Add and commit local changes

When you’re ready to write your changes to the branch, you can commit them. A commit includes a comment that records information about the changes, and usually becomes the new tip of the branch.

Git doesn’t automatically include any files you move, change, or delete in a commit. This prevents you from accidentally including a change or file, like a temporary directory. To include changes in a commit, stage them with git add.

To stage and commit your changes:

  1. From your repository, for each file or directory you want to add, run git add <file name or path>.

    To stage all files in the current working directory, run git add ..

  2. Confirm that the files have been added to staging: 

    git status

    The files are displayed in green.

  3. To commit the staged files: 

    git commit -m "<comment that describes the changes>"

The changes are committed to the branch.

Commit all changes

You can stage all your changes and commit them with one command: 

git commit -a -m "<comment that describes the changes>"

Be careful your commit doesn’t include files you don’t want to record to the remote repository. As a rule, always check the status of your local repository before you commit changes.

Send changes to GitLab

To push all local changes to the remote repository: 

git push <remote> <name-of-branch>

For example, to push your local commits to the main branch of the origin remote: 

git push origin main

Sometimes Git does not allow you to push to a repository. Instead, you must force an update.

Push options

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When you push changes to a branch, you can use client-side Git push options. In Git 2.10 and later, use Git push options to:

In Git 2.18 and later, you can use either the long format (--push-option) or the shorter -o: 

git push -o <push_option>

In Git 2.10 to 2.17, you must use the long format: 

git push --push-option=<push_option>

For server-side controls and enforcement of best practices, see push rules and server hooks.

Push options for GitLab CI/CD

You can use push options to skip a CI/CD pipeline, or pass CI/CD variables.

note
Push options are not available for merge request pipelines. For more information, see issue 373212.
Push option Description Example
ci.skip Do not create a CI/CD pipeline for the latest push. Skips only branch pipelines and not merge request pipelines. This does not skip pipelines for CI/CD integrations, such as Jenkins. git push -o ci.skip
ci.variable="<name>=<value>" Provide CI/CD variables to the CI/CD pipeline, if one is created due to the push. Passes variables only to branch pipelines and not merge request pipelines. git push -o ci.variable="MAX_RETRIES=10" -o ci.variable="MAX_TIME=600"

Push options for Integrations

You can use push options to skip integration CI/CD pipelines.

Push option Description Example
integrations.skip_ci Skip push events for CI/CD integrations, such as Atlassian Bamboo, Buildkite, Drone, Jenkins, and JetBrains TeamCity. Introduced in GitLab 16.2. git push -o integrations.skip_ci

Push options for merge requests

Git push options can perform actions for merge requests while pushing changes:

Push option Description
merge_request.create Create a new merge request for the pushed branch.
merge_request.target=<branch_name> Set the target of the merge request to a particular branch, such as: git push -o merge_request.target=branch_name.
merge_request.target_project=<project> Set the target of the merge request to a particular upstream project, such as: git push -o merge_request.target_project=path/to/project. Introduced in GitLab 16.6.
merge_request.merge_when_pipeline_succeeds Set the merge request to merge when its pipeline succeeds.
merge_request.remove_source_branch Set the merge request to remove the source branch when it’s merged.
merge_request.squash Set the merge request to squash all commits into a single commit on merge. Introduced in GitLab 17.2.
merge_request.title="<title>" Set the title of the merge request. For example: git push -o merge_request.title="The title I want".
merge_request.description="<description>" Set the description of the merge request. For example: git push -o merge_request.description="The description I want".
merge_request.draft Mark the merge request as a draft. For example: git push -o merge_request.draft. Introduced in GitLab 15.0.
merge_request.milestone="<milestone>" Set the milestone of the merge request. For example: git push -o merge_request.milestone="3.0".
merge_request.label="<label>" Add labels to the merge request. If the label does not exist, it is created. For example, for two labels: git push -o merge_request.label="label1" -o merge_request.label="label2".
merge_request.unlabel="<label>" Remove labels from the merge request. For example, for two labels: git push -o merge_request.unlabel="label1" -o merge_request.unlabel="label2".
merge_request.assign="<user>" Assign users to the merge request. Accepts username or user ID. For example, for two users: git push -o merge_request.assign="user1" -o merge_request.assign="user2". Support for usernames added in GitLab 15.5.
merge_request.unassign="<user>" Remove assigned users from the merge request. Accepts username or user ID. For example, for two users: git push -o merge_request.unassign="user1" -o merge_request.unassign="user2". Support for usernames added in GitLab 15.5.

Push options for secret push protection

You can use push options to skip secret push protection.

Push option Description Example
secret_push_protection.skip_all Do not perform secret push protection for any commit in this push. git push -o secret_push_protection.skip_all

Push options for GitGuardian integration

You can use the same push option for Secret push protection to skip GitGuardian secret detection.

Push option Description Example
secret_detection.skip_all Deprecated in GitLab 17.2. Use secret_push_protection.skip_all instead. git push -o secret_detection.skip_all
secret_push_protection.skip_all Do not perform GitGuardian secret detection. git push -o secret_push_protection.skip_all

Formats for push options

If your push option requires text containing spaces, enclose the text in double quotes ("). You can omit the quotes if there are no spaces. Some examples: 

git push -o merge_request.label="Label with spaces"
git push -o merge_request.label=Label-with-no-spaces

To combine push options to accomplish multiple tasks at once, use multiple -o (or --push-option) flags. This command creates a new merge request, targets a branch (my-target-branch), and sets auto-merge: 

git push -o merge_request.create -o merge_request.target=my-target-branch -o merge_request.merge_when_pipeline_succeeds

Create Git aliases for pushing

Adding push options to Git commands can create very long commands. If you use the same push options frequently, create Git aliases for them. Git aliases are command-line shortcuts for longer Git commands.

To create and use a Git alias for the merge when pipeline succeeds Git push option:

  1. In your terminal window, run this command: 

    git config --global alias.mwps "push -o merge_request.create -o merge_request.target=main -o merge_request.merge_when_pipeline_succeeds"

  2. To use the alias to push a local branch that targets the default branch (main) and auto-merges, run this command: 

    git mwps origin <local-branch-name>