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https://docs.gitlab.com/development/test_results_tracking | https://gitlab.com/gitlab-org/gitlab/-/tree/master/doc/development/test_results_tracking.md | 2025-08-13 | doc/development/testing_guide | [
"doc",
"development",
"testing_guide"
] | test_results_tracking.md | none | unassigned | Any user with at least the Maintainer role can merge updates to this content. For details, see https://docs.gitlab.com/development/development_processes/#development-guidelines-review. | Test results tracking | null |
We developed the [`gitlab_quality-test_tooling`](https://gitlab.com/gitlab-org/ruby/gems/gitlab_quality-test_tooling) gem that includes several commands to automate test results tracking.
The goal of this gem is to have a consolidated set of tooling that we use across our various test suite (for example, GitLab Rail... | ---
stage: none
group: unassigned
info: Any user with at least the Maintainer role can merge updates to this content.
For details, see https://docs.gitlab.com/development/development_processes/#development-guidelines-review.
title: Test results tracking
breadcrumbs:
- doc
- development
- testing_guide
---
We develo... |
https://docs.gitlab.com/development/smoke | https://gitlab.com/gitlab-org/gitlab/-/tree/master/doc/development/smoke.md | 2025-08-13 | doc/development/testing_guide | [
"doc",
"development",
"testing_guide"
] | smoke.md | none | unassigned | Any user with at least the Maintainer role can merge updates to this content. For details, see https://docs.gitlab.com/development/development_processes/#development-guidelines-review. | Smoke Tests | null |
It is imperative in any testing suite that we have Smoke Tests. In short, smoke
tests run quick end-to-end functional tests from GitLab QA and are
designed to run against the specified environment to ensure that basic
functionality is working.
Our suite consists of this basic functionality coverage:
- User standard... | ---
stage: none
group: unassigned
info: Any user with at least the Maintainer role can merge updates to this content.
For details, see https://docs.gitlab.com/development/development_processes/#development-guidelines-review.
title: Smoke Tests
breadcrumbs:
- doc
- development
- testing_guide
---
It is imperative in... |
https://docs.gitlab.com/development/testing_ai_features | https://gitlab.com/gitlab-org/gitlab/-/tree/master/doc/development/testing_ai_features.md | 2025-08-13 | doc/development/testing_guide | [
"doc",
"development",
"testing_guide"
] | testing_ai_features.md | none | unassigned | Any user with at least the Maintainer role can merge updates to this content. For details, see https://docs.gitlab.com/development/development_processes/#development-guidelines-review. | Testing AI features | null |
This document highlights AI-specific testing considerations that complement GitLab standard [testing guidelines](_index.md). It focuses on the challenges AI features bring to testing, such as non-deterministic responses from third-party providers. Examples are included for each [testing level](testing_levels.md).
AI... | ---
stage: none
group: unassigned
info: Any user with at least the Maintainer role can merge updates to this content.
For details, see https://docs.gitlab.com/development/development_processes/#development-guidelines-review.
title: Testing AI features
breadcrumbs:
- doc
- development
- testing_guide
---
This docume... |
https://docs.gitlab.com/development/testing_migrations_guide | https://gitlab.com/gitlab-org/gitlab/-/tree/master/doc/development/testing_migrations_guide.md | 2025-08-13 | doc/development/testing_guide | [
"doc",
"development",
"testing_guide"
] | testing_migrations_guide.md | none | unassigned | Any user with at least the Maintainer role can merge updates to this content. For details, see https://docs.gitlab.com/development/development_processes/#development-guidelines-review. | Testing Rails migrations at GitLab | null |
In order to reliably check Rails migrations, we need to test them against
a database schema.
## When to write a migration test
- Post migrations (`/db/post_migrate`) and background migrations
(`lib/gitlab/background_migration`) **must** have migration tests performed.
- If your migration is a data migration then ... | ---
stage: none
group: unassigned
info: Any user with at least the Maintainer role can merge updates to this content.
For details, see https://docs.gitlab.com/development/development_processes/#development-guidelines-review.
title: Testing Rails migrations at GitLab
breadcrumbs:
- doc
- development
- testing_guide
--... |
https://docs.gitlab.com/development/review_apps | https://gitlab.com/gitlab-org/gitlab/-/tree/master/doc/development/review_apps.md | 2025-08-13 | doc/development/testing_guide | [
"doc",
"development",
"testing_guide"
] | review_apps.md | none | unassigned | Any user with at least the Maintainer role can merge updates to this content. For details, see https://docs.gitlab.com/development/development_processes/#development-guidelines-review. | Using review apps in the development of GitLab | null |
Review apps are deployed using the `start-review-app-pipeline` job which triggers a child pipeline containing a series of jobs to perform the various tasks needed to deploy a review app.
To start a review-app, add the `pipeline:run-review-ap... | ---
stage: none
group: unassigned
info: Any user with at least the Maintainer role can merge updates to this content.
For details, see https://docs.gitlab.com/development/development_processes/#development-guidelines-review.
title: Using review apps in the development of GitLab
breadcrumbs:
- doc
- development
- test... |
https://docs.gitlab.com/development/testing_rake_tasks | https://gitlab.com/gitlab-org/gitlab/-/tree/master/doc/development/testing_rake_tasks.md | 2025-08-13 | doc/development/testing_guide | [
"doc",
"development",
"testing_guide"
] | testing_rake_tasks.md | none | unassigned | Any user with at least the Maintainer role can merge updates to this content. For details, see https://docs.gitlab.com/development/development_processes/#development-guidelines-review. | Testing Rake tasks | null |
To make testing Rake tasks a little easier:
- Use RSpec's metadata tag `type: :task` or
- Place your spec in `spec/tasks` or `ee/spec/tasks`
By doing so, `RakeHelpers` is included which exposes a `run_rake_task(<task>)`
method to make executing tasks possible.
See `spec/support/helpers/rake_helpers.rb` for all ava... | ---
stage: none
group: unassigned
info: Any user with at least the Maintainer role can merge updates to this content.
For details, see https://docs.gitlab.com/development/development_processes/#development-guidelines-review.
title: Testing Rake tasks
breadcrumbs:
- doc
- development
- testing_guide
---
To make test... |
https://docs.gitlab.com/development/flaky_tests | https://gitlab.com/gitlab-org/gitlab/-/tree/master/doc/development/flaky_tests.md | 2025-08-13 | doc/development/testing_guide | [
"doc",
"development",
"testing_guide"
] | flaky_tests.md | none | unassigned | Any user with at least the Maintainer role can merge updates to this content. For details, see https://docs.gitlab.com/development/development_processes/#development-guidelines-review. | Flaky tests | null |
[Consult the Unhealthy tests page for more information](unhealthy_tests.md#flaky-tests).
---
[Return to Testing documentation](_index.md)
| ---
stage: none
group: unassigned
info: Any user with at least the Maintainer role can merge updates to this content.
For details, see https://docs.gitlab.com/development/development_processes/#development-guidelines-review.
title: Flaky tests
breadcrumbs:
- doc
- development
- testing_guide
---
[Consult the Unheal... |
https://docs.gitlab.com/development/testing_guide | https://gitlab.com/gitlab-org/gitlab/-/tree/master/doc/development/_index.md | 2025-08-13 | doc/development/testing_guide | [
"doc",
"development",
"testing_guide"
] | _index.md | none | unassigned | Any user with at least the Maintainer role can merge updates to this content. For details, see https://docs.gitlab.com/development/development_processes/#development-guidelines-review. | Testing standards and style guidelines | null |
This document describes various guidelines and best practices for automated
testing of the GitLab project.
It is meant to be an extension of the
[thoughtbot testing style guide](https://github.com/thoughtbot/guides/tree/master/testing-rspec). If
this guide defines a rule that contradicts the thoughtbot guide, this g... | ---
stage: none
group: unassigned
info: Any user with at least the Maintainer role can merge updates to this content.
For details, see https://docs.gitlab.com/development/development_processes/#development-guidelines-review.
title: Testing standards and style guidelines
breadcrumbs:
- doc
- development
- testing_guid... |
https://docs.gitlab.com/development/testing_vue3 | https://gitlab.com/gitlab-org/gitlab/-/tree/master/doc/development/testing_vue3.md | 2025-08-13 | doc/development/testing_guide | [
"doc",
"development",
"testing_guide"
] | testing_vue3.md | none | unassigned | Any user with at least the Maintainer role can merge updates to this content. For details, see https://docs.gitlab.com/development/development_processes/#development-guidelines-review. | Vue 3 Testing | null |
As we transition to using Vue 3, it's important that our tests pass in Vue 3 mode.
We're adding progressively stricter checks to our pipelines to enforce proper Vue 3 testing.
Right now, we fail pipelines if:
1. A new test file is added that fails in Vue 3 mode.
1. An existing test file fails under Vue 3 that was p... | ---
stage: none
group: unassigned
info: Any user with at least the Maintainer role can merge updates to this content.
For details, see https://docs.gitlab.com/development/development_processes/#development-guidelines-review.
title: Vue 3 Testing
breadcrumbs:
- doc
- development
- testing_guide
---
As we transition ... |
https://docs.gitlab.com/development/testing_strategy | https://gitlab.com/gitlab-org/gitlab/-/tree/master/doc/development/testing_strategy.md | 2025-08-13 | doc/development/testing_guide | [
"doc",
"development",
"testing_guide"
] | testing_strategy.md | none | unassigned | GitLab Testing Strategy | GitLab development guidelines - testing strategy |
## Core Principles
**Fast Feedback**
Prioritize speed by running the most relevant tests first—fail fast, fix fast.
**Progressive Testing**
Start narrow, expand wide. Build confidence through incremental coverage.
**Resource Efficiency**
Every test should earn its keep. No duplication, no waste.
**Clear Ownership... | ---
stage: none
group: unassigned
info: ''
description: GitLab development guidelines - testing strategy
title: GitLab Testing Strategy
breadcrumbs:
- doc
- development
- testing_guide
---
## Core Principles
**Fast Feedback**
Prioritize speed by running the most relevant tests first—fail fast, fix fast.
**Progressi... | |
https://docs.gitlab.com/development/unhealthy_tests | https://gitlab.com/gitlab-org/gitlab/-/tree/master/doc/development/unhealthy_tests.md | 2025-08-13 | doc/development/testing_guide | [
"doc",
"development",
"testing_guide"
] | unhealthy_tests.md | none | unassigned | See the Technical Writers assigned to Development Guidelines: https://handbook.gitlab.com/handbook/product/ux/technical-writing/#assignments-to-development-guidelines | Unhealthy tests | GitLab development guidelines - Unhealthy tests. |
## Flaky tests
### What's a flaky test?
It's a test that sometimes fails, but if you retry it enough times, it passes,
eventually.
### What are the potential cause for a test to be flaky?
#### State leak
**Label**: `flaky-test::state leak`
**Description**: Data state has leaked from a previous test. The actual ... | ---
stage: none
group: unassigned
info: 'See the Technical Writers assigned to Development Guidelines: https://handbook.gitlab.com/handbook/product/ux/technical-writing/#assignments-to-development-guidelines'
description: GitLab development guidelines - Unhealthy tests.
title: Unhealthy tests
breadcrumbs:
- doc
- devel... |
https://docs.gitlab.com/development/best_practices | https://gitlab.com/gitlab-org/gitlab/-/tree/master/doc/development/best_practices.md | 2025-08-13 | doc/development/testing_guide | [
"doc",
"development",
"testing_guide"
] | best_practices.md | none | unassigned | See the Technical Writers assigned to Development Guidelines: https://handbook.gitlab.com/handbook/product/ux/technical-writing/#assignments-to-development-guidelines | Testing best practices | GitLab development guidelines - testing best practices. |
## Test Design
Testing at GitLab is a first class citizen, not an afterthought. It's important we consider the design of our tests
as we do the design of our features.
When implementing a feature, we think about developing the right capabilities the right way. This helps us
narrow our scope to a manageable level. W... | ---
stage: none
group: unassigned
info: 'See the Technical Writers assigned to Development Guidelines: https://handbook.gitlab.com/handbook/product/ux/technical-writing/#assignments-to-development-guidelines'
description: GitLab development guidelines - testing best practices.
title: Testing best practices
breadcrumbs:... |
https://docs.gitlab.com/development/frontend_testing | https://gitlab.com/gitlab-org/gitlab/-/tree/master/doc/development/frontend_testing.md | 2025-08-13 | doc/development/testing_guide | [
"doc",
"development",
"testing_guide"
] | frontend_testing.md | none | unassigned | Any user with at least the Maintainer role can merge updates to this content. For details, see https://docs.gitlab.com/development/development_processes/#development-guidelines-review. | Frontend testing standards and style guidelines | null |
There are two types of test suites encountered while developing frontend code
at GitLab. We use Jest for JavaScript unit and integration testing,
and RSpec feature tests with Capybara for e2e (end-to-end) integration testing.
Unit and feature tests need to be written for all new features.
Most of the time, you shoul... | ---
stage: none
group: unassigned
info: Any user with at least the Maintainer role can merge updates to this content.
For details, see https://docs.gitlab.com/development/development_processes/#development-guidelines-review.
title: Frontend testing standards and style guidelines
breadcrumbs:
- doc
- development
- tes... |
https://docs.gitlab.com/development/testing_guide/contract | https://gitlab.com/gitlab-org/gitlab/-/tree/master/doc/development/testing_guide/_index.md | 2025-08-13 | doc/development/testing_guide/contract | [
"doc",
"development",
"testing_guide",
"contract"
] | _index.md | none | unassigned | Any user with at least the Maintainer role can merge updates to this content. For details, see https://docs.gitlab.com/development/development_processes/#development-guidelines-review. | Contract testing | null |
Contract tests consist of two parts: consumer tests and provider tests. A simple example of a consumer and provider relationship is between the frontend and backend. The frontend would be the consumer and the backend is the provider. The frontend consumes the API that is provided by the backend. The test helps ensure... | ---
stage: none
group: unassigned
info: Any user with at least the Maintainer role can merge updates to this content.
For details, see https://docs.gitlab.com/development/development_processes/#development-guidelines-review.
title: Contract testing
breadcrumbs:
- doc
- development
- testing_guide
- contract
---
Con... |
https://docs.gitlab.com/development/testing_guide/consumer_tests | https://gitlab.com/gitlab-org/gitlab/-/tree/master/doc/development/testing_guide/consumer_tests.md | 2025-08-13 | doc/development/testing_guide/contract | [
"doc",
"development",
"testing_guide",
"contract"
] | consumer_tests.md | none | unassigned | Any user with at least the Maintainer role can merge updates to this content. For details, see https://docs.gitlab.com/development/development_processes/#development-guidelines-review. | Writing consumer tests | null |
This tutorial guides you through writing a consumer test from scratch. To start, the consumer tests are written using [`jest-pact`](https://github.com/pact-foundation/jest-pact) that builds on top of [`pact-js`](https://github.com/pact-foundation/pact-js). This tutorial shows you how to write a consumer test for the ... | ---
stage: none
group: unassigned
info: Any user with at least the Maintainer role can merge updates to this content.
For details, see https://docs.gitlab.com/development/development_processes/#development-guidelines-review.
title: Writing consumer tests
breadcrumbs:
- doc
- development
- testing_guide
- contract
---... |
https://docs.gitlab.com/development/testing_guide/provider_tests | https://gitlab.com/gitlab-org/gitlab/-/tree/master/doc/development/testing_guide/provider_tests.md | 2025-08-13 | doc/development/testing_guide/contract | [
"doc",
"development",
"testing_guide",
"contract"
] | provider_tests.md | none | unassigned | Any user with at least the Maintainer role can merge updates to this content. For details, see https://docs.gitlab.com/development/development_processes/#development-guidelines-review. | Writing provider tests | null |
This tutorial guides you through writing a provider test from scratch. It is a continuation of the [consumer test tutorial](consumer_tests.md). To start, the provider tests are written using [`pact-ruby`](https://github.com/pact-foundation/pact-ruby). In this tutorial, you write a provider test that addresses the con... | ---
stage: none
group: unassigned
info: Any user with at least the Maintainer role can merge updates to this content.
For details, see https://docs.gitlab.com/development/development_processes/#development-guidelines-review.
title: Writing provider tests
breadcrumbs:
- doc
- development
- testing_guide
- contract
---... |
https://docs.gitlab.com/development/testing_guide/debugging_end_to_end_test_failures | https://gitlab.com/gitlab-org/gitlab/-/tree/master/doc/development/testing_guide/debugging_end_to_end_test_failures.md | 2025-08-13 | doc/development/testing_guide/end_to_end | [
"doc",
"development",
"testing_guide",
"end_to_end"
] | debugging_end_to_end_test_failures.md | null | null | null | Debugging Failing Tests and Test Pipelines | Guidelines for investigating end-to-end test pipeline failures |
## Overview
This page outlines steps for investigating [end-to-end test](_index.md) failures, deployments, and troubleshooting various GitLab environments. It provides information on how to handle failures, identifying the problematic commit, the logging tools, and ways to reproduce the failure.
## Special consider... | ---
title: Debugging Failing Tests and Test Pipelines
description: Guidelines for investigating end-to-end test pipeline failures
breadcrumbs:
- doc
- development
- testing_guide
- end_to_end
---
## Overview
This page outlines steps for investigating [end-to-end test](_index.md) failures, deployments, and troublesho... |
https://docs.gitlab.com/development/testing_guide/style_guide | https://gitlab.com/gitlab-org/gitlab/-/tree/master/doc/development/testing_guide/style_guide.md | 2025-08-13 | doc/development/testing_guide/end_to_end | [
"doc",
"development",
"testing_guide",
"end_to_end"
] | style_guide.md | none | unassigned | Any user with at least the Maintainer role can merge updates to this content. For details, see https://docs.gitlab.com/development/development_processes/#development-guidelines-review. | Style guide for writing end-to-end tests | null |
This document describes the conventions used at GitLab for writing End-to-end (E2E) tests using the GitLab QA project.
This guide is an extension of the primary [testing standards and style guidelines](../_index.md). If this guide defines a rule that contradicts the primary guide, this guide takes precedence.
## `c... | ---
stage: none
group: unassigned
info: Any user with at least the Maintainer role can merge updates to this content.
For details, see https://docs.gitlab.com/development/development_processes/#development-guidelines-review.
title: Style guide for writing end-to-end tests
breadcrumbs:
- doc
- development
- testing_gu... |
https://docs.gitlab.com/development/testing_guide/end_to_end | https://gitlab.com/gitlab-org/gitlab/-/tree/master/doc/development/testing_guide/_index.md | 2025-08-13 | doc/development/testing_guide/end_to_end | [
"doc",
"development",
"testing_guide",
"end_to_end"
] | _index.md | none | unassigned | Any user with at least the Maintainer role can merge updates to this content. For details, see https://docs.gitlab.com/development/development_processes/#development-guidelines-review. | End-to-end Testing | null |
## What is end-to-end testing?
End-to-end (e2e) testing is a strategy used to check whether your application works as expected across the entire software stack and architecture, including integration of all micro-services and components that are supposed to work together.
## How do we test GitLab?
To test GitLab, ... | ---
stage: none
group: unassigned
info: Any user with at least the Maintainer role can merge updates to this content.
For details, see https://docs.gitlab.com/development/development_processes/#development-guidelines-review.
title: End-to-end Testing
breadcrumbs:
- doc
- development
- testing_guide
- end_to_end
---
... |
https://docs.gitlab.com/development/testing_guide/test_pipelines | https://gitlab.com/gitlab-org/gitlab/-/tree/master/doc/development/testing_guide/test_pipelines.md | 2025-08-13 | doc/development/testing_guide/end_to_end | [
"doc",
"development",
"testing_guide",
"end_to_end"
] | test_pipelines.md | none | unassigned | Any user with at least the Maintainer role can merge updates to this content. For details, see https://docs.gitlab.com/development/development_processes/#development-guidelines-review. | End-to-end test pipelines | null |
## Common architecture
All E2E tests are executed within separate child pipelines. To support different dynamic features of E2E testing pipelines, all child pipeline YAML files are generated by `e2e-test-pipeline-generate` CI/CD job and triggered by respective trigger job.
### e2e-test-pipeline-generate
The `e2e-t... | ---
stage: none
group: unassigned
info: Any user with at least the Maintainer role can merge updates to this content.
For details, see https://docs.gitlab.com/development/development_processes/#development-guidelines-review.
title: End-to-end test pipelines
breadcrumbs:
- doc
- development
- testing_guide
- end_to_en... |
https://docs.gitlab.com/development/testing_guide/tips_and_tricks | https://gitlab.com/gitlab-org/gitlab/-/tree/master/doc/development/testing_guide/tips_and_tricks.md | 2025-08-13 | doc/development/testing_guide/end_to_end | [
"doc",
"development",
"testing_guide",
"end_to_end"
] | tips_and_tricks.md | null | null | null | Test Governance Tips and Tricks | This page lists a number of tips and tricks we have found useful in day to day end-to-end test level related tasks. |
## Overview
This page lists a number of tips and tricks we have found useful in day to day Quality Engineering related
tasks.
## Running GitLab-QA pipeline against a specific GitLab release
While working on the [GitLab-QA codebase](https://gitlab.com/gitlab-org/gitlab-qa), it is sometimes helpful to run the GitLab... | ---
title: Test Governance Tips and Tricks
description: This page lists a number of tips and tricks we have found useful in day
to day end-to-end test level related tasks.
breadcrumbs:
- doc
- development
- testing_guide
- end_to_end
---
## Overview
This page lists a number of tips and tricks we have found useful ... |
https://docs.gitlab.com/development/testing_guide/troubleshooting | https://gitlab.com/gitlab-org/gitlab/-/tree/master/doc/development/testing_guide/troubleshooting.md | 2025-08-13 | doc/development/testing_guide/end_to_end | [
"doc",
"development",
"testing_guide",
"end_to_end"
] | troubleshooting.md | none | unassigned | Any user with at least the Maintainer role can merge updates to this content. For details, see https://docs.gitlab.com/development/development_processes/#development-guidelines-review. | Troubleshooting end-to-end tests | null |
## See what the browser is doing
If end-to-end tests fail, it can be very helpful to see what is happening in your
browser when it fails. For example, if tests don't run at all, the test framework
might be trying to open a URL that isn't valid on your machine. This problem becomes
clearer if you see the page fail in... | ---
stage: none
group: unassigned
info: Any user with at least the Maintainer role can merge updates to this content.
For details, see https://docs.gitlab.com/development/development_processes/#development-guidelines-review.
title: Troubleshooting end-to-end tests
breadcrumbs:
- doc
- development
- testing_guide
- en... |
https://docs.gitlab.com/development/testing_guide/feature_flag_testing | https://gitlab.com/gitlab-org/gitlab/-/tree/master/doc/development/testing_guide/feature_flag_testing.md | 2025-08-13 | doc/development/testing_guide/end_to_end | [
"doc",
"development",
"testing_guide",
"end_to_end"
] | feature_flag_testing.md | none | unassigned | Any user with at least the Maintainer role can merge updates to this content. For details, see https://docs.gitlab.com/development/development_processes/#development-guidelines-review. | Testing feature flags with end-to-end tests | null |
## Feature Flag E2E (end-to-end) Testing
### Workflow of E2E runs on Staging and Production
#### Scheduled Runs
We run scheduled E2E tests on both staging and production environments every 4 hours. These tests help ensure that recent deployments haven't introduced regressions.
We can monitor test results in the f... | ---
stage: none
group: unassigned
info: Any user with at least the Maintainer role can merge updates to this content.
For details, see https://docs.gitlab.com/development/development_processes/#development-guidelines-review.
title: Testing feature flags with end-to-end tests
breadcrumbs:
- doc
- development
- testing... |
https://docs.gitlab.com/development/testing_guide/test_infrastructure | https://gitlab.com/gitlab-org/gitlab/-/tree/master/doc/development/testing_guide/test_infrastructure.md | 2025-08-13 | doc/development/testing_guide/end_to_end | [
"doc",
"development",
"testing_guide",
"end_to_end"
] | test_infrastructure.md | none | unassigned | Any user with at least the Maintainer role can merge updates to this content. For details, see https://docs.gitlab.com/development/development_processes/#development-guidelines-review. | End-to-end Testing Infrastructure for Cloud Integrations | null |
This content is about infrastructure we integrate with GitLab QA test scenarios, at the end-to-end level.
## What infrastructure do we have in place?
We currently use GCP and AWS platforms to test a few end-to-end scenarios. These are separated from other
sandbox projects to prevent accidental deletion of resources... | ---
stage: none
group: unassigned
info: Any user with at least the Maintainer role can merge updates to this content.
For details, see https://docs.gitlab.com/development/development_processes/#development-guidelines-review.
title: End-to-end Testing Infrastructure for Cloud Integrations
breadcrumbs:
- doc
- developm... |
https://docs.gitlab.com/development/testing_guide/end_to_end/resources | https://gitlab.com/gitlab-org/gitlab/-/tree/master/doc/development/testing_guide/end_to_end/resources.md | 2025-08-13 | doc/development/testing_guide/end_to_end/beginners_guide | [
"doc",
"development",
"testing_guide",
"end_to_end",
"beginners_guide"
] | resources.md | none | unassigned | Any user with at least the Maintainer role can merge updates to this content. For details, see https://docs.gitlab.com/development/development_processes/#development-guidelines-review. | Resource classes in GitLab QA | null |
Resources are primarily created using Browser UI steps, but can also be created via the API or the CLI.
## How to properly implement a resource class?
All resource classes should inherit from `Resource::Base`.
There is only one mandatory method to implement to define a resource class.
This is the `#fabricate!` met... | ---
stage: none
group: unassigned
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For details, see https://docs.gitlab.com/development/development_processes/#development-guidelines-review.
title: Resource classes in GitLab QA
breadcrumbs:
- doc
- development
- testing_guide
- end_t... |
https://docs.gitlab.com/development/testing_guide/end_to_end/beginners_guide | https://gitlab.com/gitlab-org/gitlab/-/tree/master/doc/development/testing_guide/end_to_end/_index.md | 2025-08-13 | doc/development/testing_guide/end_to_end/beginners_guide | [
"doc",
"development",
"testing_guide",
"end_to_end",
"beginners_guide"
] | _index.md | none | unassigned | Any user with at least the Maintainer role can merge updates to this content. For details, see https://docs.gitlab.com/development/development_processes/#development-guidelines-review. | Beginner's guide to writing end-to-end tests | null |
This tutorial walks you through the creation of end-to-end (_e2e_) tests for [GitLab Community Edition](https://about.gitlab.com/install/?version=ce) and [GitLab Enterprise Edition](https://about.gitlab.com/install/).
By the end of this tutorial, you can:
- Determine whether an end-to-end test is needed.
- Understa... | ---
stage: none
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info: Any user with at least the Maintainer role can merge updates to this content.
For details, see https://docs.gitlab.com/development/development_processes/#development-guidelines-review.
title: Beginner's guide to writing end-to-end tests
breadcrumbs:
- doc
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- testin... |
https://docs.gitlab.com/development/testing_guide/end_to_end/page_objects | https://gitlab.com/gitlab-org/gitlab/-/tree/master/doc/development/testing_guide/end_to_end/page_objects.md | 2025-08-13 | doc/development/testing_guide/end_to_end/beginners_guide | [
"doc",
"development",
"testing_guide",
"end_to_end",
"beginners_guide"
] | page_objects.md | none | unassigned | Any user with at least the Maintainer role can merge updates to this content. For details, see https://docs.gitlab.com/development/development_processes/#development-guidelines-review. | Page objects in GitLab QA | null |
In GitLab QA we are using a known pattern, called _Page Objects_.
This means that we have built an abstraction for all pages in GitLab that we use
to drive GitLab QA scenarios. Whenever we do something on a page, like filling
in a form or selecting a button, we do that only through a page object
associated with this... | ---
stage: none
group: unassigned
info: Any user with at least the Maintainer role can merge updates to this content.
For details, see https://docs.gitlab.com/development/development_processes/#development-guidelines-review.
title: Page objects in GitLab QA
breadcrumbs:
- doc
- development
- testing_guide
- end_to_en... |
https://docs.gitlab.com/development/testing_guide/end_to_end/flows | https://gitlab.com/gitlab-org/gitlab/-/tree/master/doc/development/testing_guide/end_to_end/flows.md | 2025-08-13 | doc/development/testing_guide/end_to_end/beginners_guide | [
"doc",
"development",
"testing_guide",
"end_to_end",
"beginners_guide"
] | flows.md | none | unassigned | Any user with at least the Maintainer role can merge updates to this content. For details, see https://docs.gitlab.com/development/development_processes/#development-guidelines-review. | Flows in GitLab QA | null |
Flows are frequently used sequences of actions. They are a higher level
of abstraction than page objects. Flows can include multiple page objects,
or any other relevant code.
For example, the sign in flow encapsulates two steps that are included
in every browser UI test.
```ruby
# QA::Flow::Login
def sign_in(as: n... | ---
stage: none
group: unassigned
info: Any user with at least the Maintainer role can merge updates to this content.
For details, see https://docs.gitlab.com/development/development_processes/#development-guidelines-review.
title: Flows in GitLab QA
breadcrumbs:
- doc
- development
- testing_guide
- end_to_end
- beg... |
https://docs.gitlab.com/development/testing_guide/end_to_end/feature_flags | https://gitlab.com/gitlab-org/gitlab/-/tree/master/doc/development/testing_guide/end_to_end/feature_flags.md | 2025-08-13 | doc/development/testing_guide/end_to_end/best_practices | [
"doc",
"development",
"testing_guide",
"end_to_end",
"best_practices"
] | feature_flags.md | none | unassigned | Any user with at least the Maintainer role can merge updates to this content. For details, see https://docs.gitlab.com/development/development_processes/#development-guidelines-review. | Testing with feature flags | null |
To run a specific test with a feature flag enabled you can use the `QA::Runtime::Feature` class to
enable and disable feature flags ([via the API](../../../../api/features.md)).
Note that administrator authorization is required to change feature flags. `QA::Runtime::Feature`
automatically authenticates as an adminis... | ---
stage: none
group: unassigned
info: Any user with at least the Maintainer role can merge updates to this content.
For details, see https://docs.gitlab.com/development/development_processes/#development-guidelines-review.
title: Testing with feature flags
breadcrumbs:
- doc
- development
- testing_guide
- end_to_e... |
https://docs.gitlab.com/development/testing_guide/end_to_end/users | https://gitlab.com/gitlab-org/gitlab/-/tree/master/doc/development/testing_guide/end_to_end/users.md | 2025-08-13 | doc/development/testing_guide/end_to_end/best_practices | [
"doc",
"development",
"testing_guide",
"end_to_end",
"best_practices"
] | users.md | none | unassigned | Any user with at least the Maintainer role can merge updates to this content. For details, see https://docs.gitlab.com/development/development_processes/#development-guidelines-review. | Environment Setup | Users | null |
## Administrator user
E2E test framework utilizes administrator user for certain resource creation, like `user` or for changing certain instance level settings. It is not necessary to explicitly configure administrator user for environments used in [test-pipelines](../test_pipelines.md) because these environments au... | ---
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For details, see https://docs.gitlab.com/development/development_processes/#development-guidelines-review.
title: Environment Setup | Users
breadcrumbs:
- doc
- development
- testing_guide
- end_to_en... |
https://docs.gitlab.com/development/testing_guide/end_to_end/execution_context_selection | https://gitlab.com/gitlab-org/gitlab/-/tree/master/doc/development/testing_guide/end_to_end/execution_context_selection.md | 2025-08-13 | doc/development/testing_guide/end_to_end/best_practices | [
"doc",
"development",
"testing_guide",
"end_to_end",
"best_practices"
] | execution_context_selection.md | none | unassigned | Any user with at least the Maintainer role can merge updates to this content. For details, see https://docs.gitlab.com/development/development_processes/#development-guidelines-review. | Execution context selection | null |
Some tests are designed to be run against specific environments, or in specific [pipelines](https://handbook.gitlab.com/handbook/engineering/testing/end-to-end-pipeline-monitoring) or jobs. We can specify the test execution context using the `only` and `except` metadata.
## Available switches
| Switch | Funct... | ---
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title: Execution context selection
breadcrumbs:
- doc
- development
- testing_guide
- end_to_... |
https://docs.gitlab.com/development/testing_guide/end_to_end/best_practices | https://gitlab.com/gitlab-org/gitlab/-/tree/master/doc/development/testing_guide/end_to_end/_index.md | 2025-08-13 | doc/development/testing_guide/end_to_end/best_practices | [
"doc",
"development",
"testing_guide",
"end_to_end",
"best_practices"
] | _index.md | none | unassigned | Any user with at least the Maintainer role can merge updates to this content. For details, see https://docs.gitlab.com/development/development_processes/#development-guidelines-review. | End-to-end testing Best Practices | null |
This is a tailored extension of the Best Practices [found in the testing guide](../../best_practices.md).
## Class and module naming
The QA framework uses [Zeitwerk](https://github.com/fxn/zeitwerk) for class and module autoloading. The default Zeitwerk [inflector](https://github.com/fxn/zeitwerk#zeitwerkinflector)... | ---
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title: End-to-end testing Best Practices
breadcrumbs:
- doc
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- testing_guide
- e... |
https://docs.gitlab.com/development/testing_guide/end_to_end/dynamic_element_validation | https://gitlab.com/gitlab-org/gitlab/-/tree/master/doc/development/testing_guide/end_to_end/dynamic_element_validation.md | 2025-08-13 | doc/development/testing_guide/end_to_end/best_practices | [
"doc",
"development",
"testing_guide",
"end_to_end",
"best_practices"
] | dynamic_element_validation.md | none | unassigned | Any user with at least the Maintainer role can merge updates to this content. For details, see https://docs.gitlab.com/development/development_processes/#development-guidelines-review. | Dynamic Element Validation | null |
We devised a solution to solve common test automation problems such as the dreaded `NoSuchElementException`.
Other problems that dynamic element validations solve are...
- When we perform an action with the mouse, we expect something to occur.
- When our test is navigating to (or from) a page, we ensure that we are... | ---
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title: Dynamic Element Validation
breadcrumbs:
- doc
- development
- testing_guide
- end_to_e... |
https://docs.gitlab.com/development/testing_guide/end_to_end/waits | https://gitlab.com/gitlab-org/gitlab/-/tree/master/doc/development/testing_guide/end_to_end/waits.md | 2025-08-13 | doc/development/testing_guide/end_to_end/best_practices | [
"doc",
"development",
"testing_guide",
"end_to_end",
"best_practices"
] | waits.md | none | unassigned | Any user with at least the Maintainer role can merge updates to this content. For details, see https://docs.gitlab.com/development/development_processes/#development-guidelines-review. | Waits | null |
All Capybara Node Finders utilize a waiting mechanism.
Per the [Capybara API](https://www.rubydoc.info/github/jnicklas/capybara/Capybara/Node/Finders:find) -
> If the driver is capable of executing JavaScript, `find` will wait for a set amount of time and continuously retry finding the element until either the elem... | ---
stage: none
group: unassigned
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For details, see https://docs.gitlab.com/development/development_processes/#development-guidelines-review.
title: Waits
breadcrumbs:
- doc
- development
- testing_guide
- end_to_end
- best_practices
-... |
https://docs.gitlab.com/development/testing_guide/end_to_end/rspec_metadata_tests | https://gitlab.com/gitlab-org/gitlab/-/tree/master/doc/development/testing_guide/end_to_end/rspec_metadata_tests.md | 2025-08-13 | doc/development/testing_guide/end_to_end/best_practices | [
"doc",
"development",
"testing_guide",
"end_to_end",
"best_practices"
] | rspec_metadata_tests.md | none | unassigned | Any user with at least the Maintainer role can merge updates to this content. For details, see https://docs.gitlab.com/development/development_processes/#development-guidelines-review. | RSpec metadata for end-to-end tests | null |
This is a partial list of the [RSpec metadata](https://rspec.info/features/3-12/rspec-core/metadata/user-defined/)
(a.k.a. tags) that are used in our end-to-end tests.
<!-- Please keep the tags in alphabetical order -->
| Tag | Description ... | ---
stage: none
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info: Any user with at least the Maintainer role can merge updates to this content.
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title: RSpec metadata for end-to-end tests
breadcrumbs:
- doc
- development
- testing_guide
-... |
https://docs.gitlab.com/development/testing_guide/end_to_end/running_tests | https://gitlab.com/gitlab-org/gitlab/-/tree/master/doc/development/testing_guide/end_to_end/_index.md | 2025-08-13 | doc/development/testing_guide/end_to_end/running_tests | [
"doc",
"development",
"testing_guide",
"end_to_end",
"running_tests"
] | _index.md | none | unassigned | Any user with at least the Maintainer role can merge updates to this content. For details, see https://docs.gitlab.com/development/development_processes/#development-guidelines-review. | Running the tests | null |
## Against your GDK environment
First, follow the instructions to [install GDK](https://gitlab.com/gitlab-org/gitlab-development-kit/blob/main/doc/index.md) as your local GitLab development environment.
Then, navigate to the QA folder, install the gems, and run the tests via RSpec:
```shell
cd gitlab-development-k... | ---
stage: none
group: unassigned
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For details, see https://docs.gitlab.com/development/development_processes/#development-guidelines-review.
title: Running the tests
breadcrumbs:
- doc
- development
- testing_guide
- end_to_end
- runn... |
https://docs.gitlab.com/development/testing_guide/end_to_end/running_tests_that_require_special_setup | https://gitlab.com/gitlab-org/gitlab/-/tree/master/doc/development/testing_guide/end_to_end/running_tests_that_require_special_setup.md | 2025-08-13 | doc/development/testing_guide/end_to_end/running_tests | [
"doc",
"development",
"testing_guide",
"end_to_end",
"running_tests"
] | running_tests_that_require_special_setup.md | none | unassigned | Any user with at least the Maintainer role can merge updates to this content. For details, see https://docs.gitlab.com/development/development_processes/#development-guidelines-review. | Running tests that require special setup | null |
## Jenkins tests
The [`jenkins_build_status_spec`](https://gitlab.com/gitlab-org/gitlab/-/blob/24a86debf49f3aed6f2ecfd6e8f9233b3a214181/qa/qa/specs/features/browser_ui/3_create/jenkins/jenkins_build_status_spec.rb)
spins up a Jenkins instance in a Docker container with the Jenkins GitLab plugin pre-installed. Due to... | ---
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group: unassigned
info: Any user with at least the Maintainer role can merge updates to this content.
For details, see https://docs.gitlab.com/development/development_processes/#development-guidelines-review.
title: Running tests that require special setup
breadcrumbs:
- doc
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- testing_gu... |
https://docs.gitlab.com/development/activitypub | https://gitlab.com/gitlab-org/gitlab/-/tree/master/doc/development/_index.md | 2025-08-13 | doc/development/activitypub | [
"doc",
"development",
"activitypub"
] | _index.md | Create | Source Code | To determine the technical writer assigned to the Stage/Group associated with this page, see https://handbook.gitlab.com/handbook/product/ux/technical-writing/#assignments | ActivityPub | null |
{{< details >}}
- Status: Experiment
{{< /details >}}
{{< history >}}
- [Introduced](https://gitlab.com/gitlab-org/gitlab/-/merge_requests/127023) in GitLab 16.5 [with two flags](../../administration/feature_flags/_index.md) named `activity_pub` and `activity_pub_project`. Disabled by default. This feature is an ... | ---
stage: Create
group: Source Code
info: To determine the technical writer assigned to the Stage/Group associated with
this page, see https://handbook.gitlab.com/handbook/product/ux/technical-writing/#assignments
title: ActivityPub
breadcrumbs:
- doc
- development
- activitypub
---
{{< details >}}
- Status: Expe... |
https://docs.gitlab.com/development/activitypub/actors | https://gitlab.com/gitlab-org/gitlab/-/tree/master/doc/development/activitypub/_index.md | 2025-08-13 | doc/development/activitypub/actors | [
"doc",
"development",
"activitypub",
"actors"
] | _index.md | Create | Source Code | To determine the technical writer assigned to the Stage/Group associated with this page, see https://handbook.gitlab.com/handbook/product/ux/technical-writing/#assignments | Implement an ActivityPub actor | null |
{{< details >}}
- Status: Experiment
{{< /details >}}
{{< history >}}
- [Introduced](https://gitlab.com/gitlab-org/gitlab/-/merge_requests/127023) in GitLab 16.5 [with two flags](../../../administration/feature_flags/_index.md) named `activity_pub` and `activity_pub_project`. Disabled by default. This feature is ... | ---
stage: Create
group: Source Code
info: To determine the technical writer assigned to the Stage/Group associated with
this page, see https://handbook.gitlab.com/handbook/product/ux/technical-writing/#assignments
title: Implement an ActivityPub actor
breadcrumbs:
- doc
- development
- activitypub
- actors
---
{{<... |
https://docs.gitlab.com/development/activitypub/releases | https://gitlab.com/gitlab-org/gitlab/-/tree/master/doc/development/activitypub/releases.md | 2025-08-13 | doc/development/activitypub/actors | [
"doc",
"development",
"activitypub",
"actors"
] | releases.md | Create | Source Code | To determine the technical writer assigned to the Stage/Group associated with this page, see https://handbook.gitlab.com/handbook/product/ux/technical-writing/#assignments | Activities for following releases actor | null |
{{< details >}}
- Status: Experiment
{{< /details >}}
{{< history >}}
- [Introduced](https://gitlab.com/gitlab-org/gitlab/-/merge_requests/127023) in GitLab 16.5 [with two flags](../../../administration/feature_flags/_index.md) named `activity_pub` and `activity_pub_project`. Disabled by default. This feature is ... | ---
stage: Create
group: Source Code
info: To determine the technical writer assigned to the Stage/Group associated with
this page, see https://handbook.gitlab.com/handbook/product/ux/technical-writing/#assignments
title: Activities for following releases actor
breadcrumbs:
- doc
- development
- activitypub
- actors
... |
https://docs.gitlab.com/development/graphql_pro | https://gitlab.com/gitlab-org/gitlab/-/tree/master/doc/development/graphql_pro.md | 2025-08-13 | doc/development/graphql_guide | [
"doc",
"development",
"graphql_guide"
] | graphql_pro.md | Create | Import | Any user with at least the Maintainer role can merge updates to this content. For details, see https://docs.gitlab.com/development/development_processes/#development-guidelines-review. | GraphQL Pro | null |
GraphQL has become a key technology in GitLab and is implemented using the
[GraphQL Ruby gem](https://graphql-ruby.org). As such, we've purchased a subscription to
[GraphQL Pro](https://graphql.pro).
The main purpose is for support. Per the website:
> As a GraphQL::Pro customer, you get direct access to the GraphQL... | ---
stage: Create
group: Import
info: Any user with at least the Maintainer role can merge updates to this content.
For details, see https://docs.gitlab.com/development/development_processes/#development-guidelines-review.
title: GraphQL Pro
breadcrumbs:
- doc
- development
- graphql_guide
---
GraphQL has become a ... |
https://docs.gitlab.com/development/graphql_guide | https://gitlab.com/gitlab-org/gitlab/-/tree/master/doc/development/_index.md | 2025-08-13 | doc/development/graphql_guide | [
"doc",
"development",
"graphql_guide"
] | _index.md | Create | Import | Any user with at least the Maintainer role can merge updates to this content. For details, see https://docs.gitlab.com/development/development_processes/#development-guidelines-review. | GraphQL development guidelines | null |
This guide contains all the information to successfully contribute to the GitLab
GraphQL API. This is a living document, and we welcome contributions,
feedback, and suggestions.
## Resources
- [GraphQL API development style guide](../api_graphql_styleguide.md): development style guide for
GraphQL.
- [GraphQL API ... | ---
stage: Create
group: Import
info: Any user with at least the Maintainer role can merge updates to this content.
For details, see https://docs.gitlab.com/development/development_processes/#development-guidelines-review.
title: GraphQL development guidelines
breadcrumbs:
- doc
- development
- graphql_guide
---
Th... |
https://docs.gitlab.com/development/batchloader | https://gitlab.com/gitlab-org/gitlab/-/tree/master/doc/development/batchloader.md | 2025-08-13 | doc/development/graphql_guide | [
"doc",
"development",
"graphql_guide"
] | batchloader.md | Data Access | Database Frameworks | Any user with at least the Maintainer role can merge updates to this content. For details, see https://docs.gitlab.com/development/development_processes/#development-guidelines-review. | GraphQL BatchLoader | null |
GitLab uses the [batch-loader](https://github.com/exAspArk/batch-loader) Ruby gem to optimize and avoid N+1 SQL queries.
It is the properties of the GraphQL query tree that create opportunities for batching like this - disconnected nodes might need the same data, but cannot know about themselves.
## When should you... | ---
stage: Data Access
group: Database Frameworks
info: Any user with at least the Maintainer role can merge updates to this content.
For details, see https://docs.gitlab.com/development/development_processes/#development-guidelines-review.
title: GraphQL BatchLoader
breadcrumbs:
- doc
- development
- graphql_guide
-... |
https://docs.gitlab.com/development/monitoring | https://gitlab.com/gitlab-org/gitlab/-/tree/master/doc/development/monitoring.md | 2025-08-13 | doc/development/graphql_guide | [
"doc",
"development",
"graphql_guide"
] | monitoring.md | Create | Import | Any user with at least the Maintainer role can merge updates to this content. For details, see https://docs.gitlab.com/development/development_processes/#development-guidelines-review. | Reading GraphQL logs | null |
We use Kibana to filter GraphQL query logs. Sign in to [Kibana](https://log.gprd.gitlab.net/)
with a `@gitlab.com` email address.
In Kibana we can inspect two kinds of GraphQL logs:
- Logs of each GraphQL query executed within the request.
- Logs of the full request, which due to [query multiplexing](https://graphq... | ---
stage: Create
group: Import
info: Any user with at least the Maintainer role can merge updates to this content.
For details, see https://docs.gitlab.com/development/development_processes/#development-guidelines-review.
title: Reading GraphQL logs
breadcrumbs:
- doc
- development
- graphql_guide
---
We use Kiban... |
https://docs.gitlab.com/development/pagination | https://gitlab.com/gitlab-org/gitlab/-/tree/master/doc/development/pagination.md | 2025-08-13 | doc/development/graphql_guide | [
"doc",
"development",
"graphql_guide"
] | pagination.md | Create | Import | Any user with at least the Maintainer role can merge updates to this content. For details, see https://docs.gitlab.com/development/development_processes/#development-guidelines-review. | GraphQL pagination | null |
## Types of pagination
GitLab uses two primary types of pagination: **offset** and **keyset**
(sometimes called cursor-based) pagination.
The GraphQL API mainly uses keyset pagination, falling back to offset pagination when needed.
### Performance considerations
See the [general pagination guidelines section](../d... | ---
stage: Create
group: Import
info: Any user with at least the Maintainer role can merge updates to this content.
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title: GraphQL pagination
breadcrumbs:
- doc
- development
- graphql_guide
---
## Types of pa... |
https://docs.gitlab.com/development/reviewing | https://gitlab.com/gitlab-org/gitlab/-/tree/master/doc/development/reviewing.md | 2025-08-13 | doc/development/graphql_guide | [
"doc",
"development",
"graphql_guide"
] | reviewing.md | none | unassigned | Any user with at least the Maintainer role can merge updates to this content. For details, see https://docs.gitlab.com/development/development_processes/#development-guidelines-review. | GraphQL API merge request checklist | null |
The GitLab GraphQL API has a fair degree of complexity so it's important that merge requests containing GraphQL changes be reviewed by someone familiar with GraphQL.
You can ping one via the `@gitlab-org/graphql-experts` group in a MR or in the [`#f_graphql` channel](https://gitlab.slack.com/archives/C6MLS3XEU) in Sl... | ---
stage: none
group: unassigned
info: Any user with at least the Maintainer role can merge updates to this content.
For details, see https://docs.gitlab.com/development/development_processes/#development-guidelines-review.
title: GraphQL API merge request checklist
breadcrumbs:
- doc
- development
- graphql_guide
-... |
https://docs.gitlab.com/development/authorization | https://gitlab.com/gitlab-org/gitlab/-/tree/master/doc/development/authorization.md | 2025-08-13 | doc/development/graphql_guide | [
"doc",
"development",
"graphql_guide"
] | authorization.md | none | unassigned | Any user with at least the Maintainer role can merge updates to this content. For details, see https://docs.gitlab.com/development/development_processes/#development-guidelines-review. | GraphQL Authorization | null |
Authorizations can be applied in these places:
- Types:
- Objects (all classes descending from `::Types::BaseObject`)
- Enums (all classes descending from `::Types::BaseEnum`)
- Resolvers:
- Field resolvers (all classes descending from `::Types::BaseResolver`)
- Mutations (all classes descending from `::Type... | ---
stage: none
group: unassigned
info: Any user with at least the Maintainer role can merge updates to this content.
For details, see https://docs.gitlab.com/development/development_processes/#development-guidelines-review.
title: GraphQL Authorization
breadcrumbs:
- doc
- development
- graphql_guide
---
Authoriza... |
https://docs.gitlab.com/development/dnsmasq | https://gitlab.com/gitlab-org/gitlab/-/tree/master/doc/development/dnsmasq.md | 2025-08-13 | doc/development/pages | [
"doc",
"development",
"pages"
] | dnsmasq.md | Plan | Knowledge | Any user with at least the Maintainer role can merge updates to this content. For details, see https://docs.gitlab.com/development/development_processes/#development-guidelines-review. | Using `dnsmasq` to dynamically handle GitLab Pages subdomains | dnsmasq configuration guidelines for GitLab Pages |
You can use [`dnsmasq`](https://wiki.debian.org/dnsmasq) to test
GitLab Pages sites locally without having to configure each site on `/etc/hosts`.
## Use `dnsmasq` on macOS
To use `dnsmasq` on macOS:
1. Install `dnsmasq`:
```console
brew install dnsmasq
```
1. Set up the `*.test` domain lookup:
```console
# Ens... | ---
stage: Plan
group: Knowledge
info: Any user with at least the Maintainer role can merge updates to this content.
For details, see https://docs.gitlab.com/development/development_processes/#development-guidelines-review.
description: dnsmasq configuration guidelines for GitLab Pages
title: Using `dnsmasq` to dynam... |
https://docs.gitlab.com/development/pages | https://gitlab.com/gitlab-org/gitlab/-/tree/master/doc/development/_index.md | 2025-08-13 | doc/development/pages | [
"doc",
"development",
"pages"
] | _index.md | Plan | Knowledge | Any user with at least the Maintainer role can merge updates to this content. For details, see https://docs.gitlab.com/development/development_processes/#development-guidelines-review. | Contribute to GitLab Pages development | Configuration and contribution guidelines. |
Learn how to configure GitLab Pages so you can help develop the feature.
## Configuring GitLab Pages hostname
GitLab Pages needs a hostname or domain, as each different GitLab Pages site is accessed through a
subdomain. You can set the GitLab Pages hostname:
- [Without wildcard, editing your hosts file](#without-w... | ---
stage: Plan
group: Knowledge
info: Any user with at least the Maintainer role can merge updates to this content.
For details, see https://docs.gitlab.com/development/development_processes/#development-guidelines-review.
description: Configuration and contribution guidelines.
title: Contribute to GitLab Pages deve... |
https://docs.gitlab.com/development/proxying | https://gitlab.com/gitlab-org/gitlab/-/tree/master/doc/development/proxying.md | 2025-08-13 | doc/development/geo | [
"doc",
"development",
"geo"
] | proxying.md | Tenant Scale | Geo | Any user with at least the Maintainer role can merge updates to this content. For details, see https://docs.gitlab.com/development/development_processes/#development-guidelines-review. | Geo proxying | null |
Secondaries proxy nearly all HTTP requests through Workhorse to the primary, so users navigating to the
secondary see a read-write UI, and are able to do all operations that they can do on the primary.
## High-level components
Proxying of GitLab UI and API HTTP requests is handled by the [`gitlab-workhorse`](../arc... | ---
stage: Tenant Scale
group: Geo
info: Any user with at least the Maintainer role can merge updates to this content.
For details, see https://docs.gitlab.com/development/development_processes/#development-guidelines-review.
title: Geo proxying
breadcrumbs:
- doc
- development
- geo
---
Secondaries proxy nearly al... |
https://docs.gitlab.com/development/geo_validation_tests | https://gitlab.com/gitlab-org/gitlab/-/tree/master/doc/development/geo_validation_tests.md | 2025-08-13 | doc/development/geo | [
"doc",
"development",
"geo"
] | geo_validation_tests.md | Tenant Scale | Geo | To determine the technical writer assigned to the Stage/Group associated with this page, see https://handbook.gitlab.com/handbook/product/ux/technical-writing/#assignments | Geo validation tests | null |
{{< details >}}
- Tier: Premium, Ultimate
- Offering: GitLab Self-Managed
{{< /details >}}
The Geo team performs manual testing and validation on common deployment configurations to ensure
that Geo works when upgrading between minor GitLab versions and major PostgreSQL database versions.
This section contains a j... | ---
stage: Tenant Scale
group: Geo
info: To determine the technical writer assigned to the Stage/Group associated with
this page, see https://handbook.gitlab.com/handbook/product/ux/technical-writing/#assignments
gitlab_dedicated: false
title: Geo validation tests
breadcrumbs:
- doc
- development
- geo
---
{{< deta... |
https://docs.gitlab.com/development/framework | https://gitlab.com/gitlab-org/gitlab/-/tree/master/doc/development/framework.md | 2025-08-13 | doc/development/geo | [
"doc",
"development",
"geo"
] | framework.md | Tenant Scale | Geo | Any user with at least the Maintainer role can merge updates to this content. For details, see https://docs.gitlab.com/development/development_processes/#development-guidelines-review. | Geo self-service framework | null |
{{< alert type="note" >}}
This document is subject to change as we continue to implement and iterate on the framework.
Follow the progress in the [epic](https://gitlab.com/groups/gitlab-org/-/epics/2161).
If you need to replicate a new data type, reach out to the Geo
team to discuss the options. You can contact them... | ---
stage: Tenant Scale
group: Geo
info: Any user with at least the Maintainer role can merge updates to this content.
For details, see https://docs.gitlab.com/development/development_processes/#development-guidelines-review.
title: Geo self-service framework
breadcrumbs:
- doc
- development
- geo
---
{{< alert typ... |
https://docs.gitlab.com/development/api | https://gitlab.com/gitlab-org/gitlab/-/tree/master/doc/development/api.md | 2025-08-13 | doc/development/geo | [
"doc",
"development",
"geo"
] | api.md | Tenant Scale | Geo | To determine the technical writer assigned to the Stage/Group associated with this page, see https://handbook.gitlab.com/handbook/product/ux/technical-writing/#assignments | Geo API | null |
{{< details >}}
- Tier: Premium, Ultimate
- Offering: GitLab Self-Managed
- Status: Beta
{{< /details >}}
The Geo API is used internally by GitLab components to assist in coordinating Geo actions. It is inaccessible to admins or users.
## Fetch pipeline refs
{{< history >}}
- [Introduced](https://gitlab.com/git... | ---
stage: Tenant Scale
group: Geo
info: To determine the technical writer assigned to the Stage/Group associated with
this page, see https://handbook.gitlab.com/handbook/product/ux/technical-writing/#assignments
title: Geo API
breadcrumbs:
- doc
- development
- geo
---
{{< details >}}
- Tier: Premium, Ultimate
- ... |
https://docs.gitlab.com/development/advanced_search_migration_styleguide | https://gitlab.com/gitlab-org/gitlab/-/tree/master/doc/development/advanced_search_migration_styleguide.md | 2025-08-13 | doc/development/search | [
"doc",
"development",
"search"
] | advanced_search_migration_styleguide.md | AI-powered | Global Search | Any user with at least the Maintainer role can merge updates to this content. For details, see https://docs.gitlab.com/development/development_processes/#development-guidelines-review. | Advanced search migration style guide | null |
## Create a new advanced search migration
{{< alert type="note" >}}
This functionality is only supported for indices created in GitLab 13.0 and later.
{{< /alert >}}
### With a script
{{< history >}}
- [Introduced](https://gitlab.com/gitlab-org/gitlab/-/issues/414674) in GitLab 16.3.
{{< /history >}}
Execute ... | ---
stage: AI-powered
group: Global Search
info: Any user with at least the Maintainer role can merge updates to this content.
For details, see https://docs.gitlab.com/development/development_processes/#development-guidelines-review.
title: Advanced search migration style guide
breadcrumbs:
- doc
- development
- sear... |
https://docs.gitlab.com/development/refactoring_guide | https://gitlab.com/gitlab-org/gitlab/-/tree/master/doc/development/_index.md | 2025-08-13 | doc/development/refactoring_guide | [
"doc",
"development",
"refactoring_guide"
] | _index.md | none | unassigned | Any user with at least the Maintainer role can merge updates to this content. For details, see https://docs.gitlab.com/development/development_processes/#development-guidelines-review. | Refactoring guide | null |
This document is a collection of techniques and best practices to consider while performing a refactor.
## Pinning tests
Pinning tests help you ensure that you don't unintentionally change the output or behavior of the entity you're refactoring. This even includes preserving any existing buggy behavior, since consu... | ---
stage: none
group: unassigned
info: Any user with at least the Maintainer role can merge updates to this content.
For details, see https://docs.gitlab.com/development/development_processes/#development-guidelines-review.
title: Refactoring guide
breadcrumbs:
- doc
- development
- refactoring_guide
---
This docu... |
https://docs.gitlab.com/development/create_triage_policy_with_gitlab_duo_agent_platform_guide | https://gitlab.com/gitlab-org/gitlab/-/tree/master/doc/development/create_triage_policy_with_gitlab_duo_agent_platform_guide.md | 2025-08-13 | doc/development/duo_agent_platform | [
"doc",
"development",
"duo_agent_platform"
] | create_triage_policy_with_gitlab_duo_agent_platform_guide.md | AI-powered | Duo Workflow | Any user with at least the Maintainer role can merge updates to this content. For details, see https://docs.gitlab.com/development/development_processes/#development-guidelines-review. | Create triage policies with the assistance of GitLab Duo Agent Platform | null |
{{< history >}}
- [Name changed](https://gitlab.com/gitlab-org/gitlab/-/issues/551382) from `Workflow` to `Agent Platform` in GitLab 18.2.
{{< /history >}}
This guide provides comprehensive instructions for writing triage automation policies in [triage-ops](https://gitlab.com/gitlab-org/quality/triage-ops) using G... | ---
stage: AI-powered
group: Duo Workflow
info: Any user with at least the Maintainer role can merge updates to this content.
For details, see https://docs.gitlab.com/development/development_processes/#development-guidelines-review.
title: Create triage policies with the assistance of GitLab Duo Agent Platform
breadc... |
https://docs.gitlab.com/development/duo_agent_platform | https://gitlab.com/gitlab-org/gitlab/-/tree/master/doc/development/_index.md | 2025-08-13 | doc/development/duo_agent_platform | [
"doc",
"development",
"duo_agent_platform"
] | _index.md | AI-powered | Duo Workflow | Any user with at least the Maintainer role can merge updates to this content. For details, see https://docs.gitlab.com/development/development_processes/#development-guidelines-review. | Development of GitLab Duo Agent Platform | null |
{{< history >}}
- [Name changed](https://gitlab.com/gitlab-org/gitlab/-/issues/551382) from `Workflow` to `Agent Platform` in GitLab 18.2.
{{< /history >}}
How to set up the local development environment to run [GitLab Duo Agent Platform](../../user/duo_agent_platform/_index.md).
## Prerequisites
- [GitLab Ultim... | ---
stage: AI-powered
group: Duo Workflow
info: Any user with at least the Maintainer role can merge updates to this content.
For details, see https://docs.gitlab.com/development/development_processes/#development-guidelines-review.
title: Development of GitLab Duo Agent Platform
breadcrumbs:
- doc
- development
- du... |
https://docs.gitlab.com/development/workhorse | https://gitlab.com/gitlab-org/gitlab/-/tree/master/doc/development/_index.md | 2025-08-13 | doc/development/workhorse | [
"doc",
"development",
"workhorse"
] | _index.md | Create | Source Code | Any user with at least the Maintainer role can merge updates to this content. For details, see https://docs.gitlab.com/development/development_processes/#development-guidelines-review. | GitLab Workhorse | null |
GitLab Workhorse is a smart reverse proxy for GitLab intended to handle resource-intensive and long-running requests.
It sits in front of Puma and intercepts every HTTP request destined for and emitted from GitLab Rails.
Rails delegates requests to Workhorse and it takes responsibility for resource intensive HTTP req... | ---
stage: Create
group: Source Code
info: Any user with at least the Maintainer role can merge updates to this content.
For details, see https://docs.gitlab.com/development/development_processes/#development-guidelines-review.
title: GitLab Workhorse
breadcrumbs:
- doc
- development
- workhorse
---
GitLab Workhors... |
https://docs.gitlab.com/development/configuration | https://gitlab.com/gitlab-org/gitlab/-/tree/master/doc/development/configuration.md | 2025-08-13 | doc/development/workhorse | [
"doc",
"development",
"workhorse"
] | configuration.md | Create | Source Code | Any user with at least the Maintainer role can merge updates to this content. For details, see https://docs.gitlab.com/development/development_processes/#development-guidelines-review. | Workhorse configuration | null |
For historical reasons, Workhorse uses:
- Command line flags.
- A configuration file.
- Environment variables.
Add any new Workhorse configuration options into the configuration file.
## CLI options
```plaintext
gitlab-workhorse [OPTIONS]
Options:
-apiCiLongPollingDuration duration
Long polling durat... | ---
stage: Create
group: Source Code
info: Any user with at least the Maintainer role can merge updates to this content.
For details, see https://docs.gitlab.com/development/development_processes/#development-guidelines-review.
title: Workhorse configuration
breadcrumbs:
- doc
- development
- workhorse
---
For hist... |
https://docs.gitlab.com/development/handlers | https://gitlab.com/gitlab-org/gitlab/-/tree/master/doc/development/handlers.md | 2025-08-13 | doc/development/workhorse | [
"doc",
"development",
"workhorse"
] | handlers.md | Create | Source Code | To determine the technical writer assigned to the Stage/Group associated with this page, see https://about.gitlab.com/handbook/engineering/ux/technical-writing/#assignments | Workhorse handlers | null |
Long HTTP requests are hard to handle efficiently in Rails.
The requests are either memory-inefficient (file uploads) or impossible at all due to shorter timeouts
(for example, Puma server has 60-second timeout).
Workhorse can efficiently handle a large number of long HTTP requests.
Workhorse acts as a proxy that int... | ---
stage: Create
group: Source Code
info: To determine the technical writer assigned to the Stage/Group associated with
this page, see https://about.gitlab.com/handbook/engineering/ux/technical-writing/#assignments
title: Workhorse handlers
breadcrumbs:
- doc
- development
- workhorse
---
Long HTTP requests are ha... |
https://docs.gitlab.com/development/gitlab_features | https://gitlab.com/gitlab-org/gitlab/-/tree/master/doc/development/gitlab_features.md | 2025-08-13 | doc/development/workhorse | [
"doc",
"development",
"workhorse"
] | gitlab_features.md | Create | Source Code | Any user with at least the Maintainer role can merge updates to this content. For details, see https://docs.gitlab.com/development/development_processes/#development-guidelines-review. | Features that rely on Workhorse | null |
Workhorse itself is not a feature, but there are several features in
GitLab that would not work efficiently without Workhorse.
To put the efficiency benefit in context, consider that in 2020Q3 on
GitLab.com [we see](https://dashboards.gitlab.net/explore?schemaVersion=1&panes=%7B%22m95%22:%7B%22datasource%22:%22e58c2... | ---
stage: Create
group: Source Code
info: Any user with at least the Maintainer role can merge updates to this content.
For details, see https://docs.gitlab.com/development/development_processes/#development-guidelines-review.
title: Features that rely on Workhorse
breadcrumbs:
- doc
- development
- workhorse
---
... |
https://docs.gitlab.com/development/new_features | https://gitlab.com/gitlab-org/gitlab/-/tree/master/doc/development/new_features.md | 2025-08-13 | doc/development/workhorse | [
"doc",
"development",
"workhorse"
] | new_features.md | Create | Source Code | Any user with at least the Maintainer role can merge updates to this content. For details, see https://docs.gitlab.com/development/development_processes/#development-guidelines-review. | Adding new features to Workhorse | null |
GitLab Workhorse is a smart reverse proxy for GitLab. It handles
[long HTTP requests](#what-are-long-requests), such as:
- File downloads.
- File uploads.
- Git pushes and pulls.
- Git archive downloads.
Workhorse itself is not a feature, but [several features in GitLab](gitlab_features.md)
would not work efficient... | ---
stage: Create
group: Source Code
info: Any user with at least the Maintainer role can merge updates to this content.
For details, see https://docs.gitlab.com/development/development_processes/#development-guidelines-review.
title: Adding new features to Workhorse
breadcrumbs:
- doc
- development
- workhorse
---
... |
https://docs.gitlab.com/development/channel | https://gitlab.com/gitlab-org/gitlab/-/tree/master/doc/development/channel.md | 2025-08-13 | doc/development/workhorse | [
"doc",
"development",
"workhorse"
] | channel.md | Create | Source Code | Any user with at least the Maintainer role can merge updates to this content. For details, see https://docs.gitlab.com/development/development_processes/#development-guidelines-review. | Websocket channel support for Workhorse | null |
In some cases, GitLab can provide the following through a WebSocket:
- In-browser terminal access to an environment: a running server or container,
onto which a project has been deployed.
- Access to services running in CI.
Workhorse manages the WebSocket upgrade and long-lived connection to the websocket
connect... | ---
stage: Create
group: Source Code
info: Any user with at least the Maintainer role can merge updates to this content.
For details, see https://docs.gitlab.com/development/development_processes/#development-guidelines-review.
title: Websocket channel support for Workhorse
breadcrumbs:
- doc
- development
- workhors... |
https://docs.gitlab.com/development/gitlab_subscriptions | https://gitlab.com/gitlab-org/gitlab/-/tree/master/doc/development/gitlab_subscriptions.md | 2025-08-13 | doc/development/internal_api | [
"doc",
"development",
"internal_api"
] | gitlab_subscriptions.md | Fulfillment | Provision | To determine the technical writer assigned to the Stage/Group associated with this page, see https://handbook.gitlab.com/handbook/product/ux/technical-writing/#assignments | GitLab Subscriptions Internal API | null |
The GitLab Subscriptions internal API is used by the CustomersDot application,
it cannot be used by other consumers. This documentation is intended for people
working on the GitLab and CustomersDot codebases.
## Add new endpoints
API endpoints should be externally accessible by default, with proper authentication a... | ---
stage: Fulfillment
group: Provision
info: To determine the technical writer assigned to the Stage/Group associated with
this page, see https://handbook.gitlab.com/handbook/product/ux/technical-writing/#assignments
title: GitLab Subscriptions Internal API
breadcrumbs:
- doc
- development
- internal_api
---
The G... |
https://docs.gitlab.com/development/internal_api_allowed | https://gitlab.com/gitlab-org/gitlab/-/tree/master/doc/development/internal_api_allowed.md | 2025-08-13 | doc/development/internal_api | [
"doc",
"development",
"internal_api"
] | internal_api_allowed.md | Create | Source Code | To determine the technical writer assigned to the Stage/Group associated with this page, see https://handbook.gitlab.com/handbook/product/ux/technical-writing/#assignments | Internal allowed API | null |
The `internal/allowed` endpoint assesses whether a user has permission to perform
certain operations on the Git repository. It performs multiple checks, such as:
- Ensuring the branch or tag name is acceptable.
- Whether or not the user has the authority to perform that action.
## Endpoint definition
The internal ... | ---
stage: Create
group: Source Code
info: To determine the technical writer assigned to the Stage/Group associated with
this page, see https://handbook.gitlab.com/handbook/product/ux/technical-writing/#assignments
title: Internal allowed API
breadcrumbs:
- doc
- development
- internal_api
---
The `internal/allowed... |
https://docs.gitlab.com/development/internal_api | https://gitlab.com/gitlab-org/gitlab/-/tree/master/doc/development/_index.md | 2025-08-13 | doc/development/internal_api | [
"doc",
"development",
"internal_api"
] | _index.md | Create | Source Code | To determine the technical writer assigned to the Stage/Group associated with this page, see https://handbook.gitlab.com/handbook/product/ux/technical-writing/#assignments | Internal API | null |
The internal API is used by different GitLab components, it cannot be
used by other consumers. This documentation is intended for people
working on the GitLab codebase.
This documentation does not yet include the internal API used by
GitLab Pages.
For information on the GitLab Subscriptions internal API, see [the d... | ---
stage: Create
group: Source Code
info: To determine the technical writer assigned to the Stage/Group associated with
this page, see https://handbook.gitlab.com/handbook/product/ux/technical-writing/#assignments
title: Internal API
breadcrumbs:
- doc
- development
- internal_api
---
The internal API is used by d... |
https://docs.gitlab.com/development/adding_database_indexes | https://gitlab.com/gitlab-org/gitlab/-/tree/master/doc/development/adding_database_indexes.md | 2025-08-13 | doc/development/database | [
"doc",
"development",
"database"
] | adding_database_indexes.md | Data Access | Database Frameworks | Any user with at least the Maintainer role can merge updates to this content. For details, see https://docs.gitlab.com/development/development_processes/#development-guidelines-review. | Adding Database Indexes | null |
Indexes can be used to speed up database queries, but when should you add a new
index? Traditionally the answer to this question has been to add an index for
every column used for filtering or joining data. For example, consider the
following query:
```sql
SELECT *
FROM projects
WHERE user_id = 2;
```
Here we are f... | ---
stage: Data Access
group: Database Frameworks
info: Any user with at least the Maintainer role can merge updates to this content.
For details, see https://docs.gitlab.com/development/development_processes/#development-guidelines-review.
title: Adding Database Indexes
breadcrumbs:
- doc
- development
- database
--... |
https://docs.gitlab.com/development/database_migration_pipeline | https://gitlab.com/gitlab-org/gitlab/-/tree/master/doc/development/database_migration_pipeline.md | 2025-08-13 | doc/development/database | [
"doc",
"development",
"database"
] | database_migration_pipeline.md | Data Access | Database Frameworks | Any user with at least the Maintainer role can merge updates to this content. For details, see https://docs.gitlab.com/development/development_processes/#development-guidelines-review. | Database migration pipeline | null |
With the [automated migration testing pipeline](https://gitlab.com/gitlab-org/database-team/gitlab-com-database-testing)
we can automatically test migrations in a production-like environment (using [Database Lab](database_lab.md)).
It is based on an [architecture design document](https://handbook.gitlab.com/handbook/... | ---
stage: Data Access
group: Database Frameworks
info: Any user with at least the Maintainer role can merge updates to this content.
For details, see https://docs.gitlab.com/development/development_processes/#development-guidelines-review.
title: Database migration pipeline
breadcrumbs:
- doc
- development
- databas... |
https://docs.gitlab.com/development/post_deployment_migrations | https://gitlab.com/gitlab-org/gitlab/-/tree/master/doc/development/post_deployment_migrations.md | 2025-08-13 | doc/development/database | [
"doc",
"development",
"database"
] | post_deployment_migrations.md | Data Access | Database Frameworks | Any user with at least the Maintainer role can merge updates to this content. For details, see https://docs.gitlab.com/development/development_processes/#development-guidelines-review. | Post Deployment Migrations | null |
Post deployment migrations are regular Rails migrations that can optionally be
executed after a deployment. By default these migrations are executed alongside
the other migrations, but this would require a downtime. To skip these migrations you must set the
environment variable `SKIP_POST_DEPLOYMENT_MIGRATIONS` to a ... | ---
stage: Data Access
group: Database Frameworks
info: Any user with at least the Maintainer role can merge updates to this content.
For details, see https://docs.gitlab.com/development/development_processes/#development-guidelines-review.
title: Post Deployment Migrations
breadcrumbs:
- doc
- development
- database... |
https://docs.gitlab.com/development/database_lab_pgai | https://gitlab.com/gitlab-org/gitlab/-/tree/master/doc/development/database_lab_pgai.md | 2025-08-13 | doc/development/database | [
"doc",
"development",
"database"
] | database_lab_pgai.md | Data Access | Database Frameworks | Any user with at least the Maintainer role can merge updates to this content. For details, see https://docs.gitlab.com/development/development_processes/#development-guidelines-review. | Database Lab access using the `pgai` Ruby gem | null |
[@mbobin](https://gitlab.com/mbobin) created the [`pgai` Ruby Gem](https://gitlab.com/mbobin/pgai/#pgai) that
greatly simplifies access to a database clone, with support for:
- Access to all database clones listed in the [Postgres.ai instances page](https://console.postgres.ai/gitlab/instances);
- Multiple `psql` se... | ---
stage: Data Access
group: Database Frameworks
info: Any user with at least the Maintainer role can merge updates to this content.
For details, see https://docs.gitlab.com/development/development_processes/#development-guidelines-review.
title: Database Lab access using the `pgai` Ruby gem
breadcrumbs:
- doc
- dev... |
https://docs.gitlab.com/development/database_lab | https://gitlab.com/gitlab-org/gitlab/-/tree/master/doc/development/database_lab.md | 2025-08-13 | doc/development/database | [
"doc",
"development",
"database"
] | database_lab.md | Data Access | Database Frameworks | Any user with at least the Maintainer role can merge updates to this content. For details, see https://docs.gitlab.com/development/development_processes/#development-guidelines-review. | Database Lab and Postgres.ai | Database access for engineers and related parties. |
Internal users at GitLab have access to the Database Lab Engine (DLE) and
[postgres.ai](https://console.postgres.ai/) for testing performance of database queries
on replicated production data. Unlike a typical read-only production replica, in the DLE you can
also create, update, and delete rows. You can also test the... | ---
type: reference, howto
stage: Data Access
group: Database Frameworks
info: Any user with at least the Maintainer role can merge updates to this content.
For details, see https://docs.gitlab.com/development/development_processes/#development-guidelines-review.
description: Database access for engineers and related... |
https://docs.gitlab.com/development/database_query_comments | https://gitlab.com/gitlab-org/gitlab/-/tree/master/doc/development/database_query_comments.md | 2025-08-13 | doc/development/database | [
"doc",
"development",
"database"
] | database_query_comments.md | Data Access | Database Frameworks | Any user with at least the Maintainer role can merge updates to this content. For details, see https://docs.gitlab.com/development/development_processes/#development-guidelines-review. | Database query comments with Marginalia | null |
The [Marginalia gem](https://github.com/basecamp/marginalia) is used to add
query comments containing application related context information to PostgreSQL
queries generated by ActiveRecord.
It is very useful for tracing problematic queries back to the application source.
An engineer during an on-call incident has ... | ---
stage: Data Access
group: Database Frameworks
info: Any user with at least the Maintainer role can merge updates to this content.
For details, see https://docs.gitlab.com/development/development_processes/#development-guidelines-review.
title: Database query comments with Marginalia
breadcrumbs:
- doc
- developme... |
https://docs.gitlab.com/development/batching_best_practices | https://gitlab.com/gitlab-org/gitlab/-/tree/master/doc/development/batching_best_practices.md | 2025-08-13 | doc/development/database | [
"doc",
"development",
"database"
] | batching_best_practices.md | Data Access | Database Frameworks | Any user with at least the Maintainer role can merge updates to this content. For details, see https://docs.gitlab.com/development/development_processes/#development-guidelines-review. | Batching best practices | null |
This document gives an overview about the available batching strategies we use at GitLab. We list the pros and cons of each strategy so engineers can pick the ideal approach for their use case.
## Why do we need batching
When dealing with a large volume of records, reading, updating or deleting the records in one d... | ---
stage: Data Access
group: Database Frameworks
info: Any user with at least the Maintainer role can merge updates to this content.
For details, see https://docs.gitlab.com/development/development_processes/#development-guidelines-review.
title: Batching best practices
breadcrumbs:
- doc
- development
- database
--... |
https://docs.gitlab.com/development/rename_database_tables | https://gitlab.com/gitlab-org/gitlab/-/tree/master/doc/development/rename_database_tables.md | 2025-08-13 | doc/development/database | [
"doc",
"development",
"database"
] | rename_database_tables.md | Data Access | Database Frameworks | Any user with at least the Maintainer role can merge updates to this content. For details, see https://docs.gitlab.com/development/development_processes/#development-guidelines-review. | Rename table without downtime | null |
With our database helper methods built into GitLab, it's possible to rename a database table without downtime.
The technique builds on top of database views, using the following steps:
1. Rename the database table.
1. Create a database view using the old table name by pointing to the new table name.
1. Add workarou... | ---
stage: Data Access
group: Database Frameworks
info: Any user with at least the Maintainer role can merge updates to this content.
For details, see https://docs.gitlab.com/development/development_processes/#development-guidelines-review.
title: Rename table without downtime
breadcrumbs:
- doc
- development
- datab... |
https://docs.gitlab.com/development/single_table_inheritance | https://gitlab.com/gitlab-org/gitlab/-/tree/master/doc/development/single_table_inheritance.md | 2025-08-13 | doc/development/database | [
"doc",
"development",
"database"
] | single_table_inheritance.md | Data Access | Database Frameworks | Any user with at least the Maintainer role can merge updates to this content. For details, see https://docs.gitlab.com/development/development_processes/#development-guidelines-review. | Single Table Inheritance | null |
**Summary**: Don't design new tables using Single Table Inheritance (STI). For existing tables that use STI as a pattern, avoid adding new types, and consider splitting them into separate tables.
STI is a database design pattern where a single table stores
different types of records. These records have a subset of s... | ---
stage: Data Access
group: Database Frameworks
info: Any user with at least the Maintainer role can merge updates to this content.
For details, see https://docs.gitlab.com/development/development_processes/#development-guidelines-review.
title: Single Table Inheritance
breadcrumbs:
- doc
- development
- database
-... |
https://docs.gitlab.com/development/insert_into_tables_in_batches | https://gitlab.com/gitlab-org/gitlab/-/tree/master/doc/development/insert_into_tables_in_batches.md | 2025-08-13 | doc/development/database | [
"doc",
"development",
"database"
] | insert_into_tables_in_batches.md | Data Access | Database Frameworks | Any user with at least the Maintainer role can merge updates to this content. For details, see https://docs.gitlab.com/development/development_processes/#development-guidelines-review. | Insert into tables in batches | Sometimes it is necessary to store large amounts of records at once, which can be inefficient when iterating collections and performing individual `save`s. With the arrival of `insert_all` in Rails 6, which operates at the row level (that is, using `Hash`es), GitLab has added a set of APIs that make it safe and simple ... |
Sometimes it is necessary to store large amounts of records at once, which can be inefficient
when iterating collections and saving each record individually. With the arrival of
[`insert_all`](https://apidock.com/rails/ActiveRecord/Persistence/ClassMethods/insert_all)
in Rails 6, which operates at the row level (that... | ---
stage: Data Access
group: Database Frameworks
info: Any user with at least the Maintainer role can merge updates to this content.
For details, see https://docs.gitlab.com/development/development_processes/#development-guidelines-review.
description: Sometimes it is necessary to store large amounts of records at o... |
https://docs.gitlab.com/development/multiple_databases | https://gitlab.com/gitlab-org/gitlab/-/tree/master/doc/development/multiple_databases.md | 2025-08-13 | doc/development/database | [
"doc",
"development",
"database"
] | multiple_databases.md | Tenant Scale | Cells Infrastructure | Any user with at least the Maintainer role can merge updates to this content. For details, see https://docs.gitlab.com/development/development_processes/#development-guidelines-review. | Multiple Databases | null |
To allow GitLab to scale further we
[decomposed the GitLab application database into multiple databases](https://gitlab.com/groups/gitlab-org/-/epics/6168).
The main databases are `main`, `ci`, and `sec`. GitLab supports being run with one, two, or three databases.
On GitLab.com we are using separate `main` `ci`, and... | ---
stage: Tenant Scale
group: Cells Infrastructure
info: Any user with at least the Maintainer role can merge updates to this content.
For details, see https://docs.gitlab.com/development/development_processes/#development-guidelines-review.
title: Multiple Databases
breadcrumbs:
- doc
- development
- database
---
... |
https://docs.gitlab.com/development/transaction_guidelines | https://gitlab.com/gitlab-org/gitlab/-/tree/master/doc/development/transaction_guidelines.md | 2025-08-13 | doc/development/database | [
"doc",
"development",
"database"
] | transaction_guidelines.md | Data Access | Database Frameworks | Any user with at least the Maintainer role can merge updates to this content. For details, see https://docs.gitlab.com/development/development_processes/#development-guidelines-review. | Transaction guidelines | null |
This document gives a few examples of the usage of database transactions in application code.
For further reference, check PostgreSQL documentation about [transactions](https://www.postgresql.org/docs/16/tutorial-transactions.html).
## Database decomposition and sharding
The [Tenant Scale group](https://handbook.g... | ---
stage: Data Access
group: Database Frameworks
info: Any user with at least the Maintainer role can merge updates to this content.
For details, see https://docs.gitlab.com/development/development_processes/#development-guidelines-review.
title: Transaction guidelines
breadcrumbs:
- doc
- development
- database
---... |
https://docs.gitlab.com/development/dbmigrate_multi_version_upgrade_job | https://gitlab.com/gitlab-org/gitlab/-/tree/master/doc/development/dbmigrate_multi_version_upgrade_job.md | 2025-08-13 | doc/development/database | [
"doc",
"development",
"database"
] | dbmigrate_multi_version_upgrade_job.md | Data Access | Database | Any user with at least the Maintainer role can merge updates to this content. For details, see https://docs.gitlab.com/development/development_processes/#development-guidelines-review. | db:migrate:multi-version-upgrade job | null |
{{< history >}}
- [Introduced](https://gitlab.com/groups/gitlab-org/quality/quality-engineering/-/epics/19) in GitLab 16.11.
{{< /history >}}
This job runs on the test stage of a merge request pipeline. It validates that migrations pass
for multi-version upgrade from the latest [required upgrade stop](../../update... | ---
stage: Data Access
group: Database
info: Any user with at least the Maintainer role can merge updates to this content.
For details, see https://docs.gitlab.com/development/development_processes/#development-guidelines-review.
title: db:migrate:multi-version-upgrade job
breadcrumbs:
- doc
- development
- database
... |
https://docs.gitlab.com/development/polymorphic_associations | https://gitlab.com/gitlab-org/gitlab/-/tree/master/doc/development/polymorphic_associations.md | 2025-08-13 | doc/development/database | [
"doc",
"development",
"database"
] | polymorphic_associations.md | Data Access | Database Frameworks | Any user with at least the Maintainer role can merge updates to this content. For details, see https://docs.gitlab.com/development/development_processes/#development-guidelines-review. | Polymorphic Associations | null |
**Summary**: always use separate tables instead of polymorphic associations.
Rails makes it possible to define so called "polymorphic associations". This
usually works by adding two columns to a table: a target type column, and a
target ID. For example, at the time of writing we have such a setup for
`members` with ... | ---
stage: Data Access
group: Database Frameworks
info: Any user with at least the Maintainer role can merge updates to this content.
For details, see https://docs.gitlab.com/development/development_processes/#development-guidelines-review.
title: Polymorphic Associations
breadcrumbs:
- doc
- development
- database
-... |
https://docs.gitlab.com/development/filtering_by_label | https://gitlab.com/gitlab-org/gitlab/-/tree/master/doc/development/filtering_by_label.md | 2025-08-13 | doc/development/database | [
"doc",
"development",
"database"
] | filtering_by_label.md | Plan | Project Management | Any user with at least the Maintainer role can merge updates to this content. For details, see https://docs.gitlab.com/development/development_processes/#development-guidelines-review. | Filtering by label | null |
## Introduction
GitLab has [labels](../../user/project/labels.md) that can be assigned to issues,
merge requests, and epics. Labels on those objects are a many-to-many relation
through the polymorphic `label_links` table.
To filter these objects by multiple labels - for instance, 'all open
issues with the label ~Pl... | ---
stage: Plan
group: Project Management
info: Any user with at least the Maintainer role can merge updates to this content.
For details, see https://docs.gitlab.com/development/development_processes/#development-guidelines-review.
title: Filtering by label
breadcrumbs:
- doc
- development
- database
---
## Introd... |
https://docs.gitlab.com/development/not_null_constraints | https://gitlab.com/gitlab-org/gitlab/-/tree/master/doc/development/not_null_constraints.md | 2025-08-13 | doc/development/database | [
"doc",
"development",
"database"
] | not_null_constraints.md | Data Access | Database Frameworks | Any user with at least the Maintainer role can merge updates to this content. For details, see https://docs.gitlab.com/development/development_processes/#development-guidelines-review. | `NOT NULL` constraints | null |
All attributes that should not have `NULL` as a value, should be defined as `NOT NULL`
columns in the database.
Depending on the application logic, `NOT NULL` columns should either have a [presence validation defined in their Model](#add-validation-to-the-model-next-release)
or have a default value as part of their ... | ---
stage: Data Access
group: Database Frameworks
info: Any user with at least the Maintainer role can merge updates to this content.
For details, see https://docs.gitlab.com/development/development_processes/#development-guidelines-review.
title: '`NOT NULL` constraints'
breadcrumbs:
- doc
- development
- database
-... |
https://docs.gitlab.com/development/required_stops | https://gitlab.com/gitlab-org/gitlab/-/tree/master/doc/development/required_stops.md | 2025-08-13 | doc/development/database | [
"doc",
"development",
"database"
] | required_stops.md | Data Access | Database | Any user with at least the Maintainer role can merge updates to this content. For details, see https://docs.gitlab.com/development/development_processes/#development-guidelines-review. | Database required stops | null |
This page describes which database changes require GitLab upgrade stops. If you're interested
about a comprehensive list of causes, refer to [causes of required stops](../avoiding_required_stops.md#causes-of-required-stops).
[Required stops](../../update/upgrade_paths.md) will now consistently land on minor versions... | ---
stage: Data Access
group: Database
info: Any user with at least the Maintainer role can merge updates to this content.
For details, see https://docs.gitlab.com/development/development_processes/#development-guidelines-review.
title: Database required stops
breadcrumbs:
- doc
- development
- database
---
This pa... |
https://docs.gitlab.com/development/pagination_performance_guidelines | https://gitlab.com/gitlab-org/gitlab/-/tree/master/doc/development/pagination_performance_guidelines.md | 2025-08-13 | doc/development/database | [
"doc",
"development",
"database"
] | pagination_performance_guidelines.md | Data Access | Database Frameworks | Any user with at least the Maintainer role can merge updates to this content. For details, see https://docs.gitlab.com/development/development_processes/#development-guidelines-review. | Pagination performance guidelines | null |
The following document gives a few ideas for improving the pagination (sorting) performance. These apply both on [offset](pagination_guidelines.md#offset-pagination) and [keyset](pagination_guidelines.md#keyset-pagination) pagination.
## Tie-breaker column
When ordering the columns it's advised to order by distinct... | ---
stage: Data Access
group: Database Frameworks
info: Any user with at least the Maintainer role can merge updates to this content.
For details, see https://docs.gitlab.com/development/development_processes/#development-guidelines-review.
title: Pagination performance guidelines
breadcrumbs:
- doc
- development
- d... |
https://docs.gitlab.com/development/poc_tree_iterator | https://gitlab.com/gitlab-org/gitlab/-/tree/master/doc/development/poc_tree_iterator.md | 2025-08-13 | doc/development/database | [
"doc",
"development",
"database"
] | poc_tree_iterator.md | Data Access | Database Frameworks | Any user with at least the Maintainer role can merge updates to this content. For details, see https://docs.gitlab.com/development/development_processes/#development-guidelines-review. | Batch iteration in a tree hierarchy (proof of concept) | null |
The group hierarchy in GitLab is represented with a tree, where the root element
is the top-level namespace, and the child elements are the subgroups or the
recently introduced `Namespaces::ProjectNamespace` records.
The tree is implemented in the `namespaces` table ,via the `parent_id` column.
The column points to ... | ---
stage: Data Access
group: Database Frameworks
info: Any user with at least the Maintainer role can merge updates to this content.
For details, see https://docs.gitlab.com/development/development_processes/#development-guidelines-review.
title: Batch iteration in a tree hierarchy (proof of concept)
breadcrumbs:
- ... |
https://docs.gitlab.com/development/query_performance | https://gitlab.com/gitlab-org/gitlab/-/tree/master/doc/development/query_performance.md | 2025-08-13 | doc/development/database | [
"doc",
"development",
"database"
] | query_performance.md | Data Access | Database Frameworks | Any user with at least the Maintainer role can merge updates to this content. For details, see https://docs.gitlab.com/development/development_processes/#development-guidelines-review. | Query performance guidelines | null |
This document describes various guidelines to follow when optimizing SQL queries.
When you are optimizing your SQL queries, there are two dimensions to pay attention to:
1. The query execution time. This is paramount as it reflects how the user experiences GitLab.
1. The query plan. Optimizing the query plan is imp... | ---
stage: Data Access
group: Database Frameworks
info: Any user with at least the Maintainer role can merge updates to this content.
For details, see https://docs.gitlab.com/development/development_processes/#development-guidelines-review.
title: Query performance guidelines
breadcrumbs:
- doc
- development
- databa... |
https://docs.gitlab.com/development/load_balancing | https://gitlab.com/gitlab-org/gitlab/-/tree/master/doc/development/load_balancing.md | 2025-08-13 | doc/development/database | [
"doc",
"development",
"database"
] | load_balancing.md | Data Access | Database Frameworks | Any user with at least the Maintainer role can merge updates to this content. For details, see https://docs.gitlab.com/development/development_processes/#development-guidelines-review. | Database load balancing | null |
With database load balancing, read-only queries can be distributed across multiple
PostgreSQL nodes to increase performance.
This documentation provides a technical overview on how database load balancing
is implemented in GitLab Rails and Sidekiq.
## Nomenclature
1. **Host**: Each database host. It could be a pri... | ---
stage: Data Access
group: Database Frameworks
info: Any user with at least the Maintainer role can merge updates to this content.
For details, see https://docs.gitlab.com/development/development_processes/#development-guidelines-review.
title: Database load balancing
breadcrumbs:
- doc
- development
- database
--... |
https://docs.gitlab.com/development/pg_upgrade_timeline | https://gitlab.com/gitlab-org/gitlab/-/tree/master/doc/development/pg_upgrade_timeline.md | 2025-08-13 | doc/development/database | [
"doc",
"development",
"database"
] | pg_upgrade_timeline.md | Data Access | Database Frameworks | Any user with at least the Maintainer role can merge updates to this content. For details, see https://docs.gitlab.com/development/development_processes/#development-guidelines-review. | PostgreSQL upgrade timeline | null |
GitLab implements annual PostgreSQL database version upgrades to maximize operational efficiency and capitalize on enhanced functionality. This critical infrastructure update impacts multiple teams and requires coordination to ensure minimal disruption to our production environment.
This document establishes a compr... | ---
stage: Data Access
group: Database Frameworks
info: Any user with at least the Maintainer role can merge updates to this content.
For details, see https://docs.gitlab.com/development/development_processes/#development-guidelines-review.
title: PostgreSQL upgrade timeline
breadcrumbs:
- doc
- development
- databas... |
https://docs.gitlab.com/development/creating_enums | https://gitlab.com/gitlab-org/gitlab/-/tree/master/doc/development/creating_enums.md | 2025-08-13 | doc/development/database | [
"doc",
"development",
"database"
] | creating_enums.md | Data Access | Database Frameworks | Any user with at least the Maintainer role can merge updates to this content. For details, see https://docs.gitlab.com/development/development_processes/#development-guidelines-review. | Creating enums | null |
When creating a new enum, it should use the database type `SMALLINT`.
The `SMALLINT` type size is 2 bytes, which is sufficient for an enum.
This would help to save space in the database.
To use this type, add `limit: 2` to the migration that creates the column.
Example:
```ruby
def change
add_column :ci_job_arti... | ---
stage: Data Access
group: Database Frameworks
info: Any user with at least the Maintainer role can merge updates to this content.
For details, see https://docs.gitlab.com/development/development_processes/#development-guidelines-review.
title: Creating enums
breadcrumbs:
- doc
- development
- database
---
When ... |
https://docs.gitlab.com/development/maintenance_operations | https://gitlab.com/gitlab-org/gitlab/-/tree/master/doc/development/maintenance_operations.md | 2025-08-13 | doc/development/database | [
"doc",
"development",
"database"
] | maintenance_operations.md | Data Access | Database Frameworks | Any user with at least the Maintainer role can merge updates to this content. For details, see https://docs.gitlab.com/development/development_processes/#development-guidelines-review. | Maintenance operations | null |
This page details various database related operations that may relate to development.
## Disabling an index is not safe
{{< alert type="warning" >}}
Previously, this section described a procedure to mark the index as invalid before removing it.
It's no longer recommended, as [it is not safe](https://gitlab.com/gro... | ---
stage: Data Access
group: Database Frameworks
info: Any user with at least the Maintainer role can merge updates to this content.
For details, see https://docs.gitlab.com/development/development_processes/#development-guidelines-review.
title: Maintenance operations
breadcrumbs:
- doc
- development
- database
---... |
https://docs.gitlab.com/development/new_database_migration_version | https://gitlab.com/gitlab-org/gitlab/-/tree/master/doc/development/new_database_migration_version.md | 2025-08-13 | doc/development/database | [
"doc",
"development",
"database"
] | new_database_migration_version.md | Data Access | Database Frameworks | Any user with at least the Maintainer role can merge updates to this content. For details, see https://docs.gitlab.com/development/development_processes/#development-guidelines-review. | Introducing a new database migration version | null |
At GitLab we've added many helpers for the database migrations to help developers manipulate
the schema and data of tables on a large scale like on GitLab.com. To avoid the repetitive task
of including the helpers into each database migration, we use a subclass of the Rails `ActiveRecord::Migration`
class that we use... | ---
stage: Data Access
group: Database Frameworks
info: Any user with at least the Maintainer role can merge updates to this content.
For details, see https://docs.gitlab.com/development/development_processes/#development-guidelines-review.
title: Introducing a new database migration version
breadcrumbs:
- doc
- deve... |
https://docs.gitlab.com/development/migration_squashing | https://gitlab.com/gitlab-org/gitlab/-/tree/master/doc/development/migration_squashing.md | 2025-08-13 | doc/development/database | [
"doc",
"development",
"database"
] | migration_squashing.md | Data Access | Database | Any user with at least the Maintainer role can merge updates to this content. For details, see https://docs.gitlab.com/development/development_processes/#development-guidelines-review. | Migration Squashing | null |
## Migration squashing
{{< history >}}
- [Introduced](https://gitlab.com/gitlab-org/gitlab/-/merge_requests/105553) in GitLab 16.3.
{{< /history >}}
Migration squashing combines multiple database migrations into a single schema definition to improve database setup performance and maintain a manageable migration h... | ---
stage: Data Access
group: Database
info: Any user with at least the Maintainer role can merge updates to this content.
For details, see https://docs.gitlab.com/development/development_processes/#development-guidelines-review.
title: Migration Squashing
breadcrumbs:
- doc
- development
- database
---
## Migratio... |
https://docs.gitlab.com/development/db_dump | https://gitlab.com/gitlab-org/gitlab/-/tree/master/doc/development/db_dump.md | 2025-08-13 | doc/development/database | [
"doc",
"development",
"database"
] | db_dump.md | Data Access | Database Frameworks | Any user with at least the Maintainer role can merge updates to this content. For details, see https://docs.gitlab.com/development/development_processes/#development-guidelines-review. | Importing a database dump into a staging environment | null |
Sometimes it is useful to import the database from a production environment
into a staging environment for testing. The procedure below assumes you have
SSH and `sudo` access to both the production environment and the staging VM.
**Destroy your staging VM** when you are done with it. It is important to avoid
data le... | ---
stage: Data Access
group: Database Frameworks
info: Any user with at least the Maintainer role can merge updates to this content.
For details, see https://docs.gitlab.com/development/development_processes/#development-guidelines-review.
title: Importing a database dump into a staging environment
breadcrumbs:
- do... |
https://docs.gitlab.com/development/dbcheck-migrations-job | https://gitlab.com/gitlab-org/gitlab/-/tree/master/doc/development/dbcheck-migrations-job.md | 2025-08-13 | doc/development/database | [
"doc",
"development",
"database"
] | dbcheck-migrations-job.md | Data Access | Database Frameworks | Any user with at least the Maintainer role can merge updates to this content. For details, see https://docs.gitlab.com/development/development_processes/#development-guidelines-review. | db:check-migrations job | null |
This job runs on the test stage of a merge request pipeline. It checks:
1. A schema dump comparison between the author's working branch and the target branch,
after executing a rollback of your new migrations. This check validates that the
schema properly resets to what it was before executing this new migrati... | ---
stage: Data Access
group: Database Frameworks
info: Any user with at least the Maintainer role can merge updates to this content.
For details, see https://docs.gitlab.com/development/development_processes/#development-guidelines-review.
title: db:check-migrations job
breadcrumbs:
- doc
- development
- database
--... |
https://docs.gitlab.com/development/efficient_in_operator_queries | https://gitlab.com/gitlab-org/gitlab/-/tree/master/doc/development/efficient_in_operator_queries.md | 2025-08-13 | doc/development/database | [
"doc",
"development",
"database"
] | efficient_in_operator_queries.md | Data Access | Database | Any user with at least the Maintainer role can merge updates to this content. For details, see https://docs.gitlab.com/development/development_processes/#development-guidelines-review. | Efficient `IN` operator queries | null |
This document describes a technique for building efficient ordered database queries with the `IN`
SQL operator and the usage of a GitLab utility module to help apply the technique.
{{< alert type="note" >}}
The described technique makes heavy use of
[keyset pagination](pagination_guidelines.md#keyset-pagination).
I... | ---
stage: Data Access
group: Database
info: Any user with at least the Maintainer role can merge updates to this content.
For details, see https://docs.gitlab.com/development/development_processes/#development-guidelines-review.
title: Efficient `IN` operator queries
breadcrumbs:
- doc
- development
- database
---
... |
https://docs.gitlab.com/development/ci_mirrored_tables | https://gitlab.com/gitlab-org/gitlab/-/tree/master/doc/development/ci_mirrored_tables.md | 2025-08-13 | doc/development/database | [
"doc",
"development",
"database"
] | ci_mirrored_tables.md | Data Access | Database Frameworks | Any user with at least the Maintainer role can merge updates to this content. For details, see https://docs.gitlab.com/development/development_processes/#development-guidelines-review. | CI mirrored tables | null |
## Problem statement
As part of the database [decomposition work](https://gitlab.com/groups/gitlab-org/-/epics/6168),
which had the goal of splitting the single database GitLab is using, into two databases: `main` and
`ci`, came the big challenge of
[removing all joins between the `main` and the `ci` tables](multipl... | ---
stage: Data Access
group: Database Frameworks
info: Any user with at least the Maintainer role can merge updates to this content.
For details, see https://docs.gitlab.com/development/development_processes/#development-guidelines-review.
title: CI mirrored tables
breadcrumbs:
- doc
- development
- database
---
#... |
https://docs.gitlab.com/development/keyset_pagination | https://gitlab.com/gitlab-org/gitlab/-/tree/master/doc/development/keyset_pagination.md | 2025-08-13 | doc/development/database | [
"doc",
"development",
"database"
] | keyset_pagination.md | Data Access | Database Frameworks | Any user with at least the Maintainer role can merge updates to this content. For details, see https://docs.gitlab.com/development/development_processes/#development-guidelines-review. | Keyset pagination | null |
The keyset pagination library can be used in HAML-based views and the REST API within the GitLab project.
You can read about keyset pagination and how it compares to the offset based pagination on our [pagination guidelines](pagination_guidelines.md) page.
## API overview
### Synopsis
Keyset pagination with `Acti... | ---
stage: Data Access
group: Database Frameworks
info: Any user with at least the Maintainer role can merge updates to this content.
For details, see https://docs.gitlab.com/development/development_processes/#development-guidelines-review.
title: Keyset pagination
breadcrumbs:
- doc
- development
- database
---
Th... |
https://docs.gitlab.com/development/namespaces_storage_statistics | https://gitlab.com/gitlab-org/gitlab/-/tree/master/doc/development/namespaces_storage_statistics.md | 2025-08-13 | doc/development/database | [
"doc",
"development",
"database"
] | namespaces_storage_statistics.md | none | unassigned | Any user with at least the Maintainer role can merge updates to this content. For details, see https://docs.gitlab.com/development/development_processes/#development-guidelines-review. | Database case study: Namespaces storage statistics | null |
## Introduction
On [Storage and limits management for groups](https://gitlab.com/groups/gitlab-org/-/epics/886),
we want to facilitate a method for easily viewing the amount of
storage consumed by a group, and allow easy management.
## Proposal
1. Create a new ActiveRecord model to hold the namespaces' statistics ... | ---
stage: none
group: unassigned
info: Any user with at least the Maintainer role can merge updates to this content.
For details, see https://docs.gitlab.com/development/development_processes/#development-guidelines-review.
title: 'Database case study: Namespaces storage statistics'
breadcrumbs:
- doc
- development
... |
https://docs.gitlab.com/development/database_reviewer_guidelines | https://gitlab.com/gitlab-org/gitlab/-/tree/master/doc/development/database_reviewer_guidelines.md | 2025-08-13 | doc/development/database | [
"doc",
"development",
"database"
] | database_reviewer_guidelines.md | Data Access | Database Frameworks | Any user with at least the Maintainer role can merge updates to this content. For details, see https://docs.gitlab.com/development/development_processes/#development-guidelines-review. | Database Reviewer Guidelines | null |
This page includes introductory material for new database reviewers.
If you are interested in getting an application update reviewed,
check the [database review guidelines](../database_review.md).
## Scope of work done by a database reviewer
Database reviewers are domain experts who have substantial experience wit... | ---
stage: Data Access
group: Database Frameworks
info: Any user with at least the Maintainer role can merge updates to this content.
For details, see https://docs.gitlab.com/development/development_processes/#development-guidelines-review.
title: Database Reviewer Guidelines
breadcrumbs:
- doc
- development
- databa... |
https://docs.gitlab.com/development/understanding_explain_plans | https://gitlab.com/gitlab-org/gitlab/-/tree/master/doc/development/understanding_explain_plans.md | 2025-08-13 | doc/development/database | [
"doc",
"development",
"database"
] | understanding_explain_plans.md | Data Access | Database Frameworks | Any user with at least the Maintainer role can merge updates to this content. For details, see https://docs.gitlab.com/development/development_processes/#development-guidelines-review. | Understanding EXPLAIN plans | null |
PostgreSQL allows you to obtain query plans using the `EXPLAIN` command. This
command can be invaluable when trying to determine how a query performs.
You can use this command directly in your SQL query, as long as the query starts
with it:
```sql
EXPLAIN
SELECT COUNT(*)
FROM projects
WHERE visibility_level IN (0, 2... | ---
stage: Data Access
group: Database Frameworks
info: Any user with at least the Maintainer role can merge updates to this content.
For details, see https://docs.gitlab.com/development/development_processes/#development-guidelines-review.
title: Understanding EXPLAIN plans
breadcrumbs:
- doc
- development
- databas... |
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