Skip to content

Repository files API

CRUD for repository files

Create, read, update and delete repository files using this API

The different scopes available using personal access tokens are depicted in the following table.

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

read_repository scope was introduced in GitLab 11.6.

Get file from repository

Allows you to receive information about file in repository like name, size, content. Note that file content is Base64 encoded. This endpoint can be accessed without authentication if the repository is publicly accessible.

GET /projects/:id/repository/files/:file_path
curl --request GET --header 'PRIVATE-TOKEN: <your_access_token>' 'https://gitlab.example.com/api/v4/projects/13083/repository/files/app%2Fmodels%2Fkey%2Erb?ref=master'

Example response:

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

Parameters:

  • file_path (required) - Url encoded full path to new file. Ex. lib%2Fclass%2Erb
  • ref (required) - The name of branch, tag or commit

NOTE: Note: blob_id is the blob sha, see repositories - Get a blob from repository

In addition to the GET method, you can also use HEAD to get just file metadata.

HEAD /projects/:id/repository/files/:file_path
curl --head --header 'PRIVATE-TOKEN: <your_access_token>' 'https://gitlab.example.com/api/v4/projects/13083/repository/files/app%2Fmodels%2Fkey%2Erb?ref=master'

Example response:

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

Get file blame from repository

Allows you to receive blame information. Each blame range contains lines and corresponding commit info.

GET /projects/:id/repository/files/:file_path/blame
curl --request GET --header 'PRIVATE-TOKEN: <your_access_token>' 'https://gitlab.example.com/api/v4/projects/13083/repository/files/path%2Fto%2Ffile.rb/blame?ref=master'

Example response:

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

Parameters:

  • file_path (required) - Url encoded full path to new file. Ex. lib%2Fclass%2Erb
  • ref (required) - The name of branch, tag or commit

NOTE: Note: HEAD method return just file metadata as in Get file from repository.

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

Example response:

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

Get raw file from repository

GET /projects/:id/repository/files/:file_path/raw
curl --request GET --header 'PRIVATE-TOKEN: <your_access_token>' 'https://gitlab.example.com/api/v4/projects/13083/repository/files/app%2Fmodels%2Fkey%2Erb/raw?ref=master'

Parameters:

  • file_path (required) - Url encoded full path to new file. Ex. lib%2Fclass%2Erb
  • ref (required) - The name of branch, tag or commit

NOTE: Note: Like Get file from repository you can use HEAD to get just file metadata.

Create new file in repository

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

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

Example response:

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

Parameters:

  • file_path (required) - Url encoded full path to new file. Ex. lib%2Fclass%2Erb
  • branch (required) - Name of the branch
  • start_branch (optional) - Name of the branch to start the new commit from
  • encoding (optional) - Change encoding to 'base64'. Default is text.
  • author_email (optional) - Specify the commit author's email address
  • author_name (optional) - Specify the commit author's name
  • content (required) - File content
  • commit_message (required) - Commit message

Update existing file in repository

This allows you to update a single file. For updating multiple files with a single request see the commits API.

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

Example response:

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

Parameters:

  • file_path (required) - Url encoded full path to new file. Ex. lib%2Fclass%2Erb
  • branch (required) - Name of the branch
  • start_branch (optional) - Name of the branch to start the new commit from
  • encoding (optional) - Change encoding to 'base64'. Default is text.
  • author_email (optional) - Specify the commit author's email address
  • author_name (optional) - Specify the commit author's name
  • content (required) - New file content
  • commit_message (required) - Commit message
  • last_commit_id (optional) - Last known file commit id

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

  • the file_path contained /../ (attempted directory traversal);
  • the new file contents were identical to the current file contents, i.e. the user tried to make an empty commit;
  • the branch was updated by a Git push while the file edit was in progress.

Currently gitlab-shell has a boolean return code, preventing GitLab from specifying the error.

Delete existing file in repository

This allows you to delete a single file. For deleting multiple files with a single request, see the commits API.

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

Parameters:

  • file_path (required) - Url encoded full path to new file. Ex. lib%2Fclass%2Erb
  • branch (required) - Name of the branch
  • start_branch (optional) - Name of the branch to start the new commit from
  • author_email (optional) - Specify the commit author's email address
  • author_name (optional) - Specify the commit author's name
  • commit_message (required) - Commit message
  • last_commit_id (optional) - Last known file commit id