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GitLab Extended

Extended GitLab node

Actions11

Overview

This node interacts with GitLab to manage branches within a project repository. Specifically, the Get Branch operation retrieves detailed information about a single branch in a specified GitLab project. This is useful when you want to programmatically check the status, commit details, or metadata of a particular branch.

Common scenarios:

  • Automating deployment pipelines by verifying if a branch exists and retrieving its latest commit.
  • Monitoring branch protection or merge request readiness.
  • Integrating branch data into dashboards or reports.

Example:
You want to fetch details about the develop branch of your project owned by my-org named my-repo. Using this node, you provide the owner, repository name, and branch name (develop) to get branch metadata such as commit SHA, merged status, and protection rules.

Properties

Name Meaning
Authentication Method to authenticate with GitLab API. Options: Access Token, OAuth2
Project Owner The username or group name that owns the GitLab project
Project Name The repository name within the owner's projects
Branch Name The exact name of the branch to retrieve (e.g., main, feature-xyz)

Output

The output is a JSON object representing the branch details returned from GitLab's API for the specified branch. It typically includes fields such as:

  • name: Branch name
  • commit: Object containing commit details like SHA, author, message, etc.
  • merged: Boolean indicating if the branch has been merged
  • protected: Boolean indicating if the branch is protected
  • Other metadata related to the branch state and permissions

The node outputs an array of such JSON objects (usually one item per execution since it gets a single branch).

No binary data is produced by this operation.

Dependencies

  • Requires access to a GitLab instance via its REST API.
  • Needs an API authentication credential configured in n8n, either:
    • An API access token with appropriate permissions, or
    • OAuth2 credentials authorized for the GitLab project.
  • Network connectivity to GitLab server.

Troubleshooting

  • Common issues:

    • Incorrect project owner or repository name causing "404 Not Found" errors.
    • Branch name typo leading to "Branch not found" responses.
    • Insufficient permissions on the API token resulting in authorization errors.
    • URL encoding issues if owner or repo names contain special characters (the node encodes slashes %2F).

  • Error messages:

    • "Unknown resource: branch": Indicates the resource parameter was set incorrectly; ensure "Branch" is selected.
    • HTTP 401/403 errors: Check API credentials and their scopes.
    • HTTP 404 errors: Verify the project owner, repository, and branch name are correct and exist.

Links and References

Discussion