• Prerequisites
• Import repository from GitHub
  • Import a public project through the API using a group access token
  • Cancel GitHub project import
  • Import GitHub gists into GitLab snippets
• Import repository from Bitbucket Server
• Automate group and project import

Import API

Use the Import API to import repositories from GitHub or Bitbucket Server.

Related APIs include:

• Group migration by direct transfer API.
• Group import and export API.
• Project import and export API.

Prerequisites

For information on prerequisites for using the Import API, see:

• Prerequisites for GitHub importer.
• Prerequisites for Bitbucket Server importer.

Import repository from GitHub

Import your projects from GitHub to GitLab using the API.

The namespace set in target_namespace must exist. The namespace can be your user namespace or an existing group that you have at least the Maintainer role for. Using the Developer role for this purpose was deprecated in GitLab 15.8 and will be removed in GitLab 16.0.

POST /import/github

curl --request POST \
  --url "https://gitlab.example.com/api/v4/import/github" \
  --header "content-type: application/json" \
  --header "PRIVATE-TOKEN: <your_access_token>" \
  --data '{
    "personal_access_token": "aBc123abC12aBc123abC12abC123+_A/c123",
    "repo_id": "12345",
    "target_namespace": "group/subgroup",
    "new_name": "NEW-NAME",
    "github_hostname": "https://github.example.com",
    "optional_stages": {
      "single_endpoint_issue_events_import": true,
      "single_endpoint_notes_import": true,
      "attachments_import": true
    }
}'

The following keys are available for optional_stages:

• single_endpoint_issue_events_import, for issue and pull request events import.
• single_endpoint_notes_import, for an alternative and more thorough comments import.
• attachments_import, for Markdown attachments import.

For more information, see Select additional items to import.

Example response:

{
    "id": 27,
    "name": "my-repo",
    "full_path": "/root/my-repo",
    "full_name": "Administrator / my-repo"
}

Import a public project through the API using a group access token

When you import a project from GitHub to GitLab through the API using a group access token:

• The GitLab project inherits the original project’s visibility settings. As a result, the project is publicly accessible if the original project is public.
• If the path or target_namespace does not exist, the project import fails.

Cancel GitHub project import

Cancel an in-progress GitHub project import using the API.

POST /import/github/cancel

curl --request POST \
  --url "https://gitlab.example.com/api/v4/import/github/cancel" \
  --header "content-type: application/json" \
  --header "PRIVATE-TOKEN: <your_access_token>" \
  --data '{
    "project_id": 12345
}'

Example response:

{
    "id": 160,
    "name": "my-repo",
    "full_path": "/root/my-repo",
    "full_name": "Administrator / my-repo",
    "import_source": "source/source-repo",
    "import_status": "canceled",
    "human_import_status_name": "canceled",
    "provider_link": "/source/source-repo"
}

Returns the following status codes:

• 200 OK: the project import is being canceled.
• 400 Bad Request: the project import cannot be canceled.
• 404 Not Found: the project associated with project_id does not exist.

Import GitHub gists into GitLab snippets

You can use the GitLab API to import personal GitHub gists (with up to 10 files) into personal GitLab snippets. GitHub gists with more than 10 files are skipped. You should manually migrate these GitHub gists.

If any gists couldn’t be imported, an email is sent with a list of gists that were not imported.

POST /import/github/gists

curl --request POST \
  --url "https://gitlab.example.com/api/v4/import/github/gists" \
  --header "content-type: application/json" \
  --header "PRIVATE-TOKEN: <your_gitlab_access_token>" \
  --data '{
    "personal_access_token": "<your_github_personal_access_token>"
}'

Returns the following status codes:

• 202 Accepted: the gists import is being started.
• 401 Unauthorized: user’s GitHub personal access token is invalid.
• 422 Unprocessable Entity: the gists import is already in progress.
• 429 Too Many Requests: the user has exceeded GitHub’s rate limit.

Import repository from Bitbucket Server

Import your projects from Bitbucket Server to GitLab via the API.

POST /import/bitbucket_server

curl --request POST \
  --url "https://gitlab.example.com/api/v4/import/bitbucket_server" \
  --header "content-type: application/json" \
  --header "PRIVATE-TOKEN: <your_access_token>" \
  --data '{
    "bitbucket_server_url": "http://bitbucket.example.com",
    "bitbucket_server_username": "root",
    "personal_access_token": "Nzk4MDcxODY4MDAyOiP8y410zF3tGAyLnHRv/E0+3xYs",
    "bitbucket_server_project": "NEW",
    "bitbucket_server_repo": "my-repo"
}'

Automate group and project import

For information on automating user, group, and project import API calls, see Automate group and project import.