Epics API

Version history

Every API call to epic must be authenticated.

If a user is not a member of a private group, a GET request on that group results in a 404 status code.

If epics feature is not available a 403 status code is returned.

Epic issues API

The epic issues API allows you to interact with issues associated with an epic.

Milestone dates integration

Introduced in GitLab 11.3.

Because start date and due date can be dynamically sourced from related issue milestones, additional fields are shown when user has edit permission. These include two boolean fields start_date_is_fixed and due_date_is_fixed, and four date fields start_date_fixed, start_date_from_inherited_source, due_date_fixed and due_date_from_inherited_source.

  • end_date has been deprecated in favor of due_date.
  • start_date_from_milestones has been deprecated in favor of start_date_from_inherited_source
  • due_date_from_milestones has been deprecated in favor of due_date_from_inherited_source

Epics pagination

By default, GET requests return 20 results at a time because the API results are paginated.

Read more on pagination.

caution
In GitLab 12.6 and later, the reference attribute in responses is deprecated in favor of references.
note
references.relative is relative to the group that the epic is being requested from. When an epic is fetched from its origin group, the relative format is the same as the short format. When an epic is requested across groups, the relative format is expected to be the same as the full format.

List epics for a group

parent_iid and _links[parent] in response were introduced in GitLab 14.6.

Gets all epics of the requested group and its subgroups.

GET /groups/:id/epics
GET /groups/:id/epics?author_id=5
GET /groups/:id/epics?labels=bug,reproduced
GET /groups/:id/epics?state=opened
AttributeTypeRequiredDescription
idinteger/stringyesThe ID or URL-encoded path of the group owned by the authenticated user
author_idintegernoReturn epics created by the given user id
author_usernamestringnoReturn epics created by the user with the given username. Available in GitLab 14.7 and later
labelsstringnoReturn epics matching a comma-separated list of labels names. Label names from the epic group or a parent group can be used
with_labels_detailsbooleannoIf true, response returns more details for each label in labels field: :name, :color, :description, :description_html, :text_color. Default is false. Available in GitLab 12.7 and later
order_bystringnoReturn epics ordered by created_at, updated_at, or title fields. Default is created_at
sortstringnoReturn epics sorted in asc or desc order. Default is desc
searchstringnoSearch epics against their title and description
statestringnoSearch epics against their state, possible filters: opened, closed and all, default: all
created_afterdatetimenoReturn epics created on or after the given time. Expected in ISO 8601 format (2019-03-15T08:00:00Z)
created_beforedatetimenoReturn epics created on or before the given time. Expected in ISO 8601 format (2019-03-15T08:00:00Z)
updated_afterdatetimenoReturn epics updated on or after the given time. Expected in ISO 8601 format (2019-03-15T08:00:00Z)
updated_beforedatetimenoReturn epics updated on or before the given time. Expected in ISO 8601 format (2019-03-15T08:00:00Z)
include_ancestor_groupsbooleannoInclude epics from the requested group’s ancestors. Default is false
include_descendant_groupsbooleannoInclude epics from the requested group’s descendants. Default is true
my_reaction_emojistringnoReturn epics reacted by the authenticated user by the given emoji. None returns epics not given a reaction. Any returns epics given at least one reaction. Available in GitLab 13.0 and later
notHashnoReturn epics that do not match the parameters supplied. Accepts: author_id, author_username (GitLab 14.7 and later) and labels. Available in GitLab 14.6 and later
curl --header "PRIVATE-TOKEN: <your_access_token>" "https://gitlab.example.com/api/v4/groups/1/epics"

Example response:

[
  {
  "id": 29,
  "iid": 4,
  "group_id": 7,
  "parent_id": 23,
  "parent_iid": 3,
  "title": "Accusamus iste et ullam ratione voluptatem omnis debitis dolor est.",
  "description": "Molestias dolorem eos vitae expedita impedit necessitatibus quo voluptatum.",
  "state": "opened",
  "confidential": "false",
  "web_url": "http://gitlab.example.com/groups/test/-/epics/4",
  "reference": "&4",
  "references": {
    "short": "&4",
    "relative": "&4",
    "full": "test&4"
  },
  "author": {
    "id": 10,
    "name": "Lu Mayer",
    "username": "kam",
    "state": "active",
    "avatar_url": "http://www.gravatar.com/avatar/018729e129a6f31c80a6327a30196823?s=80&d=identicon",
    "web_url": "http://gitlab.example.com/kam"
  },
  "start_date": null,
  "start_date_is_fixed": false,
  "start_date_fixed": null,
  "start_date_from_milestones": null,       //deprecated in favor of start_date_from_inherited_source
  "start_date_from_inherited_source": null,
  "end_date": "2018-07-31",                 //deprecated in favor of due_date
  "due_date": "2018-07-31",
  "due_date_is_fixed": false,
  "due_date_fixed": null,
  "due_date_from_milestones": "2018-07-31", //deprecated in favor of start_date_from_inherited_source
  "due_date_from_inherited_source": "2018-07-31",
  "created_at": "2018-07-17T13:36:22.770Z",
  "updated_at": "2018-07-18T12:22:05.239Z",
  "closed_at": "2018-08-18T12:22:05.239Z",
  "labels": [],
  "upvotes": 4,
  "downvotes": 0,
  "color": "#1068bf",
  "_links":{
      "self": "http://gitlab.example.com/api/v4/groups/7/epics/4",
      "epic_issues": "http://gitlab.example.com/api/v4/groups/7/epics/4/issues",
      "group":"http://gitlab.example.com/api/v4/groups/7",
      "parent":"http://gitlab.example.com/api/v4/groups/7/epics/3"
  }
  },
  {
  "id": 50,
  "iid": 35,
  "group_id": 17,
  "parent_id": 19,
  "parent_iid": 1,
  "title": "Accusamus iste et ullam ratione voluptatem omnis debitis dolor est.",
  "description": "Molestias dolorem eos vitae expedita impedit necessitatibus quo voluptatum.",
  "state": "opened",
  "web_url": "http://gitlab.example.com/groups/test/sample/-/epics/35",
  "reference": "&4",
  "references": {
    "short": "&4",
    "relative": "sample&4",
    "full": "test/sample&4"
  },
  "author": {
    "id": 10,
    "name": "Lu Mayer",
    "username": "kam",
    "state": "active",
    "avatar_url": "http://www.gravatar.com/avatar/018729e129a6f31c80a6327a30196823?s=80&d=identicon",
    "web_url": "http://gitlab.example.com/kam"
  },
  "start_date": null,
  "start_date_is_fixed": false,
  "start_date_fixed": null,
  "start_date_from_milestones": null,       //deprecated in favor of start_date_from_inherited_source
  "start_date_from_inherited_source": null,
  "end_date": "2018-07-31",                 //deprecated in favor of due_date
  "due_date": "2018-07-31",
  "due_date_is_fixed": false,
  "due_date_fixed": null,
  "due_date_from_milestones": "2018-07-31", //deprecated in favor of start_date_from_inherited_source
  "due_date_from_inherited_source": "2018-07-31",
  "created_at": "2018-07-17T13:36:22.770Z",
  "updated_at": "2018-07-18T12:22:05.239Z",
  "closed_at": "2018-08-18T12:22:05.239Z",
  "labels": [],
  "upvotes": 4,
  "downvotes": 0,
  "color": "#1068bf",
  "_links":{
      "self": "http://gitlab.example.com/api/v4/groups/17/epics/35",
      "epic_issues": "http://gitlab.example.com/api/v4/groups/17/epics/35/issues",
      "group":"http://gitlab.example.com/api/v4/groups/17",
      "parent":"http://gitlab.example.com/api/v4/groups/17/epics/1"
  }
  }
]

Single epic

parent_iid and _links[parent] in response were introduced in GitLab 14.6.

Gets a single epic

GET /groups/:id/epics/:epic_iid
AttributeTypeRequiredDescription
idinteger/stringyesThe ID or URL-encoded path of the group owned by the authenticated user
epic_iidinteger/stringyesThe internal ID of the epic.
curl --header "PRIVATE-TOKEN: <your_access_token>" "https://gitlab.example.com/api/v4/groups/1/epics/5"

Example response:

{
  "id": 30,
  "iid": 5,
  "group_id": 7,
  "parent_id": null,
  "parent_iid": null,
  "title": "Ea cupiditate dolores ut vero consequatur quasi veniam voluptatem et non.",
  "description": "Molestias dolorem eos vitae expedita impedit necessitatibus quo voluptatum.",
  "state": "opened",
  "web_url": "http://gitlab.example.com/groups/test/-/epics/5",
  "reference": "&5",
  "references": {
    "short": "&5",
    "relative": "&5",
    "full": "test&5"
  },
  "author":{
    "id": 7,
    "name": "Pamella Huel",
    "username": "arnita",
    "state": "active",
    "avatar_url": "http://www.gravatar.com/avatar/a2f5c6fcef64c9c69cb8779cb292be1b?s=80&d=identicon",
    "web_url": "http://gitlab.example.com/arnita"
  },
  "start_date": null,
  "start_date_is_fixed": false,
  "start_date_fixed": null,
  "start_date_from_milestones": null,       //deprecated in favor of start_date_from_inherited_source
  "start_date_from_inherited_source": null,
  "end_date": "2018-07-31",                 //deprecated in favor of due_date
  "due_date": "2018-07-31",
  "due_date_is_fixed": false,
  "due_date_fixed": null,
  "due_date_from_milestones": "2018-07-31", //deprecated in favor of start_date_from_inherited_source
  "due_date_from_inherited_source": "2018-07-31",
  "created_at": "2018-07-17T13:36:22.770Z",
  "updated_at": "2018-07-18T12:22:05.239Z",
  "closed_at": "2018-08-18T12:22:05.239Z",
  "labels": [],
  "upvotes": 4,
  "downvotes": 0,
  "color": "#1068bf",
  "subscribed": true,
  "_links":{
      "self": "http://gitlab.example.com/api/v4/groups/7/epics/5",
      "epic_issues": "http://gitlab.example.com/api/v4/groups/7/epics/5/issues",
      "group":"http://gitlab.example.com/api/v4/groups/7",
      "parent": null
  }
}

New epic

parent_iid and _links[parent] in response were introduced in GitLab 14.6.

Creates a new epic.

note
Starting with GitLab 11.3, start_date and end_date should no longer be assigned directly, as they now represent composite values. You can configure it via the *_is_fixed and *_fixed fields instead.
POST /groups/:id/epics
AttributeTypeRequiredDescription
idinteger/stringyesThe ID or URL-encoded path of the group owned by the authenticated user
titlestringyesThe title of the epic
labelsstringnoThe comma-separated list of labels
descriptionstringnoThe description of the epic. Limited to 1,048,576 characters.
colorstringnoThe color of the epic. Introduced in GitLab 14.8, behind a feature flag named epic_highlight_color (disabled by default)
confidentialbooleannoWhether the epic should be confidential
created_atstringnoWhen the epic was created. Date time string, ISO 8601 formatted, for example 2016-03-11T03:45:40Z . Requires administrator or project/group owner privileges (available in GitLab 13.5 and later)
start_date_is_fixedbooleannoWhether start date should be sourced from start_date_fixed or from milestones (in GitLab 11.3 and later)
start_date_fixedstringnoThe fixed start date of an epic (in GitLab 11.3 and later)
due_date_is_fixedbooleannoWhether due date should be sourced from due_date_fixed or from milestones (in GitLab 11.3 and later)
due_date_fixedstringnoThe fixed due date of an epic (in GitLab 11.3 and later)
parent_idinteger/stringnoThe ID of a parent epic (in GitLab 11.11 and later)
curl --request POST --header "PRIVATE-TOKEN: <your_access_token>" "https://gitlab.example.com/api/v4/groups/1/epics?title=Epic&description=Epic%20description&parent_id=29"

Example response:

{
  "id": 33,
  "iid": 6,
  "group_id": 7,
  "parent_id": 29,
  "parent_iid": 4,
  "title": "Epic",
  "description": "Epic description",
  "state": "opened",
  "confidential": "false",
  "web_url": "http://gitlab.example.com/groups/test/-/epics/6",
  "reference": "&6",
  "references": {
    "short": "&6",
    "relative": "&6",
    "full": "test&6"
  },
  "author": {
    "name" : "Alexandra Bashirian",
    "avatar_url" : null,
    "state" : "active",
    "web_url" : "https://gitlab.example.com/eileen.lowe",
    "id" : 18,
    "username" : "eileen.lowe"
  },
  "start_date": null,
  "start_date_is_fixed": false,
  "start_date_fixed": null,
  "start_date_from_milestones": null,       //deprecated in favor of start_date_from_inherited_source
  "start_date_from_inherited_source": null,
  "end_date": "2018-07-31",                 //deprecated in favor of due_date
  "due_date": "2018-07-31",
  "due_date_is_fixed": false,
  "due_date_fixed": null,
  "due_date_from_milestones": "2018-07-31", //deprecated in favor of start_date_from_inherited_source
  "due_date_from_inherited_source": "2018-07-31",
  "created_at": "2018-07-17T13:36:22.770Z",
  "updated_at": "2018-07-18T12:22:05.239Z",
  "closed_at": "2018-08-18T12:22:05.239Z",
  "labels": [],
  "upvotes": 4,
  "downvotes": 0,
  "color": "#1068bf",
  "_links":{
    "self": "http://gitlab.example.com/api/v4/groups/7/epics/6",
    "epic_issues": "http://gitlab.example.com/api/v4/groups/7/epics/6/issues",
    "group":"http://gitlab.example.com/api/v4/groups/7",
    "parent": "http://gitlab.example.com/api/v4/groups/7/epics/4"
  }
}

Update epic

parent_iid and _links[parent] in response were introduced in GitLab 14.6.

Updates an epic.

note
Starting with GitLab 11.3, start_date and end_date should no longer be assigned directly, as they now represent composite values. You can configure it via the *_is_fixed and *_fixed fields instead.
PUT /groups/:id/epics/:epic_iid
AttributeTypeRequiredDescription
idinteger/stringyesThe ID or URL-encoded path of the group owned by the authenticated user
epic_iidinteger/stringyesThe internal ID of the epic
add_labelsstringnoComma-separated label names to add to an issue.
confidentialbooleannoWhether the epic should be confidential
descriptionstringnoThe description of an epic. Limited to 1,048,576 characters.
due_date_fixedstringnoThe fixed due date of an epic (in GitLab 11.3 and later)
due_date_is_fixedbooleannoWhether due date should be sourced from due_date_fixed or from milestones (in GitLab 11.3 and later)
labelsstringnoComma-separated label names for an issue. Set to an empty string to unassign all labels.
parent_idinteger/stringnoThe ID of a parent epic. Available in GitLab 14.6 and later
remove_labelsstringnoComma-separated label names to remove from an issue.
start_date_fixedstringnoThe fixed start date of an epic (in GitLab 11.3 and later)
start_date_is_fixedbooleannoWhether start date should be sourced from start_date_fixed or from milestones (in GitLab 11.3 and later)
state_eventstringnoState event for an epic. Set close to close the epic and reopen to reopen it (in GitLab 11.4 and later)
titlestringnoThe title of an epic
updated_atstringnoWhen the epic was updated. Date time string, ISO 8601 formatted, for example 2016-03-11T03:45:40Z . Requires administrator or project/group owner privileges (available in GitLab 13.5 and later)
colorstringnoThe color of the epic. Introduced in GitLab 14.8, behind a feature flag named epic_highlight_color (disabled by default)
curl --request PUT --header "PRIVATE-TOKEN: <your_access_token>" "https://gitlab.example.com/api/v4/groups/1/epics/5?title=New%20Title&parent_id=29"

Example response:

{
  "id": 33,
  "iid": 6,
  "group_id": 7,
  "parent_id": 29,
  "parent_iid": 4,
  "title": "New Title",
  "description": "Epic description",
  "state": "opened",
  "confidential": "false",
  "web_url": "http://gitlab.example.com/groups/test/-/epics/6",
  "reference": "&6",
  "references": {
    "short": "&6",
    "relative": "&6",
    "full": "test&6"
  },
  "author": {
    "name" : "Alexandra Bashirian",
    "avatar_url" : null,
    "state" : "active",
    "web_url" : "https://gitlab.example.com/eileen.lowe",
    "id" : 18,
    "username" : "eileen.lowe"
  },
  "start_date": null,
  "start_date_is_fixed": false,
  "start_date_fixed": null,
  "start_date_from_milestones": null,       //deprecated in favor of start_date_from_inherited_source
  "start_date_from_inherited_source": null,
  "end_date": "2018-07-31",                 //deprecated in favor of due_date
  "due_date": "2018-07-31",
  "due_date_is_fixed": false,
  "due_date_fixed": null,
  "due_date_from_milestones": "2018-07-31", //deprecated in favor of start_date_from_inherited_source
  "due_date_from_inherited_source": "2018-07-31",
  "created_at": "2018-07-17T13:36:22.770Z",
  "updated_at": "2018-07-18T12:22:05.239Z",
  "closed_at": "2018-08-18T12:22:05.239Z",
  "labels": [],
  "upvotes": 4,
  "downvotes": 0,
  "color": "#1068bf"
}

Delete epic

Deletes an epic

DELETE /groups/:id/epics/:epic_iid
AttributeTypeRequiredDescription
idinteger/stringyesThe ID or URL-encoded path of the group owned by the authenticated user
epic_iidinteger/stringyesThe internal ID of the epic.
curl --request DELETE --header "PRIVATE-TOKEN: <your_access_token>" "https://gitlab.example.com/api/v4/groups/1/epics/5"

Create a to-do item

Manually creates a to-do item for the current user on an epic. If there already exists a to-do item for the user on that epic, status code 304 is returned.

POST /groups/:id/epics/:epic_iid/todo
AttributeTypeRequiredDescription
idinteger/stringyesThe ID or URL-encoded path of the group owned by the authenticated user
epic_iidintegeryesThe internal ID of a group’s epic
curl --request POST --header "PRIVATE-TOKEN: <your_access_token>" "https://gitlab.example.com/api/v4/groups/1/epics/5/todo"

Example response:

{
  "id": 112,
  "group": {
    "id": 1,
    "name": "Gitlab",
    "path": "gitlab",
    "kind": "group",
    "full_path": "base/gitlab",
    "parent_id": null
  },
  "author": {
    "name": "Administrator",
    "username": "root",
    "id": 1,
    "state": "active",
    "avatar_url": "http://www.gravatar.com/avatar/e64c7d89f26bd1972efa854d13d7dd61?s=80&d=identicon",
    "web_url": "https://gitlab.example.com/root"
  },
  "action_name": "marked",
  "target_type": "epic",
  "target": {
    "id": 30,
    "iid": 5,
    "group_id": 1,
    "title": "Ea cupiditate dolores ut vero consequatur quasi veniam voluptatem et non.",
    "description": "Molestias dolorem eos vitae expedita impedit necessitatibus quo voluptatum.",
    "author":{
      "id": 7,
      "name": "Pamella Huel",
      "username": "arnita",
      "state": "active",
      "avatar_url": "http://www.gravatar.com/avatar/a2f5c6fcef64c9c69cb8779cb292be1b?s=80&d=identicon",
      "web_url": "http://gitlab.example.com/arnita"
    },
    "web_url": "http://gitlab.example.com/groups/test/-/epics/5",
    "reference": "&5",
    "references": {
      "short": "&5",
      "relative": "&5",
      "full": "test&5"
    },
    "start_date": null,
    "end_date": null,
    "created_at": "2018-01-21T06:21:13.165Z",
    "updated_at": "2018-01-22T12:41:41.166Z",
    "closed_at": "2018-08-18T12:22:05.239Z"
  },
  "target_url": "https://gitlab.example.com/groups/epics/5",
  "body": "Vel voluptas atque dicta mollitia adipisci qui at.",
  "state": "pending",
  "created_at": "2016-07-01T11:09:13.992Z"
}