- View dependencies for a merge request
- Create a new dependent merge request
- Edit a merge request to add a dependency
- Remove a dependency from a merge request
- Troubleshooting
Merge request dependencies
A single feature can span several merge requests, spread out across multiple projects, and the order in which the work merges can be significant. Use merge request dependencies when it’s important to merge work in a specific order. Some examples:
- Ensure changes to a required library are merged before changes to a project that imports the library.
- Prevent a documentation-only merge request from merging before the feature work is itself merged.
- Require a merge request updating a permissions matrix to merge, before merging work from someone who hasn’t yet been granted permissions.
If your project me/myexample
imports a library from myfriend/library
,
you might want to update your project to use a new feature in myfriend/library
.
However, if you merge changes to your project before the external library adds the
new feature, you would break the default branch in your project. A merge request
dependency prevents your work from merging too soon:
You could mark your me/myexample
merge request as a draft
and explain why in the comments. However, this approach is manual and does not scale, especially
if your merge request relies on several others in multiple projects. Instead,
use the draft (or ready) state to track the readiness of an individual
merge request, and a merge request dependency to enforce merge order.
View dependencies for a merge request
If a merge request is dependent on another, the merge request reports section shows information about the dependency:
To view dependency information on a merge request:
- On the left sidebar, select Search or go to and find your project.
- Select Code > Merge requests and identify your merge request.
- Scroll to the merge request reports area. Dependent merge requests display information about the total number of dependencies set, such as (status-warning) Depends on 1 merge request being merged.
- Select Expand to view the title, milestone, assignee, and pipeline status of each dependency.
Until your merge request’s dependencies all merge, your merge request cannot be merged. The message Merge blocked: you can only merge after the above items are resolved displays.
Closed merge requests
Closed merge requests still prevent their dependents from being merged, because a merge request can close regardless of whether or not the planned work actually merged.
If a merge request closes and the dependency is no longer relevant, remove it as a dependency to unblock the dependent merge request.
Create a new dependent merge request
When you create a new merge request, you can prevent it from merging until after other specific work merges, even if the merge request is in a different project.
Prerequisites:
- You must have at least the Developer role or be allowed to create merge requests in the project.
- The dependent merge request must be in a project in the Premium or Ultimate tier.
To create a new merge request and mark it as dependent on another:
- Create a new merge request.
- In Merge request dependencies, paste either the reference or the full URL
to the merge requests that should merge before this work merges. References
are in the form of
path/to/project!merge_request_id
. - Select Create merge request.
Edit a merge request to add a dependency
You can edit an existing merge request and mark it as dependent on another.
Prerequisite:
- You must have at least the Developer role or be allowed to edit merge requests in the project.
To do this:
- On the left sidebar, select Search or go to and find your project.
- Select Code > Merge requests and identify your merge request.
- Select Edit.
- In Merge request dependencies, paste either the reference or the full URL
to the merge requests that should merge before this work merges. References
are in the form of
path/to/project!merge_request_id
.
Remove a dependency from a merge request
You can edit a dependent merge request and remove a dependency.
Prerequisite:
- You must have a role in the project that allows you to edit merge requests.
- On the left sidebar, select Search or go to and find your project.
- Select Code > Merge requests and identify your merge request.
- Select Edit.
-
Scroll to Merge request dependencies and select Remove next to the reference for each dependency you want to remove.
Dependencies for merge requests you don’t have access to are displayed as 1 inaccessible merge request, and can be removed the same way. - Select Save changes.
Troubleshooting
API support for managing merge request dependencies
No API support exists for managing dependencies. For more information, read issue #12551.
Preserving dependencies on project import or export
Dependencies are not preserved when projects are imported or exported. For more information, read issue #12549.
Complex merge order dependencies are unsupported
If you attempt to create an indirect, nested dependency, GitLab shows the error message:
- Dependencies failed to save: Dependency chains are not supported
GitLab supports direct dependencies between merge requests, but does not support indirect (nested) dependencies.
Acceptable dependency patterns include:
- A single merge request can directly depend on a single merge request.
- A single merge request can directly depend on multiple merge requests.
- Multiple merge requests can directly depend on a single merge request.
The indirect, nested dependency between myfriend/library!10
and mycorp/example!100
shown in this example is not supported: