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GitLab

Tags (FREE)

In Git, a tag marks an important point in a repository's history. Git supports two types of tags:

  • Lightweight tags point to specific commits, and contain no other information. Also known as soft tags. Create or remove them as needed.
  • Annotated tags contain metadata, can be signed for verification purposes, and can't be changed.

The creation or deletion of a tag can be used as a trigger for automation, including:

When you create a release, GitLab also creates a tag to mark the release point. Many projects combine an annotated release tag with a stable branch. Consider setting deployment or release tags automatically.

In the GitLab UI, each tag displays:

Example of a single tag

  • The tag name. ({tag})
  • Optional. If the tag is protected, a protected badge.
  • The commit SHA ({commit}), linked to the commit's contents.
  • The commit's title and creation date.
  • Optional. A link to the release ({rocket}).
  • Optional. If a pipeline has been run, the current pipeline status.
  • Download links to the source code and artifacts linked to the tag.
  • A Create release ({pencil}) link.
  • A link to delete the tag.

View tags for a project

To view all existing tags for a project:

  1. On the top bar, select Main menu > Projects and find your project.
  2. On the left sidebar, select Repository > Tags.

View tagged commits in the commits list

Introduced in GitLab 15.10.

  1. On the top bar, select Main menu > Projects and find your project.

  2. On the left sidebar, select Repository > Commits.

  3. Commits with a tag are labeled with a tag icon ({tag}) and the name of the tag. This example shows a commit tagged v1.26.0:

    A tagged commit in the Commits view

To view the list of commits in this tag, select the tag name.

Create a tag

Tags can be created from the command line, or the GitLab UI.

From the command line

To create either a lightweight or annotated tag from the command line, and push it upstream:

  1. To create a lightweight tag, run the command git tag TAG_NAME, changing TAG_NAME to your desired tag name.

  2. To create an annotated tag, run one of the versions of git tag from the command line:

    # In this short version, the annotated tag's name is "v1.0",
# and the message is "Version 1.0".
git tag -a v1.0 -m "Version 1.0"

# Use this version to write a longer tag message
# for annotated tag "v1.0" in your text editor.
git tag -a v1.0

  3. Push your tags upstream with git push origin --tags.

From the UI

To create a tag from the GitLab UI:

  1. On the top bar, select Main menu > Projects and find your project.
  2. On the left sidebar, select Repository > Tags.
  3. Select New tag.
  4. Provide a Tag name.
  5. For Create from, select an existing branch name, tag, or commit SHA.
  6. Optional. Add a Message to create an annotated tag, or leave blank to create a lightweight tag.
  7. Select Create tag.

Prevent tag deletion (PREMIUM)

To prevent users from removing a tag with git push, create a push rule.

Trigger pipelines from a tag

GitLab CI/CD provides a CI_COMMIT_TAG variable to identify tags. Use this variable in job rules and workflow rules to test if the pipeline was triggered by a tag.

In your .gitlab-ci.yml file for the CI/CD pipeline configuration of your project, you can trigger based on a new tag:

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