gitlab-variable

CI/CD Variable Skill

CI/CD variable management operations for GitLab using the glab CLI.

Quick Reference

Operation	Command	Risk
List variables	glab variable list	-
Get variable	glab variable get <key>	-
Set variable	glab variable set <key> <value>	⚠️
Update variable	glab variable update <key> <value>	⚠️
Delete variable	glab variable delete <key>	⚠️⚠️
Export variables	glab variable export	-

Risk Legend: - Safe | ⚠️ Caution | ⚠️⚠️ Warning | ⚠️⚠️⚠️ Danger

When to Use This Skill

ALWAYS use when:

• User wants to manage CI/CD variables
• User mentions "variable", "secret", "env var", "CI variable", "environment variable"
• User wants to configure build/deployment settings

NEVER use when:

• User wants to run pipelines (use gitlab-ci)
• User wants to manage .env files locally (use file operations)

Available Commands

List Variables

glab variable list [options]

Options:

Flag	Description
-g, --group=<group>	List group-level variables
-P, --per-page=<n>	Results per page

Examples:

# List project variables
glab variable list

# List group variables
glab variable list -g mygroup

Get Variable

glab variable get <key> [options]

Options:

Flag	Description
-g, --group=<group>	Get from group level
-s, --scope=<scope>	Variable scope/environment

Examples:

# Get variable value
glab variable get API_KEY

# Get scoped variable
glab variable get DATABASE_URL --scope=production

Set Variable

glab variable set <key> <value> [options]

Options:

Flag	Description
-g, --group=<group>	Set at group level
-m, --masked	Mask value in logs
-p, --protected	Only available in protected branches
-r, --raw	Value is raw (no expansion)
-s, --scope=<scope>	Variable scope/environment
-t, --type=<type>	Variable type: env_var, file

Examples:

# Set simple variable
glab variable set API_URL "https://api.example.com"

# Set masked secret
glab variable set API_KEY "secret123" --masked

# Set protected variable (only on protected branches)
glab variable set DEPLOY_KEY "key123" --protected --masked

# Set scoped variable for production
glab variable set DATABASE_URL "postgres://prod..." --scope=production

# Set file type variable
glab variable set CONFIG_FILE "$(cat config.json)" --type=file

# Set group variable
glab variable set SHARED_SECRET "secret" -g mygroup --masked

Update Variable

glab variable update <key> <value> [options]

Same options as set. Updates existing variable.

Examples:

# Update variable value
glab variable update API_KEY "new-secret" --masked

# Update and change scope
glab variable update DATABASE_URL "new-url" --scope=staging

Delete Variable

glab variable delete <key> [options]

Options:

Flag	Description
-g, --group=<group>	Delete from group level
-s, --scope=<scope>	Variable scope

Warning: This permanently deletes the variable.

Examples:

# Delete variable
glab variable delete OLD_API_KEY

# Delete scoped variable
glab variable delete DATABASE_URL --scope=staging

Export Variables

glab variable export [options]

Export variables in dotenv format.

Examples:

# Export to stdout
glab variable export

# Export to file
glab variable export > .env.ci

# Export and source
eval $(glab variable export)

Variable Types

Type	Use Case
env_var	Environment variable (default)
file	Write value to file, expose path as variable

Variable Flags

Flag	Effect
masked	Value is hidden in job logs
protected	Only available on protected branches/tags
raw	No variable expansion (use for JSON, etc.)

Common Workflows

Workflow 1: Set Up Deployment Variables

# Set production secrets
glab variable set PROD_API_KEY "xxx" --protected --masked --scope=production
glab variable set PROD_DB_URL "postgres://..." --protected --masked --scope=production

# Set staging secrets
glab variable set STAGING_API_KEY "xxx" --masked --scope=staging
glab variable set STAGING_DB_URL "postgres://..." --masked --scope=staging

Workflow 2: Rotate Secrets

# 1. List current variables
glab variable list

# 2. Update the secret
glab variable update API_KEY "new-secret-value" --masked

# 3. Trigger a new pipeline to use new secret
glab ci run

Workflow 3: Set Up Service Account

# Store credentials as masked file
glab variable set SERVICE_ACCOUNT_JSON "$(cat service-account.json)" \
  --type=file --protected --masked

# In CI/CD, use $SERVICE_ACCOUNT_JSON as path to the credentials file

Workflow 4: Configure Multi-Environment

# Production (protected + masked)
glab variable set DATABASE_URL "postgres://prod..." --scope=production --protected --masked
glab variable set API_KEY "prod-key" --scope=production --protected --masked

# Staging
glab variable set DATABASE_URL "postgres://staging..." --scope=staging --masked
glab variable set API_KEY "staging-key" --scope=staging --masked

# Development
glab variable set DATABASE_URL "postgres://dev..." --scope=development
glab variable set API_KEY "dev-key" --scope=development

Security Best Practices

1. Always mask secrets: Use --masked for any sensitive values
2. Protect production secrets: Use --protected for production credentials
3. Use scopes: Separate variables by environment
4. Rotate regularly: Update secrets periodically
5. Avoid logging: Never echo variable values in CI scripts
6. Use file type for complex secrets: JSON, certificates, etc.

Troubleshooting

Issue	Cause	Solution
Authentication failed	Invalid/expired token	Run glab auth login
Variable not found	Wrong key or scope	Check with glab variable list
Cannot see value	Variable is masked	Masked values cannot be retrieved
Permission denied	Not maintainer	Need maintainer+ role for variables
Value truncated	Special characters	Use --raw flag for complex values

Related Documentation

• Safeguards
• Quick Reference