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# Protected branches

[Permissions](../permissions.md) in GitLab are fundamentally defined around the
idea of having read or write permission to the repository and branches. To impose
further restrictions on certain branches, they can be protected.

## Overview

By default, a protected branch does four simple things:

- It prevents its creation, if not already created, from everybody except users
  with Maintainer permission.
- It prevents pushes from everybody except users with **Allowed** permission.
- It prevents **anyone** from force pushing to the branch.
- It prevents **anyone** from deleting the branch.

NOTE:
A GitLab administrator is allowed to push to the protected branches.

See the [Changelog](#changelog) section for changes over time.

The default branch protection level is set in the [Admin Area](../admin_area/settings/visibility_and_access_controls.md#default-branch-protection).

## Configuring protected branches

To protect a branch, you need to have at least Maintainer permission level. Note
that the `master` branch is protected by default.

1. Navigate to your project's **Settings ➔ Repository**
1. Scroll to find the **Protected branches** section.
1. From the **Branch** dropdown menu, select the branch you want to protect and
   click **Protect**. In the screenshot below, we chose the `develop` branch.

   ![Protected branches page](img/protected_branches_page_v12_3.png)

1. Once done, the protected branch will appear in the "Protected branches" list.

   ![Protected branches list](img/protected_branches_list_v12_3.png)

## Using the Allowed to merge and Allowed to push settings

> [Introduced](https://gitlab.com/gitlab-org/gitlab-foss/-/merge_requests/5081) in GitLab 8.11.

In GitLab 8.11 and later, we added another layer of branch protection which provides
more granular management of protected branches. The "Developers can push"
option was replaced by an "Allowed to push" setting which can be set to
allow/prohibit Maintainers and/or Developers to push to a protected branch.

Using the "Allowed to push" and "Allowed to merge" settings, you can control
the actions that different roles can perform with the protected branch.
For example, you could set "Allowed to push" to "No one", and "Allowed to merge"
to "Developers + Maintainers", to require _everyone_ to submit a merge request for
changes going into the protected branch. This is compatible with workflows like
the [GitLab workflow](../../topics/gitlab_flow.md).

However, there are workflows where that is not needed, and only protecting from
force pushes and branch removal is useful. For those workflows, you can allow
everyone with write access to push to a protected branch by setting
"Allowed to push" to "Developers + Maintainers".

You can set the "Allowed to push" and "Allowed to merge" options while creating
a protected branch or afterwards by selecting the option you want from the
dropdown list in the "Already protected" area.

![Developers can push](img/protected_branches_devs_can_push_v12_3.png)

If you don't choose any of those options while creating a protected branch,
they are set to "Maintainers" by default.

### Allow Deploy Keys to push to a protected branch

> - [Introduced](https://gitlab.com/gitlab-org/gitlab/-/issues/30769) in GitLab 13.7.
> - This feature is being selectively deployed in GitLab.com 13.7, and may not be available for all users.

You can allow specific machines to access protected branches in your repository with
[Deploy Keys](deploy_keys/index.md). This can be useful for your CI/CD workflow,
for example.

Deploy keys can be selected in the **Allowed to push** dropdown when:

- Defining a protected branch.
- Updating an existing branch.

Select a deploy key to allow the owner of the key to push to the chosen protected branch,
even if they aren't a member of the related project. The owner of the selected deploy
key must have at least read access to the given project.

For a deploy key to be selectable:

- It must be [enabled for your project](deploy_keys/index.md#how-to-enable-deploy-keys).
- It must have [write access](deploy_keys/index.md#deploy-keys-permissions) to your project repository.

Deploy Keys are not available in the **Allowed to merge** dropdown.

![Deploy Keys on protected branches](img/protected_branches_deploy_keys_v13_5.png)

## Restricting push and merge access to certain users **(STARTER)**

> [Introduced](https://gitlab.com/gitlab-org/gitlab-foss/-/merge_requests/5081) in [GitLab Starter](https://about.gitlab.com/pricing/) 8.11.

With GitLab Enterprise Edition you can restrict access to protected branches
by choosing a role (Maintainers, Developers) as well as certain users. From the
dropdown menu select the role and/or the users you want to have merge or push
access.

![Select roles and users](img/protected_branches_select_roles_and_users.png)

Click **Protect** and the branch will appear in the "Protected branch" list.

![Roles and users list](img/protected_branches_select_roles_and_users_list.png)

## Wildcard protected branches

> [Introduced](https://gitlab.com/gitlab-org/gitlab-foss/-/merge_requests/4665) in GitLab 8.10.

You can specify a wildcard protected branch, which will protect all branches
matching the wildcard. For example:

| Wildcard Protected Branch | Matching Branches                                      |
|---------------------------|--------------------------------------------------------|
| `*-stable`                | `production-stable`, `staging-stable`                  |
| `production/*`            | `production/app-server`, `production/load-balancer`    |
| `*gitlab*`                | `gitlab`, `gitlab/staging`, `master/gitlab/production` |

Protected branch settings (like "Developers can push") apply to all matching
branches.

Two different wildcards can potentially match the same branch. For example,
`*-stable` and `production-*` would both match a `production-stable` branch.
In that case, if _any_ of these protected branches have a setting like
"Allowed to push", then `production-stable` will also inherit this setting.

If you click on a protected branch's name, you will be presented with a list of
all matching branches:

![Protected branch matches](img/protected_branches_matches.png)

## Creating a protected branch

> [Introduced](https://gitlab.com/gitlab-org/gitlab-foss/-/issues/53361) in GitLab 11.9.

When a protected branch or wildcard protected branches are set to
[**No one** is **Allowed to push**](#using-the-allowed-to-merge-and-allowed-to-push-settings),
Developers (and users with higher [permission levels](../permissions.md)) are
allowed to create a new protected branch as long as they are
[**Allowed to merge**](#using-the-allowed-to-merge-and-allowed-to-push-settings).
This can only be done via the UI or through the API (to avoid creating protected
branches accidentally from the command line or from a Git client application).

To create a new branch through the user interface:

1. Visit **Repository > Branches**.
1. Click on **New branch**.
1. Fill in the branch name and select an existing branch, tag, or commit that
   the new branch will be based off. Only existing protected branches and commits
   that are already in protected branches will be accepted.

## Deleting a protected branch

> [Introduced](https://gitlab.com/gitlab-org/gitlab-foss/-/issues/21393) in GitLab 9.3.

From time to time, it may be required to delete or clean up branches that are
protected.

User with [Maintainer permissions](../permissions.md) and up can manually delete protected
branches via the GitLab web interface:

1. Visit **Repository > Branches**
1. Click on the delete icon next to the branch you wish to delete
1. In order to prevent accidental deletion, an additional confirmation is
   required

   ![Delete protected branches](img/protected_branches_delete.png)

Deleting a protected branch is only allowed via the web interface, not via Git.
This means that you can't accidentally delete a protected branch from your
command line or a Git client application.

## Protected Branches approval by Code Owners **(PREMIUM)**

> [Introduced](https://gitlab.com/gitlab-org/gitlab/-/issues/13251) in [GitLab Premium](https://about.gitlab.com/pricing/) 12.4.

It is possible to require at least one approval by a
[Code Owner](code_owners.md) to a file changed by the
merge request. You can either set Code Owners approvals
at the time you protect a new branch, or set it to a branch
already protected, as described below.

To protect a new branch and enable Code Owner's approval:

1. Navigate to your project's **Settings > Repository** and expand **Protected branches**.
1. Scroll down to **Protect a branch**, select a **Branch** or wildcard you'd like to protect, select who's **Allowed to merge** and **Allowed to push**, and toggle the **Require approval from code owners** slider.
1. Click **Protect**.

![Code Owners approval - new protected branch](img/code_owners_approval_new_protected_branch_v12_4.png)

To enable Code Owner's approval to branches already protected:

1. Navigate to your project's **Settings > Repository** and expand **Protected branches**.
1. Scroll down to **Protected branch** and toggle the **Code owner approval** slider for the chosen branch.

![Code Owners approval - branch already protected](img/code_owners_approval_protected_branch_v12_4.png)

When enabled, all merge requests targeting these branches will require approval
by a Code Owner per matched rule before they can be merged.
Additionally, direct pushes to the protected branch are denied if a rule is matched.

[Introduced](https://gitlab.com/gitlab-org/gitlab/-/issues/35097) in [GitLab Premium](https://about.gitlab.com/pricing/) 13.5, users and groups who are allowed to push to protected branches do not require a merge request to merge their feature branches. Thus, they can skip merge request approval rules.

## Running pipelines on protected branches

The permission to merge or push to protected branches is used to define if a user can
run CI/CD pipelines and execute actions on jobs that are related to those branches.

See [Security on protected branches](../../ci/pipelines/index.md#pipeline-security-on-protected-branches)
for details about the pipelines security model.

## Changelog

**13.5**

- [Allow Deploy keys to push to protected branches once more](https://gitlab.com/gitlab-org/gitlab/-/issues/30769).

**11.9**

- [Allow protected branches to be created](https://gitlab.com/gitlab-org/gitlab-foss/-/issues/53361) by Developers (and users with higher permission levels) through the API and the user interface.

**9.2**

- Allow deletion of protected branches via the web interface ([issue #21393](https://gitlab.com/gitlab-org/gitlab-foss/-/issues/21393)).

**8.11**

- Allow creating protected branches that can't be pushed to ([merge request !5081](https://gitlab.com/gitlab-org/gitlab-foss/-/merge_requests/5081)).

**8.10**

- Allow developers without push access to merge into a protected branch ([merge request !4892](https://gitlab.com/gitlab-org/gitlab-foss/-/merge_requests/4892)).
- Allow specifying protected branches using wildcards ([merge request !4665](https://gitlab.com/gitlab-org/gitlab-foss/-/merge_requests/4665)).

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