Skip to main content
Integrating GitLab with Slack lets you receive push notifications and monitor CI/CD pipelines without leaving your messaging workspace. This guide walks you through creating a Slack channel, installing the GitLab app, configuring triggers, and verifying notifications. Prerequisites
  • A Slack workspace with appropriate permissions
  • A GitLab project with repository access

​
1. Create a Slack Channel

  1. In Slack, click the + next to Channels.
  2. Name it gitlab-notifications (or GitLab Notifications).
  3. Optionally set it to Private to restrict access.
  4. Skip adding members for this demo.
Use a clear, descriptive name (like gitlab-notifications) so team members know exactly where to find CI/CD alerts.
Once the channel is ready, proceed to install the GitLab app in Slack.

​
2. Install GitLab for Slack

In your GitLab project:
  1. Navigate to Settings → Integrations.
  2. Scroll to GitLab for Slack and click Install.
The image shows a GitLab interface for integrating with Slack, featuring a button to install the GitLab for Slack app. The left sidebar displays various project settings and options.
You’ll be redirected to Slack to authorize GitLab’s access:
The image shows a Slack authorization page where GitLab is requesting permission to access the "mcd-level2" Slack workspace, with options to allow or cancel.
Ensure you have admin privileges in Slack. Without proper scope, GitLab cannot post notifications.

​
3. Configure Notification Triggers

Back in GitLab’s integration settings:
  1. Verify or edit the Project alias (e.g., group/project@timestamp).
  2. Under Triggers, select Push events.
  3. Enter your Slack channel name: gitlab-notifications.
  4. In Notifications, deselect Notify only for broken pipelines if you want updates on all statuses.
  5. Under Branches, choose All branches (or specify a subset).
  6. Click Test settings to send a sample alert.
  7. Finally, click Save changes.
Trigger EventDescription
Push eventsNotify on every repository push in the project.
Merge requests(Optional) Alerts when a merge request is created or updated.
PipelineStream pipeline status changes to Slack.
The image shows a GitLab integration settings page for the GitLab for Slack app, with various trigger options for events like repository pushes and issue updates.
The image shows a GitLab integration settings page for Slack notifications, where options for notifying only broken pipelines and specifying branches and labels for notifications are configured.

​
4. Commit Changes to Trigger Notifications

To test notifications, add or update your .gitlab-ci.yml: 
variables:
  DOCKER_USERNAME: siddharth67
  IMAGE_VERSION: $CI_PIPELINE_ID
  K8S_IMAGE: $DOCKER_USERNAME/solar-system:$IMAGE_VERSION
  MONGO_URI: 'mongodb+srv://supercluster.d83jj.mongodb.net/superData'
  MONGO_USERNAME: superuser
  MONGO_PASSWORD: $M_DB_PASSWORD
  SCAN_KUBERNETES_MANIFESTS: "true"

.prepare_nodejs_environment:
  image: node:17-alpine3.14
  services:
    - name: siddharth67/mongo-db:non-prod
      alias: mongo
      pull_policy: always
  variables:
    MONGO_URI: 'mongodb://mongo:27017/superData'
    MONGO_USERNAME: non-prod-user
    MONGO_PASSWORD: non-prod-password
Commit and push to your feature branch: 
git add .gitlab-ci.yml
git commit -m "Testing Slack notifications to feature branch"
git push origin feature-branch

​
5. Review the Slack Notification

In the #gitlab-notifications channel, you’ll see a message containing:
  • Who pushed the changes
  • Target branch
  • Project alias (group/project)
  • Commit ID and summary
This real-time overview keeps your team in sync without switching contexts.

​
6. Monitor the Pipeline in GitLab

While Slack delivers alerts, you can still manage your pipeline in GitLab. For example, a docker_push job might look like: 
docker_push:
  stage: containerization
  needs:
    - docker_build
    - docker_test
  image: docker:24.0.5
  services:
    - docker:24.0.5-dind
  script:
    - docker load -i image/solar-system-image:$IMAGE_VERSION.tar
    - docker login --username=$DOCKER_USERNAME --password=$DOCKER_PASSWORD
    - docker push $DOCKER_USERNAME/solar-system:$IMAGE_VERSION
The image shows a GitLab pipeline interface for a NodeJS project named "Solar System," with a unit testing job currently running.
Once the pipeline finishes, you’ll see the success or failure status in GitLab:
The image shows a GitLab CI/CD pipeline interface for a project named "Solar System NodeJS Pipeline," indicating a successful test job labeled "unit_testing." The sidebar includes options like Pipelines, Jobs, and Merge requests.

​
Next Steps

  • Use slash commands in Slack to trigger pipelines and view statuses.
  • Explore additional event triggers (merge requests, pipeline updates, issue events).

Watch Video