What is a group access token?
The publisher needs permission to create and update apps in your team's GitLab group on your behalf. A group access token is a long password-like string that grants exactly that — for one group, with a role and an expiry you choose. You paste it into the publisher once per session; it's never saved to disk.
Create the token
- Open your team's group in GitLab (the group that should hold all the published apps — not a single project).
- In the left sidebar, go to Settings › Access tokens.
-
Click Add new token and give it a recognisable
name, e.g.
pages-publisher. - Set an expiration date. A short one (a few weeks) is safest — you can always create a new token later.
- Choose the role Maintainer (or Owner). This is required so the token can create new apps in the group.
-
Under scopes, tick
apionly. Nothing else is needed. - Click Create group access token.
- Copy the token now — GitLab shows it only once. Then paste it into the publisher on the sign-in step.
Settings at a glance
| Name | anything memorable, e.g. pages-publisher |
|---|---|
| Expiration | a short date — renew when it lapses |
| Role | Maintainer or Owner (needed to create apps) |
| Scopes | api (and only that) |
Keep it safe
- Treat the token like a password — don't email it or paste it into chats.
- The publisher keeps it in your browser for the current session only; it's never written to disk and only ever sent to your own GitLab server.
- If a token leaks, go back to Settings › Access tokens, revoke it, and create a new one.
Troubleshooting
"This token isn't linked to a group it can publish into"
The token may be a personal access token rather than a group access token, or its role is too low. Create it from inside the group (step 2 above) with the Maintainer role.
"…isn't allowed to create new apps in the group"
The token authenticated but can't create projects. Ask a group Owner to (1) give the token at least the Maintainer role, and (2) under Group › Settings › General › Permissions, allow members to create projects.
"That token didn't work"
Double-check you copied the whole token (they're long), that it hasn't expired, and that the
api scope is selected. If in doubt, create a fresh one.
I can't find "Access tokens" in the group settings
You need to be an Owner of the group to create group access tokens. Ask a group owner to make the token and share it with the team.