For an overview of how CodeRabbit integrates with Git platforms, see Platform Integration Overview. For a hands-on tutorial with CodeRabbit performing code reviews on a live repository, see Quickstart. CodeRabbit enhances your GitLab.com development workflow by providing:
  • Automated code reviews for newly created merge requests
  • AI-powered suggestions displayed directly on merge requests
  • Interactive assistance through the CodeRabbit bot for real-time feedback
  • Seamless integration with your existing GitLab workflow
Using self-hosted GitLab? See our Self-managed GitLab integration guide for on-premises installations.

​
GitLab Access Tokens​

To enable CodeRabbit to interact with your GitLab repositories, you need to provide an access token that grants the necessary permissions for the Merge Requests and Discussions APIs. Choose the token type that best fits your organization’s needs:

Personal Access Token

Create a dedicated service account for CodeRabbit with a personal access token

Group Access Token

Use GitLab Premium/Ultimate’s group tokens with automatic bot user creation

​
Personal Access Token​

We recommend creating a new user as a service account, associating this user to the group you’d like to install CodeRabbit on, and providing CodeRabbit with the personal access token to allow access. During the installation process, CodeRabbit will automatically configure the required webhook for seamless integration. GitLab user modal showing options to add a personal access token for CodeRabbit integration
If you wish to change the review user, you must provide the access token for the new user who will post reviews and comments. However, this requires manually removing the previous user from the projects and associated webhooks. Once this is done, you will need to reinstall the CodeRabbit app for each project.
GitLab organization user selection modal for configuring CodeRabbit access

​
Best Practices for Service Account Setup

Create a dedicated user for CodeRabbit - This ensures the user is exclusively for CodeRabbit, allowing better access control and easier management.
Follow these recommendations when setting up your CodeRabbit service account:
  • Username: Use “CodeRabbit” as the username for easy recognition
  • Email: Use a dedicated email address for easy identification and management
  • Profile picture: Use the CodeRabbit logo for easy recognition. Download our logo here
  • Permissions: Ensure the dedicated user has at least Developer access to the group or projects where you want to install CodeRabbit

​
Important Considerations

Token Expiration: Personal access tokens have expiration dates. Ensure the expiration date covers the duration of your intended use of CodeRabbit to avoid service interruption.
Review Attribution: Code reviews will be attributed to the owner of the personal access token, so they’ll appear to come from your service account user.
Updating Expired Tokens: If your personal access token expires, you can add a new one via the CodeRabbit UI:
  1. Navigate to the GitLab User page in the sidebar
  2. Enter the new access token and click the Update button

​
Generating a Personal Access Token

1

Log in to your CodeRabbit service account

Log in using the user designated for CodeRabbit reviews. This user serves as a service account for managing reviews and related activities.
2

Navigate to access tokens

  1. Select your avatar on the left sidebar
  2. Choose Edit Profile
  3. Select Access Tokens from the left sidebar
  4. Click Add New Token
3

Configure token settings

  1. Enter a descriptive name for the token (e.g., “CodeRabbit Integration”)
  2. Set an expiry date for the token
If no expiry date is entered, it defaults to 365 days from the current date.
4

Select required scopes

Ensure the following scopes are selected:
  • api - Full API access
  • read_api - Read-only API access
  • read_user - Read user information
5

Create and save the token

  1. Click Create Personal Access Token
  2. Important: Copy and securely store the token immediately as it will only be displayed once
GitLab personal access token creation page showing required scopes and settings for CodeRabbit integration

​
Group Access Token​

Creating a Group Access Token in GitLab automatically generates a bot user. Ensure that the token is configured with Developer access. Once set up, you only need to provide this token for integration. Note that a Group Access Token is limited to the scope of the group where it was created. To configure additional groups, you will need to generate a separate Group Access Token for each group.
By default, GitLab restricts this option to users on the Premium or Ultimate tiers.

​
Generating a Group Access Token

1

Navigate to your group

Navigate to the group you wish to install CodeRabbit on.
2

Access token settings

  1. Select Settings from the left sidebar
  2. Select Access Tokens within the Settings heading
3

Create the token

  1. Create a Group Access Token
  2. Ensure the api scope is selected
  3. Ensure Developer Access is provided
Group Access Tokens create bot users with generic GitLab-generated usernames (like group_63_bot_5753...). If you prefer a more descriptive username for your CodeRabbit bot, you can customize it using the GitLab API.You can find the bot’s user ID through the CodeRabbit UI if connected, or by visiting the bot user’s profile from your Group Members page in GitLab.

​
Configuring Access Tokens in CodeRabbit​

By default, if no access token is provided, CodeRabbit will prompt you to provide one during the installation process. However, if you wish to provide the token beforehand, you can do so by navigating to the Organization Settings tab, and selecting the GitLab User tab on the sidebar. Once entering the token, the token will be validated and saved for future use. You can confirm the correct user is being selected by verifying the user ID shown on the UI with the user ID of the service account user you created.

​
Repository Installation​

1

Access repository settings

Go to the Repositories page in the CodeRabbit app.
2

Select repositories

Select the checkbox next to the repositories where you want to install CodeRabbit.
To install CodeRabbit on all repositories at once, select the checkbox at the top.
3

Install CodeRabbit

Select Install Repositories to complete the installation.
CodeRabbit repository installation modal showing GitLab repositories available for integration The webhook https://coderabbit.ai/gitlabHandler will now be installed for the projects selected. GitLab webhook configuration showing CodeRabbit's webhook URL installed in project settings

​
Troubleshooting​

If you are experiencing issues with the webhook, such as CodeRabbit not being able to access the repository, or not reviewing merge requests, you can manually delete the webhook from the repository.Then refresh the repository page in the CodeRabbit app and reinstall the webhook.If you cannot install the webhook, please check that your GitLab user has the necessary permissions to install the webhook and the PAT is not expired.

​
What’s next​

Configure CodeRabbit

Customize review behavior and preferences for your repositories

Review Instructions

Add custom review guidelines specific to your team’s coding standards

Code Review Overview

Learn how to review merge requests with CodeRabbit’s AI assistance

Organization Settings

Manage team members, permissions, and organization-wide settings