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GitLab.com — push-mirror target for chirag127 + chirag127

service servicegit-hostmirrorbackupgitlabfree-tier

GitLab.com — push-mirror target

Role

GitLab.com is mirror host #1 in the 6-host DR strategy. Every repo in chirag127 and chirag127 is pushed here via git push --mirror from the weekly Friday cron in .github/workflows/mirror-all.yml.

Free Tier

Limit Value
Repos Unlimited (personal namespace)
Storage per project 10 GiB (Git + LFS); read-only state if exceeded
Top-level groups 3 per account (accounts created after Jan 27 2026)
CI/CD Minutes 400 min/month
Private namespace users 5 max
Pull mirroring ❌ Premium/Ultimate only — not free

Our repos are all < 100 MB; 100× headroom on the 10 GiB limit.

Authentication

Field Value
Token type Personal Access Token (PAT)
Token URL https://gitlab.com/-/user_settings/personal_access_tokens
Required scopes api + write_repository
Env var name MIRROR_GITLAB_TOKEN
Git URL format https://oauth2:TOKEN@gitlab.com/username/repo.git
Auth header (API) PRIVATE-TOKEN: TOKEN

How to get the token

  1. Log in at https://gitlab.com

  2. Go to User Settings → Access Tokens (/-/user_settings/personal_access_tokens)

  3. Click Add new token

  4. Name: oriz-mirror-bot

  5. Expiration: set to 1 year from today (GitLab now requires expiry)

  6. Scopes: tick api and write_repository

  7. Click Create personal access token — copy immediately, shown once

  8. Store as chirag127 org-level GitHub secret(s) — paste value into .env then gh secret set <NAME> --org chirag127 --visibility all < <(printf %s "$VALUE"). Full loop: runbooks/platform/mirror-all-hosts-setup.md Step 2.

Create project under personal namespace

curl -s -X POST "https://gitlab.com/api/v4/projects"
-H "PRIVATE-TOKEN: ${MIRROR_GITLAB_TOKEN}"
-H "Content-Type: application/json"
-d "{"name":"${REPO_NAME}","visibility":"public"}"
|| true # 409 = already exists — fine

Create project under a group namespace

First get group ID:

GET https://gitlab.com/api/v4/groups?search=chirag127

curl -s -X POST "https://gitlab.com/api/v4/projects"
-H "PRIVATE-TOKEN: ${MIRROR_GITLAB_TOKEN}"
-H "Content-Type: application/json"
-d "{"name":"${REPO_NAME}","namespace_id":${GROUP_ID},"visibility":"public"}"


## Rate Limits

- API: per-user rate limits enforced (HTTP 429 on excess)
- Git push: no documented hard limit; large batches should sleep between pushes
- Concurrent push throttle: stay at `max-parallel: 5` or lower in matrix jobs

## Pull Mirror (NOT available on Free)

GitLab's native pull mirror feature (Settings → Repository → Mirroring
repositories) requires **Premium or Ultimate** tier. On Free, we use
**push mirroring** — GitHub Actions runs `git push --mirror` to GitLab.

## Mirror URL pattern

https://oauth2:${MIRROR_GITLAB_TOKEN}@gitlab.com/${MIRROR_GITLAB_USERNAME}/${REPO_NAME}.git


## Failure modes

| Symptom | Cause | Fix |
|---|---|---|
| `403 Forbidden` on push | Token missing `write_repository` scope | Regenerate token |
| `404 Not Found` on push | Mirror repo not pre-created | Run repo-creation script in setup runbook |
| `429 Too Many Requests` | API rate limit hit | Add `sleep 1` between API calls in loop |
| Push rejected: `read-only namespace` | Project exceeded 10 GiB | Delete old LFS objects or request increase |

## Cross-refs

- Full setup → [`../../../runbooks/mirror-all-hosts-setup.md`](../../runbooks/platform/mirror-all-hosts-setup.md)
- 9-host mirror decision → [`../../decisions/ops/mirror-to-9-popular-alternatives-2026-06-28.md`](../../decisions/ops/mirror-to-9-popular-alternatives-2026-06-28.md)
- Workflow → <!-- TODO: broken link, was [`../../../.github/workflows/mirror-all.yml`](../../.github/workflows/mirror-all.yml) -->