GitLab Integration

Integration with GitLab synchronizes source and translation files between your GitLab repository and translation project in Crowdin Enterprise. All translated and approved files will be automatically pushed as a merge request to the l10n branch in GitLab repository.

Connecting GitLab with Crowdin Enterprise

There are two possible options you can choose from. You can either use your GitLab Account or GitLab Enterprise Account.

Connecting GitLab Account

1. Open your project and go to Resources > Integrations & API.
2. Select GitLab integration and click Set Up Integration to integrate via your GitLab Account.
3. Then authorize the connection with Crowdin Enterprise on the GitLab side.

Connecting GitLab Enterprise Account

1. To integrate via GitLab Enterprise Account you should create an access token. Make sure to select the required scope:

   • api – Grants complete read/write access to the API, including all groups and projects, the container registry, and the package registry
2. Then insert your access token and Base URL into corresponding fields. Click Set Up Integration to proceed.
3. In the pop-up dialogue select your repository and branches that should be translated. It is recommended to switch duplicate strings to Show (Recommended for versions), so identical strings will be hidden between branches. Read more about Duplicate Strings.

Service Branches

When translations are finished and your languages are ready to go live, Crowdin Enterprise sends merge request with translations to your version control system. For every branch that is under localization, Crowdin Enterprise creates additional service branch with translations. We do not commit directly to the master branch so you can verify translations first.

By default, l10n_ is added to the created service branch name. If necessary it can be easily changed.

Synchronization Settings

By default, sources are not pushed to the repo with translations. Although, if you perform source text changes in your Crowdin Enterprise project and would like to push the changes made to your source files on Crowdin Enterprise back to your repo, click Edit, select Push Sources in the integration’s settings, and click Save.

There are cases when it’s necessary to disable translations from being pushed to the repo temporarily. In this situation, click Edit, clear Push Translations in the integration’s settings, and click Save. When ready to sync translations with the repo, select the Push Translations, and click Save.

The synchronization is processed every hour automatically. If necessary, you can change the update interval in the integration’s settings. To configure the synchronization schedule – click Edit, scroll down to the Sync Schedule, set the preferred interval, and click Save.

Not depending on the synchronization settings, the changes made to the source files on the repo will be still synced with Crowdin Enterprise every 10 minutes.

Branches to Sync Automatically

When you set up the integration you select existing repository branches that should be added to the Crowdin Enterprise project. To add future branches from GitLab to Crowdin Enterprise automatically, create a pattern for the branch names in the integration’s settings.

For example, you add a pattern *feature in the GitLab integration settings. In this case, the future branches that contain this word at the end of the title will be added to the project.

To add a pattern for branch names, follow these steps:

1. Click Edit in the GitLab integration section.
2. In the pop-up dialogue scroll down to the Branches to Sync Automatically.
3. In the Branches to Sync Automatically field, use wildcard selectors such as ‘*’, ‘?’, ‘[set]’, ‘' and others to identify the necessary branches.
4. Click Save.

Default configuration file name

crowdin.yml is the default file name that is used for automatically synchronized branches. To change the default settings, click Edit, specify the preferred name in the Default configuration file name field in the integration’s settings, and click Save.

Selecting Content for Synchronization

To get the integration working, you have to specify which source files should be translated and how Crowdin Enterprise should structure translated files in your repository. In case, you see a red icon with an exclamatory mark next to the service branch name, this means that you didn’t choose content for synchronization.

There are two ways to do that: configuring online or manually by creating a configuration file.

Configuring Online

This procedure is the same for all integrations with version control systems (VCS). Check VCS Integrations: Configuring Online to get to know how to select content for synchronization online.

Creating Configuration File

Configuration file crowdin.yaml should be stored in the GitLab repository along with each separate branch that you want to translate, so Crowdin Enterprise knows what files exactly should be sent for translations.

It should have the same structure as required for Synchronization Tool, but your project’s credentials should not be stored in the file’s header for security reasons. Read more about creating a configuration file.

Checking the Status of Synchronization

Once the integration is set up, all the related information is stored in the same place – Resources > Integrations & API, GitLab section.
By default, synchronization is processed every hour automatically. If you need to launch the synchronization instantly – click Sync Now.

Uploading Translations from Repo

By default, the translations that are stored on the repo are uploaded to Crowdin Enterprise during the first synchronization only. To upload translations to Crowdin Enterprise manually, click next to the Sync Now button, and click Upload Translations. The integration will upload existing translations to the Crowdin Enterprise project.

See Also

• Versions Management