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External issue trackers (FREE ALL)

GitLab has its own issue tracker, but you can also configure an external issue tracker per GitLab project. You can then use:

  • The external issue tracker with the GitLab issue tracker
  • The external issue tracker only

With an external tracker, you can use the format CODE-123 to mention external issues in GitLab merge requests, commits, and comments where:

  • CODE is a unique code for the tracker.
  • 123 is the issue number in the tracker.

References are displayed as issue links.

Disable the GitLab issue tracker

To disable the GitLab issue tracker for a project:

  1. On the left sidebar, select Search or go to and find your project.
  2. Select Settings > General.
  3. Expand Visibility, project features, permissions.
  4. Under Issues, turn off the toggle.
  5. Select Save changes.

After you disable the GitLab issue tracker, Issues is not visible on the left sidebar of your project.

Configure an external issue tracker

You can configure any of the following external issue trackers: