Share a project with a group (FREE ALL)

When you want a group to have access to your project, you can invite a group to the project. The group's direct and inherited members get access to the project, which becomes a shared project.

Example

For a project that was created by Group 1:

• The members of Group 1 have access to the project.
• The owner of Group 1 can invite Group 2 to the project. This way, members of both Group 1 and Group 2 have access to the shared project.

Prerequisites

To invite a group to a project, you must be at least one of the following:

• Explicitly defined as a member of the project.
• Explicitly defined as a member of a group or subgroup that has access to the project.
• An administrator.

In addition:

• You must be a member of the group or the subgroup being invited.

• The visibility level of the group you're inviting must be at least as restrictive as that of the project. For example, you can invite:

  • A private group to a private project
  • A private group to an internal project.
  • A private group to a public project.
  • An internal group to an internal project.
  • An internal group to a public project.
  • A public group to a public project.

• If the project's root ancestor group does not allow the project to be shared outside the hierarchy, the invited group or subgroup must be in the project's namespace. For example, a project in the namespace group/subgroup01/project:

  • Can be shared with group/subgroup02 or group/subgroup01/subgroup03.
  • Cannot be shared with group_abc.

Share a project with a group

• Changed in GitLab 13.11 from a form to a modal window with a flag. Disabled by default.
• Modal window enabled on GitLab.com and self-managed in GitLab 14.8.
• Generally available in GitLab 14.9. Feature flag invite_members_group_modal removed.

Similar to how you share a group with another group, you can share a project with a group by inviting that group to the project.

To invite a group to a project:

1. On the left sidebar, select Search or go to and find your project.
2. Select Manage > Members.
3. Select Invite a group.
4. Select a group you want to add to the project.
5. Select a role you want to assign to the group.
6. Optional. Select an Access expiration date.
7. Select Invite.

The following members are given access to the project:

• All direct group members.
• Inherited group members.
• Members of other groups that have access to the group being invited (by group share)

In addition:

• On the group's page, the project is listed on the Shared projects tab.
• On the project's Members page, the group is listed on the Groups tab.
• From GitLab 16.6, the invited group's name and membership source will be masked unless:
  • the group is public, or
  • the current user is a member of the group, or
  • the current user is a member of the project.
• Each user is assigned a maximum role.
• Members who have the Project Invite badge next to their profile on the usage quota page count towards the billable members of the shared project's top-level group.

Maximum role

When you invite a group to a project, the maximum role is the highest level of access the invited group members are allowed to have in the project.

When multiple groups contain the same members, and the groups have access to the same project, the group members are given the highest access level of the two for the project.

The member's Max role is the more restrictive of:

• The role the user is assigned for the group.
• The role you chose when you invited the group to the project.

NOTE: The Max role does not elevate the privileges of users. For example, if a group member has the role of Developer, and the group is invited to a project with a Max role of Maintainer, the member's role is not elevated to Maintainer.

Which roles you can assign

In GitLab 16.7 and later, the maximum role you can assign depends on whether you have the Owner or Maintainer role for the project. The maximum role you can set is:

• Owner (50), if you have the Owner role for the project.
• Maintainer (40), if you have the Maintainer role for the project.

In GitLab 16.6 and earlier, the maximum role you can assign to an invited group is Maintainer (40).

View the member's Max role

To view the maximum role assigned to a member:

1. On the left sidebar, select Search or go to and find your project.
2. Select Manage > Members.
3. In the Max role column, view the user's maximum assigned role.

View a group's shared projects

In a group, a shared project is a project to which the group members gained access through the Invite group action.

To view a group's shared projects:

1. On the left sidebar, select Search or go to and find your group.
2. On the group page, select the Shared projects tab.

A list of shared projects is displayed.

Related topics

• Prevent a project from being shared with groups.