Composer packages in the Package Registry (FREE)

• Introduced in GitLab 13.2.
• Moved from GitLab Premium to GitLab Free in 13.3.
• Support for Composer 2.0 added in GitLab 13.10.
• Deploy token support added in GitLab 14.6.

WARNING: The Composer package registry for GitLab is under development and isn't ready for production use due to limited functionality. This epic details the remaining work and timelines to make it production ready.

Publish Composer packages in your project's Package Registry. Then, install the packages whenever you need to use them as a dependency.

For documentation of the specific API endpoints that the Composer client uses, see the Composer API documentation.

Create a Composer package

If you do not have a Composer package, create one and check it in to a repository. This example shows a GitLab repository, but the repository can be any public or private repository.

WARNING: If you are using a GitLab repository, the project must have been created from a group's namespace, rather than a user's namespace. Composer packages can't be published to projects created from a user's namespace.

1. Create a directory called my-composer-package and change to that directory:

   mkdir my-composer-package && cd my-composer-package

2. Run composer init and answer the prompts.

   For namespace, enter your unique namespace, like your GitLab username or group name.

   A file called composer.json is created:

   {
     "name": "<namespace>/composer-test",
     "description": "Library XY",
     "type": "library",
     "license": "GPL-3.0-only",
     "authors": [
        {
            "name": "John Doe",
            "email": "john@example.com"
        }
     ],
     "require": {}
   }

3. Run Git commands to tag the changes and push them to your repository:

   git init
   git add composer.json
   git commit -m 'Composer package test'
   git tag v1.0.0
   git remote add origin git@gitlab.example.com:<namespace>/<project-name>.git
   git push --set-upstream origin main
   git push origin v1.0.0

The package is now in your GitLab Package Registry.

Publish a Composer package by using the API

Publish a Composer package to the Package Registry, so that anyone who can access the project can use the package as a dependency.

Prerequisites:

• A package in a GitLab repository. Composer packages should be versioned based on the Composer specification. If the version is not valid, for example, it has three dots (1.0.0.0), an error (Validation failed: Version is invalid) occurs when you publish.
• A valid composer.json file.
• The Packages feature is enabled in a GitLab repository.
• The project ID, which is on the project's home page.
• One of the following token types:
  • A personal access token with the scope set to api.
  • A deploy token with the scope set to write_package_registry.

To publish the package with a personal access token:

• Send a POST request to the Packages API.

  For example, you can use curl:

  curl --data tag=<tag> "https://__token__:<personal-access-token>@gitlab.example.com/api/v4/projects/<project_id>/packages/composer"

  • <personal-access-token> is your personal access token.
  • <project_id> is your project ID.
  • <tag> is the Git tag name of the version you want to publish. To publish a branch, use branch=<branch> instead of tag=<tag>.

To publish the package with a deploy token:

• Send a POST request to the Packages API.

  For example, you can use curl:

  curl --data tag=<tag> --header "Deploy-Token: <deploy-token>" "https://gitlab.example.com/api/v4/projects/<project_id>/packages/composer"

  • <deploy-token> is your deploy token
  • <project_id> is your project ID.
  • <tag> is the Git tag name of the version you want to publish. To publish a branch, use branch=<branch> instead of tag=<tag>.

You can view the published package by going to Packages & Registries > Package Registry and selecting the Composer tab.

Publish a Composer package by using CI/CD

You can publish a Composer package to the Package Registry as part of your CI/CD process.

1. Specify a CI_JOB_TOKEN in your .gitlab-ci.yml file:

   stages:
     - deploy
   
   deploy:
     stage: deploy
     script:
       - apk add curl
       - 'curl --header "Job-Token: $CI_JOB_TOKEN" --data tag=<tag> "${CI_API_V4_URL}/projects/$CI_PROJECT_ID/packages/composer"'

2. Run the pipeline.

To view the published package, go to Packages & Registries > Package Registry and select the Composer tab.

Use a CI/CD template

A more detailed Composer CI/CD file is also available as a .gitlab-ci.yml template:

1. On the left sidebar, select Project information.
2. Above the file list, select Set up CI/CD. If this button is not available, select CI/CD Configuration and then Edit.
3. From the Apply a template list, select Composer.

WARNING: Do not save unless you want to overwrite the existing CI/CD file.

Publishing packages with the same name or version

When you publish:

• The same package with different data, it overwrites the existing package.
• The same package with the same data, a 400 Bad request error occurs.

Install a Composer package

Install a package from the Package Registry so you can use it as a dependency.

Prerequisites:

• A package in the Package Registry.
• The group ID, which is on the group's home page.
• One of the following token types:
  • A personal access token with the scope set to, at minimum, api.
  • A deploy token with the scope set to read_package_registry, write_package_registry, or both.

To install a package:

1. Add the Package Registry URL to your project's composer.json file, along with the package name and version you want to install:

   • Connect to the Package Registry for your group:

   composer config repositories.<group_id> composer https://gitlab.example.com/api/v4/group/<group_id>/-/packages/composer/

   • Set the required package version:

   composer require <package_name>:<version>

   Result in the composer.json file:

   {
     ...
     "repositories": {
       "<group_id>": {
         "type": "composer",
         "url": "https://gitlab.example.com/api/v4/group/<group_id>/-/packages/composer/"
       },
       ...
     },
     "require": {
       ...
       "<package_name>": "<version>"
     },
     ...
   }

   You can unset this with the command:

   composer config --unset repositories.<group_id>

   • <group_id> is the group ID.
   • <package_name> is the package name defined in your package's composer.json file.
   • <version> is the package version.

2. Create an auth.json file with your GitLab credentials:

   Using a personal access token:

   composer config gitlab-token.<DOMAIN-NAME> <personal_access_token>

   Result in the auth.json file:

   {
     ...
     "gitlab-token": {
       "<DOMAIN-NAME>": "<personal_access_token>",
       ...
     }
   }

   Using a deploy token:

   composer config gitlab-token.<DOMAIN-NAME> <deploy_token_username> <deploy_token>

   Result in the auth.json file:

   {
     ...
     "gitlab-token": {
       "<DOMAIN-NAME>": {
         "username": "<deploy_token_username>",
         "token": "<deploy_token>",
       ...
     }
   }

   You can unset this with the command:

   composer config --unset --auth gitlab-token.<DOMAIN-NAME>

   • <DOMAIN-NAME> is the GitLab instance URL gitlab.com or gitlab.example.com.
   • <personal_access_token> with the scope set to api, or <deploy_token> with the scope set to read_package_registry and/or write_package_registry.

3. If you are on a GitLab self-managed instance, add gitlab-domains to composer.json.

   composer config gitlab-domains gitlab01.example.com gitlab02.example.com

   Result in the composer.json file:

   {
     ...
     "repositories": [
       { "type": "composer", "url": "https://gitlab.example.com/api/v4/group/<group_id>/-/packages/composer/" }
     ],
     "config": {
       ...
       "gitlab-domains": ["gitlab01.example.com", "gitlab02.example.com"]
     },
     "require": {
       ...
       "<package_name>": "<version>"
     },
     ...
   }

   You can unset this with the command:

   composer config --unset gitlab-domains

   NOTE: On GitLab.com, Composer uses the GitLab token from auth.json as a private token by default. Without the gitlab-domains definition in composer.json, Composer uses the GitLab token as basic-auth, with the token as a username and a blank password. This results in a 401 error.

4. With the composer.json and auth.json files configured, you can install the package by running:

   composer update

   Or to install the single package:

   composer req <package-name>:<package-version>

   If successful, you should see output indicating that the package installed successfully.

   You can also install from source (by pulling the Git repository directly) using the --prefer-source option:

   composer update --prefer-source

WARNING: Never commit the auth.json file to your repository. To install packages from a CI/CD job, consider using the composer config tool with your access token stored in a GitLab CI/CD variable or in HashiCorp Vault.

Working with Deploy Tokens

Although Composer packages are accessed at the group level, a group or project deploy token can be used to access them:

• A group deploy token has access to all packages published to projects in that group or its subgroups.
• A project deploy token only has access to packages published to that particular project.

Supported CLI commands

The GitLab Composer repository supports the following Composer CLI commands:

• composer install: Install Composer dependencies.
• composer update: Install the latest version of Composer dependencies.