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---
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stage: Verify
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group: Pipeline Execution
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info: To determine the technical writer assigned to the Stage/Group associated with this page, see https://about.gitlab.com/handbook/engineering/ux/technical-writing/#assignments
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type: index, howto
---
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# GitLab CI/CD for external repositories **(PREMIUM)**
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>[Introduced](https://gitlab.com/gitlab-org/gitlab/-/merge_requests/4642) in [GitLab Premium ](https://about.gitlab.com/pricing/ ) 10.6.
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GitLab CI/CD can be used with:
- [GitHub ](github_integration.md ).
- [Bitbucket Cloud ](bitbucket_integration.md ).
- Any other Git server.
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Instead of moving your entire project to GitLab, you can connect your
external repository to get the benefits of GitLab CI/CD.
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Connecting an external repository sets up [repository mirroring ](../../user/project/repository/repository_mirroring.md )
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and create a lightweight project with issues, merge requests, wiki, and
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snippets disabled. These features
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[can be re-enabled later ](../../user/project/settings/index.md#sharing-and-permissions ).
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To connect to an external repository:
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<!-- vale gitlab.Spelling = NO -->
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1. From your GitLab dashboard, click **New project** .
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1. Switch to the **CI/CD for external repository** tab.
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1. Choose **GitHub** or **Repo by URL** .
1. The next steps are similar to the [import flow ](../../user/project/import/index.md ).
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<!-- vale gitlab.Spelling = YES -->
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![CI/CD for external repository project creation ](img/ci_cd_for_external_repo.png )
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## Pipelines for external pull requests
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> [Introduced](https://gitlab.com/gitlab-org/gitlab-foss/-/issues/65139) in GitLab Premium 12.3.
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When using GitLab CI/CD with an [external repository on GitHub ](github_integration.md ),
it's possible to run a pipeline in the context of a Pull Request.
When you push changes to a remote branch in GitHub, GitLab CI/CD can run a pipeline for
the branch. However, when you open or update a Pull Request for that branch you may want to:
- Run extra jobs.
- Not run specific jobs.
For example:
```yaml
always-run:
script: echo 'this should always run'
on-pull-requests:
script: echo 'this should run on pull requests'
only:
- external_pull_requests
except-pull-requests:
script: echo 'this should not run on pull requests'
except:
- external_pull_requests
```
### How it works
When a repository is imported from GitHub, GitLab subscribes to webhooks
for `push` and `pull_request` events. Once a `pull_request` event is received,
the Pull Request data is stored and kept as a reference. If the Pull Request
has just been created, GitLab immediately creates a pipeline for the external
pull request.
If changes are pushed to the branch referenced by the Pull Request and the
Pull Request is still open, a pipeline for the external pull request is
created.
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GitLab CI/CD creates 2 pipelines in this case. One for the
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branch push and one for the external pull request.
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After the Pull Request is closed, no pipelines are created for the external pull
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request, even if new changes are pushed to the same branch.
### Additional predefined variables
By using pipelines for external pull requests, GitLab exposes additional
[predefined variables ](../variables/predefined_variables.md ) to the pipeline jobs.
The variable names are prefixed with `CI_EXTERNAL_PULL_REQUEST_` .
### Limitations
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This feature currently does not support Pull Requests from fork repositories. Any Pull Requests from fork repositories are ignored. [Read more ](https://gitlab.com/gitlab-org/gitlab/-/issues/5667 ).
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Given that GitLab creates 2 pipelines, if changes are pushed to a remote branch that
references an open Pull Request, both contribute to the status of the Pull Request
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via GitHub integration. If you want to exclusively run pipelines on external pull
requests and not on branches you can add `except: [branches]` to the job specs.
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[Read more ](https://gitlab.com/gitlab-org/gitlab/-/issues/24089#workaround ).