Is GitLab Down? Complete Status Check Guide + Quick Fixes

GitLab not loading?
CI/CD pipelines stuck?
Can't push or pull code?

TL;DR: If you think GitLab is down, check the official GitLab status page and a live monitor first.
If both show operational, the issue is likely local (network, SSH keys, runner config, or browser cache).
This guide covers quick checks, fixes, and when to worry if GitLab is not working.

Quick Check: Is GitLab Actually Down?

Don't assume it's GitLab.
Most "GitLab down" reports are caused by local network issues, expired SSH keys, runner misconfiguration, or browser extensions.

60-second triage

1. Check the GitLab status page.
2. Try git ls-remote against your repo.
3. Test from a different network (mobile hotspot).
4. Ask a teammate if they can push/pull.

Fast scope check

If only one user is affected:

• Likely SSH keys, tokens, permissions, or local Git config.

If only CI/CD is affected:

• Check runner availability and pipeline queue depth.

If everything is affected:

• Higher chance of a GitLab.com outage.

Quick decision tree

Status page operational + only you affected → Local issue
Status page operational + whole team affected → Project/group/runner issue
Status page degraded + many reports → GitLab incident likely

Keywords people search

• "GitLab down"
• "GitLab status"
• "GitLab not working"
• "is GitLab down today"

Official Sources

GitLab Status Page (Primary)

GitLab Status:
🔗 status.gitlab.com

What to look for:

• ✅ All Systems Operational
• ⚠️ Partial Service Disruption
• 🔴 Major Service Outage

Common components listed:

• GitLab.com (Web UI)
• Git Operations (SSH/HTTPS)
• CI/CD (Pipelines, Runners, Jobs)
• Container Registry
• Package Registry
• Pages (Static Sites)
• API (REST/GraphQL)
• Gitaly (Git storage backend)

API Status Check (Independent Monitor)

Live monitoring:
🔗 apistatuscheck.com/api/gitlab

Why it helps:

• Independent uptime checks every few minutes
• Historical uptime trends
• Alerting to Slack/Discord/email
• Confirms if it's a platform issue vs. your account

Live "Is GitLab Down" page

🔗 apistatuscheck.com/is-gitlab-down

Use it to:

• Get a quick yes/no answer
• Track outage status in real time
• Share a simple link with your team

Status notifications

Subscribe to updates:

• Email or SMS updates from the status page
• RSS feeds for incident changes
• Follow @gitlabstatus on Twitter/X

Tip: If you run production CI/CD on GitLab, subscribe so you know immediately when services degrade.

Third-party tools

DownDetector

🔗 downdetector.com/status/gitlab

Why use it:

• Crowd-sourced outage spikes
• Regional heatmaps
• Time-based report graphs

IsItDownRightNow

🔗 isitdownrightnow.com/gitlab.com.html

Why it helps:

• Quick availability checks
• Simple uptime history chart

Twitter/X search

🔗 Search "GitLab down" on Twitter/X

Why it helps:

• Developers report outages fast
• Region-specific insights
• GitLab support sometimes responds publicly

Community + forums

• GitLab Forum (forum.gitlab.com)
• r/gitlab on Reddit
• Hacker News (search "GitLab")
• GitLab issue tracker (gitlab.com/gitlab-org/gitlab/-/issues)

Note: Third-party tools can show false positives during local ISP issues.
Always confirm with the official status page.

Common Issues

Issue: CI/CD pipelines stuck or not starting

Symptoms:

• Pipelines stuck in "Pending" or "Waiting for resource"
• Jobs never picked up by runners
• Pipeline spinner never completes
• "No runners available" warnings

Likely causes:

• Shared runner fleet overloaded or degraded
• Runner tags don't match job requirements
• CI/CD service incident
• Runner registration expired

What to check:

• Status page for CI/CD component
• Project → Settings → CI/CD → Runners
• Try triggering a pipeline in a different project
• Check if specific runner tags are available

Issue: Git push/pull failing

Symptoms:

• git push hangs at "Enumerating objects"
• git clone returns 502 or connection refused
• SSH: "Connection closed by remote host"
• HTTPS: 403 or 500 errors

Likely causes:

• Git Operations service degraded
• Gitaly storage backend issues
• SSH key expired or misconfigured
• Rate limiting due to traffic spikes
• Corporate firewall blocking SSH (port 22)

What to check:

• Status page for Git Operations component
• Test SSH: ssh -T git@gitlab.com
• Test HTTPS: git ls-remote https://gitlab.com/your/repo.git
• Try switching between SSH and HTTPS

Issue: Container Registry pull/push failures

Symptoms:

• docker pull returns 502/503
• docker push hangs at "Preparing"
• Auth errors when logging into registry
• Image tags missing or delayed

Likely causes:

• Container Registry service outage
• Auth service degraded
• Storage backend latency
• Network edge issues

What to check:

• Status page for Container Registry component
• Test: docker login registry.gitlab.com
• Try pulling a known public image
• Check from a different network

Issue: Merge requests not loading

Symptoms:

• MR page shows blank diff
• Approvals widget won't load
• Discussion comments fail to post
• MR widgets show 500 errors

Likely causes:

• Web UI degradation
• Gitaly service latency (diff calculation)
• Database pressure during peak hours
• Large diffs timing out

What to check:

• Status page for Web UI component
• Try viewing a smaller MR
• Use the API to fetch MR data as a workaround
• Test in incognito mode

Issue: GitLab Pages not deploying

Symptoms:

• Pages pipeline succeeds but site doesn't update
• 404 on your GitLab Pages URL
• SSL certificate errors on custom domains
• Deployment stuck in queue

Likely causes:

• Pages service degradation
• DNS propagation delays (custom domains)
• Artifact upload issues
• Pages build runner capacity

What to check:

• Status page for Pages component
• Check pipeline artifacts were uploaded
• Verify DNS settings for custom domains
• Try redeploying

Issue: GitLab API returning errors

Symptoms:

• API requests return 500/502/503
• GraphQL queries timing out
• Webhooks delayed or missing
• Integrations failing

Likely causes:

• API service degradation
• Rate limiting (authenticated: 2,000 req/hour)
• Database contention during peak load
• Token permissions insufficient

What to check:

• Status page for API component
• Response headers for rate limit info
• Try with a simpler API call
• Check token scopes and expiration

Issue: Search not returning results

Symptoms:

• Project/group search returns empty
• Code search times out
• Advanced search indexing lag
• Global search shows stale results

Likely causes:

• Elasticsearch/search service degradation
• Indexing backlog
• Search scope misconfigured
• Large repositories slow to index

What to check:

• Try basic search vs. advanced search
• Search within a specific project
• Check if recently pushed code appears
• Status page for any search-related incidents

Issue: Package Registry errors

Symptoms:

• npm install from GitLab registry fails
• Maven/NuGet/PyPI packages not resolving
• Package publish returns errors
• Package versions missing

Likely causes:

• Package Registry service degradation
• Auth token issues
• Storage backend problems
• Rate limiting

What to check:

• Status page for Package Registry
• Verify token with appropriate scopes
• Test with a different package manager
• Check project-level package settings

Quick Fixes

Fix #1: Test Git connectivity

SSH:

ssh -T git@gitlab.com

Expected: "Welcome to GitLab, @username!"

HTTPS:

git ls-remote https://gitlab.com/your/repo.git

If SSH fails but HTTPS works:

• Check ~/.ssh/config for GitLab entries
• Verify SSH key is added to your GitLab profile
• Try: ssh -vT git@gitlab.com for debug output

Fix #3: Check and restart runners

For self-managed runners:

1. Check runner status: gitlab-runner status
2. Restart: gitlab-runner restart
3. Verify registration: gitlab-runner verify
4. Check logs: journalctl -u gitlab-runner -f

For shared runners:

• Nothing you can do — wait for GitLab to resolve
• Consider registering a self-managed runner as backup

---

Fix #4: Clear Git credentials cache

Mac:

git credential-osxkeychain erase

Windows:

git credential-manager reject https://gitlab.com

Linux:

git config --global --unset credential.helper

---

Fix #5: Reduce pipeline load

If pipelines are slow during incidents:

• Cancel duplicate/unnecessary pipelines
• Use rules:changes to skip unaffected jobs
• Limit concurrent jobs per project
• Disable optional test stages temporarily

---

Fix #6: Use API for workarounds

If the Web UI is down but API works:

# List merge requests
curl --header "PRIVATE-TOKEN: $TOKEN" \
  "https://gitlab.com/api/v4/projects/$PROJECT_ID/merge_requests?state=opened"

# Trigger pipeline
curl --request POST --header "PRIVATE-TOKEN: $TOKEN" \
  "https://gitlab.com/api/v4/projects/$PROJECT_ID/pipeline?ref=main"

---

Fix #7: Check DNS resolution

nslookup gitlab.com
dig gitlab.com

If DNS fails:

• Switch to 1.1.1.1 or 8.8.8.8
• Flush DNS cache:
  • Mac: sudo dscacheutil -flushcache; sudo killall -HUP mDNSResponder
  • Windows: ipconfig /flushdns

---

Fix #8: Test from a clean environment

Why: Isolates browser, extension, or cache issues.

Steps:

1. Open incognito/private window
2. Navigate to gitlab.com
3. Log in and test the failing feature
4. If it works → clear main browser cache/cookies

---

Fix #9: Check firewall and proxy settings

Common blocks:

• SSH (port 22) blocked by corporate firewall
• HTTPS inspection breaking Git SSL
• Proxy not configured in Git config

Fix:

# Set proxy
git config --global http.proxy http://proxy:8080

# Use SSH over HTTPS port
# Add to ~/.ssh/config:
# Host gitlab.com
#   Hostname altssh.gitlab.com
#   Port 443

---

Fix #10: Verify token permissions

If API/registry calls fail with 401/403:

• Check token expiration date
• Verify required scopes (api, read_registry, write_registry)
• Generate a new token if expired
• Check project/group access level

History of outages

Where to find incident history

GitLab incident history is listed on:
status.gitlab.com

What to check:

• Time of incident start and resolution
• Affected components (Git Ops, CI/CD, Registry, API)
• Root cause summaries and postmortems
• GitLab publishes detailed postmortems on their blog

How to interpret incident history

• Short incidents often indicate quick mitigations or failovers.
• Repeated CI/CD incidents may signal runner fleet capacity issues.
• Gitaly incidents affect all Git operations (push, pull, diff, merge).
• Scheduled maintenance is announced ahead of time on the status page.

Typical causes of GitLab outages

• Gitaly storage backend saturation
• Database performance degradation (PostgreSQL)
• CI/CD runner fleet capacity issues
• Kubernetes infrastructure problems
• Network/CDN edge issues
• Deployment-related regressions
• Third-party dependency failures

What to document internally

• Exact time of impact
• Features affected (Git ops, CI/CD, web UI, API)
• Number of developers/pipelines blocked
• Workarounds used
• Business impact (delayed deployments, broken builds)

When to worry

Signs it's a real outage

• Official status page shows degradation
• Multiple developers across teams affected
• Third-party monitors show report spikes
• Both SSH and HTTPS Git operations fail
• CI/CD queues growing with no jobs completing

Signs it's local

• Only one developer affected
• Only SSH or only HTTPS fails (not both)
• Works on mobile hotspot
• Incognito mode works fine
• Other Git hosting (GitHub) works normally

Escalation checklist

1. Capture timestamps and error messages
2. Confirm with a teammate in another location
3. Check GitLab status and independent monitors
4. Notify your team if CI/CD or deployments are blocked
5. Switch to local development if possible
6. Open a GitLab support ticket if on a paid plan

Business impact thresholds

• < 15 minutes: Monitor, try local fixes
• 15–60 minutes: Alert team, pause deployments, use cached dependencies
• > 60 minutes: Trigger incident response, switch to backup Git remote if available

FAQ

Is GitLab down right now?

Check the official status page at status.gitlab.com and compare with apistatuscheck.com/api/gitlab.

Is GitLab down today for everyone?

If multiple developers can't push/pull across different networks, and the status page shows an incident, it's likely a platform outage.

Why is GitLab not working for me but works for others?

This usually indicates SSH key issues, expired tokens, corporate firewall blocks, or local Git configuration problems.

How do I check GitLab status quickly?

Open status.gitlab.com and the live status page at apistatuscheck.com/is-gitlab-down.

What should I do if GitLab CI/CD is down?

Check the CI/CD component status. If shared runners are degraded, consider using self-managed runners as backup. Cancel unnecessary pipelines to reduce queue pressure.

Why are my GitLab pipelines stuck?

Pipelines can get stuck due to runner unavailability, tag mismatches, service incidents, or exceeded concurrent job limits. Check runner status in project settings.

Can GitLab Container Registry be down while Git works?

Yes. GitLab services are independent — Git operations may work fine while the Container Registry is degraded.

Is there a GitLab outage history?

Yes. Past incidents, postmortems, and maintenance events are listed at status.gitlab.com. GitLab also publishes detailed incident reviews on their blog.

How can I monitor GitLab automatically?

Use apistatuscheck.com/api/gitlab for independent uptime monitoring with alerts via RSS, Slack, Discord, or email.

What's the fastest workaround if GitLab is down?

Switch to local development, use cached Docker images, and defer CI/CD-dependent work. If you have a GitHub mirror, push there temporarily.

Does GitLab have regional outages?

Yes. GitLab.com runs on Google Cloud Platform, so regional GCP issues can affect specific users. Check third-party tools for regional reports.

Related Resources

• API Status Check — GitLab Monitoring
• How to Get API Outage Alerts in Slack, Discord, and Email via RSS
• Official GitLab Status Page