Issue closing pattern

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• Tier: Free, Premium, Ultimate
• Offering: GitLab Self-Managed

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[!note] For user documentation about issue closing patterns, see Closing issues automatically.

When a commit or merge request resolves one or more issues, GitLab can close those issues when the commit or merge request lands in the project's default branch. The default issue closing pattern covers a wide range of words, and administrators can configure the word list as needed.

Change the issue closing pattern

To change the default issue closing pattern to suit your needs:

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{{< tab title="Linux package (Omnibus)" >}}

1. Edit /etc/gitlab/gitlab.rb and change the gitlab_rails['gitlab_issue_closing_pattern'] value:

   rubyCopy

   gitlab_rails['gitlab_issue_closing_pattern'] = /<regular_expression>/.source
   

2. Save the file and reconfigure GitLab:

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   sudo gitlab-ctl reconfigure
   

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{{< tab title="Helm chart (Kubernetes)" >}}

1. Export the Helm values:

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   helm get values gitlab > gitlab_values.yaml
   

2. Edit gitlab_values.yaml and change the issueClosingPattern value:

   yamlCopy

   global:
     appConfig:
       issueClosingPattern: "<regular_expression>"
   

3. Save the file and apply the new values:

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   helm upgrade -f gitlab_values.yaml gitlab gitlab/gitlab
   

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{{< tab title="Docker" >}}

1. Edit docker-compose.yml and change the gitlab_rails['gitlab_issue_closing_pattern'] value:

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   version: "3.6"
   services:
     gitlab:
       environment:
         GITLAB_OMNIBUS_CONFIG: |
           gitlab_rails['gitlab_issue_closing_pattern'] = /<regular_expression>/.source
   

2. Save the file and restart GitLab:

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   docker compose up -d
   

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{{< tab title="Self-compiled (source)" >}}

1. Edit /home/git/gitlab/config/gitlab.yml and change the issue_closing_pattern value:

   yamlCopy

   production: &base
     gitlab:
       issue_closing_pattern: "<regular_expression>"
   

2. Save the file and restart GitLab:

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   # For systems running systemd
   sudo systemctl restart gitlab.target
   
   # For systems running SysV init
   sudo service gitlab restart
   

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To test the issue closing pattern, use Rubular. Rubular does not understand %{issue_ref}. When you test your patterns, replace this string with #\d+, which matches only local issue references like #123.