GitLab CI/CD

gitlab-ci.yml runs Sponson in merge request pipelines: it plans and applies when a merge request is opened or updated, finishes the lines that wait on the deploy, and destroys the preview resources when the merge request is merged or closed. Production is a manual job on the default branch.

Moment	Job	What runs
MR opened or updated	`sponson:plan`	`sponson plan` (read-only diff in the job log)
	`sponson:apply`	`sponson apply`: creates the database branch, injects variables, stops with status `partial` at the deploy barrier
	`sponson:finish`	`sponson apply --wait`: after your `deploy` stage (or the host’s own deploy), finishes the lines that needed the preview URL
MR merged or closed	`sponson:destroy`	`sponson apply --destroy`, run by GitLab when it stops the `review/mr-<iid>` environment
Pipeline on the default branch	`sponson:production`	`sponson apply --env production`, a manual job; whoever starts it is the approver

Prerequisites

GitLab 16 or later, with merge request pipelines (the template’s workflow: switches to them for every branch with an open MR).
A release.plan.yaml at the repository root (sponson init writes one).
Runners that can pull node:22 and reach npm and the providers’ APIs.

Setup

Copy gitlab-ci.yml to .gitlab-ci.yml, or merge its workflow:, stages: and jobs into yours. Put your own deploy jobs in the deploy stage, if GitLab deploys the app.
Replace 0.5.0 with the Sponson version you have reviewed. Every job pins it, so an npm release never changes what runs.
Create the receipts token and the CI/CD variables below (Settings → CI/CD → Variables).
Protect the production environment (Operate → Environments → Protected environments) so only the people allowed to deploy can start sponson:production.

Variables

Variable	Flags	Value
`SPONSON_GITLAB_TOKEN`	masked, not protected	project access token with `write_repository` (below)
`VERCEL_TOKEN`, `NEON_API_KEY`, `CLERK_SECRET_KEY`	masked, not protected, environment scope `review/*`	the preview tokens; one per adapter your plan uses
the same names	masked, protected, environment scope `production`	the production tokens
every `env://NAME` a line references	masked, scoped like the tokens	the secret values

Merge request pipelines of unprotected branches cannot read protected variables, so the preview tokens must not be protected. Scoping them to review/* and the production ones to production keeps each job to its own tokens. Every adapter’s variable is listed under built-in ops.

Receipts: push credentials

Sponson writes its receipts to orphan branches of the project, sponson-receipts/<env>/<scope>, from a clone of its own. The job token (CI_JOB_TOKEN) cannot push to the repository, so the template points that clone at a token that can:

Settings → Access tokens → Add new token: name sponson-receipts, role Developer, scope write_repository only, an expiry date you will rotate before.
Save it as the CI/CD variable SPONSON_GITLAB_TOKEN (masked).
The .sponson job template exports SPONSON_RECEIPTS_REMOTE=${CI_SERVER_PROTOCOL}://oauth2:${SPONSON_GITLAB_TOKEN}@${CI_SERVER_HOST}:${CI_SERVER_PORT}/${CI_PROJECT_PATH}.git. Sponson strips credentials from every git error it prints.

If a protected-branch rule matches sponson-receipts/* (for example *), allow Developers to push to it or give the token the Maintainer role. The receipts branches carry no .gitlab-ci.yml, so pushing them starts no pipeline. To keep receipts out of git instead, pass --receipts local and keep .sponson/receipts as a job artifact or cache; a fresh runner then starts without the last run’s receipt, so prefer the git store.

How the flags are filled

Every job passes --pr, --branch and --sha from GitLab’s predefined variables, so the template works with any Sponson version:

Flag	Variable
`--pr`	`CI_MERGE_REQUEST_IID` (the `!N` of the project)
`--branch`	`CI_MERGE_REQUEST_SOURCE_BRANCH_NAME` (`CI_COMMIT_BRANCH` on the default branch)
`--sha`	`CI_MERGE_REQUEST_SOURCE_BRANCH_SHA` in merged-results pipelines (the head that is deployed, not the synthetic merge commit), else `CI_COMMIT_SHA`

Sponson 0.5.0 and later read the same variables themselves when GITLAB_CI is set, so the flags may then be dropped.

Notes

sponson:destroy is the environment’s on_stop job. GitLab runs it when the merge request is merged or closed, and you can run it from the environment’s page. It checks out the merge request’s ref (refs/merge-requests/<iid>/head), which GitLab keeps after the source branch is deleted, so the plan file is there to destroy from.
interruptible: false on the applying jobs: GitLab’s auto-cancel of redundant pipelines must not kill an apply half way. A killed apply is resumed by the next one; a cancelled one is not rolled back.
To clean up previews whose merge request is forgotten, add auto_stop_in: 2 weeks to the environment: of sponson:apply and sponson:finish.
What has been run: this file, unchanged but for the version, through gitlab-ci-local in node:22 containers against the fake cloud (scripts/try-ci-templates.sh gitlab): a merge request pipeline (sponson:plan; sponson:apply stopping at the deploy barrier; sponson:finish waiting for the deploy), the manual sponson:production on the default branch with GITLAB_USER_LOGIN recorded as the approver, and sponson:destroy, with the tokens as variables scoped to review/* and production. Not run on GitLab itself; see how the templates are checked.

The template: gitlab-ci.yml

gitlab-ci.yml

# Sponson on GitLab CI/CD, with merge request pipelines. Copy into .gitlab-ci.yml and merge `stages:` with yours.
# integrations/gitlab/README.md lists the CI/CD variables to set and how receipts are pushed.
#
#   MR opened or updated          sponson:plan, sponson:apply (stops at the deploy barrier with status partial),
#                                 your deploy jobs, then sponson:finish (waits for the deploy, finishes the lines)
#   MR merged or closed           GitLab stops the review environment, which runs sponson:destroy
#   pipeline on the default branch   sponson:production, a manual job a human starts (the approver)
#
# Replace 0.5.0 everywhere with the Sponson version you have reviewed. The flags are explicit so the template works
# with any version; Sponson 0.5.0 and later also read the same variables by themselves.

workflow:
  rules:
    # Merge request pipelines for MRs, branch pipelines otherwise, never both for the same push.
    - if: $CI_PIPELINE_SOURCE == "merge_request_event"
    - if: $CI_COMMIT_BRANCH && $CI_OPEN_MERGE_REQUESTS
      when: never
    - if: $CI_COMMIT_BRANCH

stages:
  - sponson-plan
  - sponson-apply
  - deploy            # your own deploy jobs, if GitLab deploys the app; leave it empty when the host deploys on push
  - sponson-finish

.sponson:
  image: node:22
  variables:
    # Full history: lets Sponson recognise a late build of an older commit.
    GIT_DEPTH: "0"
  before_script:
    # Receipts are pushed to orphan branches sponson-receipts/<env>/<scope> of this project. CI_JOB_TOKEN cannot
    # push, so SPONSON_GITLAB_TOKEN is a project access token with write_repository (README.md).
    - export SPONSON_RECEIPTS_REMOTE="${CI_SERVER_PROTOCOL}://oauth2:${SPONSON_GITLAB_TOKEN}@${CI_SERVER_HOST}:${CI_SERVER_PORT}/${CI_PROJECT_PATH}.git"

.sponson-mr:
  extends: .sponson
  rules:
    - if: $CI_PIPELINE_SOURCE == "merge_request_event"

sponson:plan:
  extends: .sponson-mr
  stage: sponson-plan
  interruptible: true
  # `prepare` gives the job the environment's scoped variables (the preview tokens) without recording a deployment.
  environment:
    name: review/mr-$CI_MERGE_REQUEST_IID
    action: prepare
  script:
    - npx -y sponson@0.5.0 plan --env preview --pr "$CI_MERGE_REQUEST_IID" --branch "$CI_MERGE_REQUEST_SOURCE_BRANCH_NAME" --sha "${CI_MERGE_REQUEST_SOURCE_BRANCH_SHA:-$CI_COMMIT_SHA}"

sponson:apply:
  extends: .sponson-mr
  stage: sponson-apply
  # Never cancel an apply half way: Sponson rolls back a failed run, not a killed one (the next run resumes it).
  interruptible: false
  environment:
    name: review/mr-$CI_MERGE_REQUEST_IID
    on_stop: sponson:destroy
  script:
    - npx -y sponson@0.5.0 apply --env preview --pr "$CI_MERGE_REQUEST_IID" --branch "$CI_MERGE_REQUEST_SOURCE_BRANCH_NAME" --sha "${CI_MERGE_REQUEST_SOURCE_BRANCH_SHA:-$CI_COMMIT_SHA}"

sponson:finish:
  extends: .sponson-mr
  stage: sponson-finish
  interruptible: false
  environment:
    name: review/mr-$CI_MERGE_REQUEST_IID
    on_stop: sponson:destroy
  script:
    # Waits for the preview deployment of this commit, then applies the lines that needed its URL.
    - npx -y sponson@0.5.0 apply --wait --wait-timeout 900 --env preview --pr "$CI_MERGE_REQUEST_IID" --branch "$CI_MERGE_REQUEST_SOURCE_BRANCH_NAME" --sha "${CI_MERGE_REQUEST_SOURCE_BRANCH_SHA:-$CI_COMMIT_SHA}"

sponson:destroy:
  extends: .sponson
  stage: sponson-finish
  interruptible: false
  # Run by GitLab when the MR is merged or closed (it stops the environment), or by hand from the environment page.
  rules:
    - if: $CI_PIPELINE_SOURCE == "merge_request_event"
      when: manual
      allow_failure: true
  environment:
    name: review/mr-$CI_MERGE_REQUEST_IID
    action: stop
  script:
    - npx -y sponson@0.5.0 apply --destroy --env preview --pr "$CI_MERGE_REQUEST_IID" --branch "$CI_MERGE_REQUEST_SOURCE_BRANCH_NAME" --sha "${CI_MERGE_REQUEST_SOURCE_BRANCH_SHA:-$CI_COMMIT_SHA}"

sponson:production:
  extends: .sponson
  stage: sponson-apply
  interruptible: false
  # A manual job: whoever starts it is the approver. Protect the `production` environment so only the people
  # allowed to deploy can start it, and scope the production tokens to it (README.md).
  rules:
    - if: $CI_COMMIT_BRANCH == $CI_DEFAULT_BRANCH
      when: manual
  environment:
    name: production
    deployment_tier: production
  script:
    - npx -y sponson@0.5.0 apply --env production --pr "" --branch "$CI_COMMIT_BRANCH" --sha "$CI_COMMIT_SHA" --approved-by "$GITLAB_USER_LOGIN"

Get started

Guides

Integrations

Prerequisites

Setup

Variables

Receipts: push credentials

How the flags are filled

Notes

The template: gitlab-ci.yml

​Prerequisites

​Setup

​Variables

​Receipts: push credentials

​How the flags are filled

​Notes

​The template: gitlab-ci.yml

Prerequisites

Setup

Variables

Receipts: push credentials

How the flags are filled

Notes

The template: gitlab-ci.yml