Connecting Bold BI to GitLab data source

Bold BI dashboard designer supports connecting GitLab web services through REST API.

Choose GitLab data source

To configure the GitLab data source, follow the below steps:

Click the Data Sources button in the configuration panel to add a new data connection.
Click CREATE NEW to launch a new connection from the connection panel.
Select the GitLab connection in the connection panel.

NOTE: You can also create a data source from the home page by clicking the Data Sources menu from left menu panel and Create Data Source from the data sources page.

Choose data source

Create GitLab data source

Once you click the data source, the NEW DATA SOURCE configuration panel opens. Follow the below steps to create GitLab data source.

Enter a name and description (optional) for the data source.
Enter a valid GitLab REST API endpoint in the URL textbox. Refer the GitLab API documentation for more details.

Example: https://<:your_gitlab_domain>.com/api/v4/merge_requests?state=opened&scope=assigned-to-me
Select GET method for the REST API in Method combo box.
In Max Rows, enter the maximum number of rows to be fetched from the GitLab data source. This value is used to fetch the data from GitLab data source via pagination.
Replace <:your_access_token> under Headers and input a valid Access Token.
Choose a time interval for Refresh Settings using the combo box, to trigger the Rest API request periodically to keep the data in sync with our dashboard.
Select JSON data type in Data Format combo box.
Choose None under Authentication Type.

You can also edit the connection information set here using the Edit Connection option.

How do I get Access Token for connecting GitLab data source?

Log in to GitLab account. Click your avatar and Go to User Profile -> Settings -> Access Tokens.
Choose a name, optional expiry date for the token and choose the desired scopes.
Click the Create personal access token and save the access token. Once you leave or refresh the page, you won’t be able to access it again.
Use this Personal Access Token as Access Token in GitLab data source in Bold BI Dashboard.

Additional information

Max Rows	Most of the REST APIs return only fewer data on a single API request. To pull the amount of data you need, set a value in this field. Pagination is handled internally and will fetch the amount of data you need.
Refresh Settings	Period of time before next refresh call is triggered. This will automatically trigger a call for the API configured in the data source to keep the data up to date. If you do not want to sync your new data, choose ‘Never’.

Setting up the URL

For instance, to get the projects owned by the specific user, query the /users endpoint.
From the listed information get the ID/username of the specific user.

Replace it in the URL to query a particular user’s projects:

https://<:your_gitlab_domain>.com/api/v4/users/<:user_id>/projects

For more information on the API endpoints available for this data source, refer to their official API Documentation

Sample queries

List all Pipelines of specific Project

https://myorganization.com/api/v4/projects/12345/pipelines

List Merge Requests based on specific Labels

https://myorganization.com/api/v4/merge_requests?labels=bug,reproduced

Preview and data import

Click Preview & Connect to connect with the configurations set.
The Choose Schema(s) dialog opens. The schema represents the key fields of JSON data retrieved from GitLab Rest API request. This dialog displays a list of schemas in treeview and its corresponding values in grid for preview. Select required schema(s) from treeview to use in designer and click Connect.
Now, the data design view page with selected table schema opens. Drag and drop the table.
Click Save to save the data source with a relevant name.