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Static sites and GitLab Pages domains

On this docucument, learn how to name your project for GitLab Pages according to your intended website's URL.

Static sites

GitLab Pages only supports static websites, meaning, your output files must be HTML, CSS, and JavaScript only.

To create your static site, you can either hardcode in HTML, CSS, and JS, or use a Static Site Generator (SSG) to simplify your code and build the static site for you, which is highly recommendable and much faster than hardcoding.

See the further reading section below for references on static site concepts.

GitLab Pages domain names

Note: If you use your own GitLab instance to deploy your site with GitLab Pages, check with your sysadmin what's your Pages wildcard domain. This guide is valid for any GitLab instance, you just need to replace Pages wildcard domain on GitLab.com (*.gitlab.io) with your own.

If you set up a GitLab Pages project on GitLab, it will automatically be accessible under a subdomain of namespace.example.io. The namespace is defined by your username on GitLab.com, or the group name you created this project under. For GitLab self-managed instances, replace example.io with your instance's Pages domain. For GitLab.com, Pages domains are *.gitlab.io.

Type of GitLab Pages The name of the project created in GitLab Website URL
User pages username.example.io http(s)://username.example.io
Group pages groupname.example.io http(s)://groupname.example.io
Project pages owned by a user projectname http(s)://username.example.io/projectname
Project pages owned by a group projectname http(s)://groupname.example.io/projectname
Project pages owned by a subgroup subgroup/projectname http(s)://groupname.example.io/subgroup/projectname

CAUTION: Warning: There are some known limitations regarding namespaces served under the general domain name and HTTPS. Make sure to read that section.

To understand Pages domains clearly, read the examples below.

Project website examples

  • You created a project called blog under your username john, therefore your project URL is https://gitlab.com/john/blog/. Once you enable GitLab Pages for this project, and build your site, it will be available under https://john.gitlab.io/blog/.
  • You created a group for all your websites called websites, and a project within this group is called blog. Your project URL is https://gitlab.com/websites/blog/. Once you enable GitLab Pages for this project, the site will live under https://websites.gitlab.io/blog/.
  • You created a group for your engineering department called engineering, a subgroup for all your documentation websites called docs, and a project within this subgroup is called workflows. Your project URL is https://gitlab.com/engineering/docs/workflows/. Once you enable GitLab Pages for this project, the site will live under https://engineering.gitlab.io/docs/workflows.

User and Group website examples

  • Under your username, john, you created a project called john.gitlab.io. Your project URL will be https://gitlab.com/john/john.gitlab.io. Once you enable GitLab Pages for your project, your website will be published under https://john.gitlab.io.
  • Under your group websites, you created a project called websites.gitlab.io. your project's URL will be https://gitlab.com/websites/websites.gitlab.io. Once you enable GitLab Pages for your project, your website will be published under https://websites.gitlab.io.

General example:

  • On GitLab.com, a project site will always be available under https://namespace.gitlab.io/project-name
  • On GitLab.com, a user or group website will be available under https://namespace.gitlab.io/
  • On your GitLab instance, replace gitlab.io above with your Pages server domain. Ask your sysadmin for this information.

Read on about Projects for GitLab Pages and URL structure.

Further reading