[{"data":1,"prerenderedAt":815},["ShallowReactive",2],{"/en-us/blog/gitlab-18-4-ai-native-development-with-automation-and-insight":3,"navigation-en-us":40,"banner-en-us":451,"footer-en-us":461,"blog-post-authors-en-us-Bill Staples":702,"blog-related-posts-en-us-gitlab-18-4-ai-native-development-with-automation-and-insight":716,"blog-promotions-en-us":753,"next-steps-en-us":805},{"id":4,"title":5,"authorSlugs":6,"authors":8,"body":10,"category":11,"categorySlug":11,"config":12,"content":16,"date":20,"description":17,"extension":26,"externalUrl":27,"featured":13,"heroImage":19,"isFeatured":13,"meta":28,"navigation":13,"path":29,"publishedDate":20,"rawbody":30,"seo":31,"slug":15,"stem":34,"tagSlugs":35,"tags":38,"template":14,"updatedDate":27,"__hash__":39},"blogPosts/en-us/blog/gitlab-18-4-ai-native-development-with-automation-and-insight.yml","GitLab 18.4: AI-native development with automation and insight",[7],"bill-staples",[9],"Bill Staples","As a developer, you know modern development isn't just about writing code — it's about managing change across the entire software development lifecycle.\n\nIn [GitLab 18.3](https://about.gitlab.com/blog/gitlab-18-3-expanding-ai-orchestration-in-software-engineering/), we laid the groundwork for true human-AI collaboration. We introduced leading AI tools such as Claude Code, Codex CLI, Amazon Q CLI, and Gemini CLI as native integrations to GitLab, delivered our first preview of the GitLab Model Context Protocol ([MCP](https://about.gitlab.com/topics/ai/model-context-protocol/)) server in partnership with Cursor, and shipped two new flows, Issue to MR and Convert CI File for Jenkins Flows, to help teams tackle every day problems.\n\nWith [GitLab 18.4](https://docs.gitlab.com/releases/18/gitlab-18-4-released/) we are expanding your ability to build and share custom agents, collaborate more effectively through Agentic Chat, navigate codebases with the Knowledge Graph, and keep pipelines green with the Fix Failed Pipelines Flow, while also delivering greater security and governance over your AI usage.\n\n\u003Cdiv>\u003Ciframe src=\"https://player.vimeo.com/video/1120293274?badge=0&autopause=0&player_id=0&app_id=58479\" frameborder=\"0\" allow=\"autoplay; fullscreen; picture-in-picture; clipboard-write; encrypted-media; web-share\" referrerpolicy=\"strict-origin-when-cross-origin\" style=\"position:absolute;top:0;left:0;width:100%;height:100%;\" title=\"18.4 Release video placeholder\">\u003C/iframe>\u003C/div>\u003Cscript src=\"https://player.vimeo.com/api/player.js\">\u003C/script>\n\n\n> Have questions on the latest features in the GitLab 18.4 release? [Join us for The Developer Show](https://www.linkedin.com/events/q-a-code-exploringgitlab18-4and7373772262312906753/theater/) live on LinkedIn on Sept. 23 at 10:00 am PT, or on-demand shortly after!\n\n## Build your experience\n\n*Start your day by pulling from the AI Catalog — a library of specialized agents that surface priorities, automate routine work, and keep you focused on building.*\n\n### AI Catalog as your library of specialized agents (Experimental)\n\nWith GitLab 18.4, we're introducing the GitLab Duo AI Catalog — a central library where teams can create, share, and collaborate with custom-built agents across their organization. Every team has ‘their way' of doing things. So creating a custom agent is just like training a fellow engineer on the ‘right way' to do things in your organization.\n\nFor example, a custom Product Planning agent can file bugs in the specific format, following your labeling standards, or a Technical Writer agent can draft concise documentation following your conventions, or a Security agent can make sure your security and compliance standards are met for every MR. Instead of functioning as disconnected tools, these agents become part of the natural stream of work inside GitLab — helping accelerate tasks without disrupting established processes.\n\n**Note:** This capability is currently only available on GitLab.com as an Experiment. We plan to deliver this to our self-managed customers next month in the 18.5 release.\n\n## Stay in your flow\n\n*GitLab Duo Agentic Chat makes collaboration with agents seamless.*\n\n### Smarter Agentic Chat to streamline collaboration with agents (Beta)\n\nAs the centerpiece of GitLab Duo Agent Platform (Beta), [Agentic Chat](https://docs.gitlab.com/user/gitlab_duo_chat/agentic_chat/) gives you a seamless way to collaborate with AI agents. The latest update to Agentic Chat with GitLab 18.4 improves the chat experience and expands how sessions are managed and surfaced.\n\n* **Chat with custom agent**\n\n  Let's start with your newly-created custom agent. Once designed, you can immediately put that agent to work through Agentic Chat. For example, you could ask your new agent “give me a list of assignments” to get started with your priorities for the day. Additionally, you now have the ability to start fresh conversations with new agents and resume previous conversations with agents without losing context.\n\n* [**User model selection**](https://docs.gitlab.com/user/gitlab_duo/model_selection/#select-a-model-to-use-in-gitlab-duo-agentic-chat)\n\n  With previous releases, you're able to select models at a namespace level, but in 18.4 you can now choose models at the user level for a given chat session. This empowers you to make the call on which LLM is right for the job, or experiment with different LLMs to see which delivers the best answer for your task.\n\n* **Improved formatting and visual design**\n\n  We hope you love the new visual design for GitLab Duo Agentic Chat, including improved handling of tool call approvals to ensure your experience is more enjoyable.\n\n* **Agent Sessions available through Agentic Chat**\n\n  Sessions are expanding to become a core part of the Agentic Chat experience. Any agent run or flow now appears in the Sessions overview available from Agentic Chat. Within each session, you'll see rich details like job logs, user information, and tool metadata — providing critical transparency into how agents are working on your behalf.\n\n\n**Note:** Sessions in Agentic Chat is available on GitLab.com only, this enhancement is planned for self-managed customers next month in the 18.5 update.\n## Unlock your codebase\n\n*With agents, context is king. With Knowledge Graph, you can give your agents more context so they can reason faster and give you better results.*\n\n### Introducing the GitLab Knowledge Graph (Beta)\n\nThe [GitLab Knowledge Graph](https://gitlab-org.gitlab.io/rust/knowledge-graph/) in 18.4 transforms how developers and agents understand and navigate complex codebases. The Knowledge Graph provides a connected map of your entire project, linking files, routes, and references across the software development lifecycle. By leveraging tools such as go-to-definition, codebase search, and reference tracking through in-chat queries, developers gain the ability to ask precise questions like “show me all route files” or “what else does this change impact?”\nThis deeper context helps teams move faster and with more confidence — whether it's onboarding new contributors, conducting deep research across a project, or exploring how a modification impacts dependent code. The more of your ecosystem that lives in GitLab, the more powerful the Knowledge Graph becomes, giving both humans and AI agents the foundation to build with accuracy, speed, and full project awareness. In future releases, we'll be stitching all of your GitLab data into the Knowledge Graph, including plans, MRs, security vulnerabilities, and more.\nThis release of the Knowledge Graph focuses on local code indexing, where the `gkg` CLI turns your codebase into a live, embeddable graph database for RAG. You can install it with a simple one-line script, parse local repositories, and connect via MCP to query your workspace.\nOur vision for the Knowledge Graph project is twofold: building a vibrant community edition that developers can run locally today, which will serve as the foundation for a future, fully-integrated Knowledge Graph Service within GitLab.com and self-managed instances.\n\u003Cdiv>\u003Ciframe src=\"https://player.vimeo.com/video/1121017374?badge=0&autopause=0&player_id=0&app_id=58479\" frameborder=\"0\" allow=\"autoplay; fullscreen; picture-in-picture; clipboard-write; encrypted-media; web-share\" referrerpolicy=\"strict-origin-when-cross-origin\" style=\"position:absolute;top:0;left:0;width:100%;height:100%;\" title=\"18.4 Knowledge Graph Demo\">\u003C/iframe>\u003C/div>\u003Cscript src=\"https://player.vimeo.com/api/player.js\">\u003C/script>\n\n## Automate your pipeline maintenance\n\n*Fix pipeline failures faster and stay in the flow with the Fixed Failed Pipelines Flow.*\n\n### Fix Failed Pipelines Flow with business awareness\n\nKeeping pipelines green is critical for your development velocity, but traditional approaches focus only on technical troubleshooting without considering the business impact. The **Fix Failed Pipelines Flow** addresses this challenge by combining technical analysis with strategic context. For example, it can automatically prioritize fixing a failed deployment pipeline for a customer-facing service ahead of a nightly test job, or flag build issues in a high-priority release branch differently than experimental feature branches.\n\n* **Business-aware failure detection** monitors pipeline executions while understanding the importance of different workflows and deployment targets.\n* **Contextual root cause analysis** analyzes failure logs alongside business requirements, recent changes, and cross-project dependencies to identify underlying causes.\n* **Strategic fix prioritization** generates appropriate fixes while considering business impact, deadlines, and resource allocation priorities.\n* **Workflow-integrated resolution** automatically creates merge requests with fixes that maintain proper review processes while providing business context for prioritization decisions.\n\nThis flow keeps pipelines green while maintaining strategic alignment, enabling automated fixes to support business objectives rather than just resolving technical issues in isolation.\n\n## Customize your AI environment\n\n*Automation only works if you trust the models behind it. That's why 18.4 delivers governance features like model selection and GitLab-managed keys.*\n\n### GitLab Duo model selection to optimize feature performance\n\n[Model selection](https://docs.gitlab.com/user/gitlab_duo/model_selection/) is now generally available, giving you direct control over which large language models ([LLMs](https://about.gitlab.com/blog/what-is-a-large-language-model-llm/)) power GitLab Duo. You and your team can select the models of your choice, apply them across the organization or tailor them per feature. You can set defaults to ensure consistency across namespaces and tools, with governance, compliance, and security requirements in mind.\n\nFor customers using GitLab Duo Self-Hosted, newly added support for GPT OSS and GPT-5 provides additional flexibility for AI-powered development workflows.\n\n**Note:** GitLab Duo Self-Hosted is not available to GitLab.com customers, and GPT models are not supported on GitLab.com.\n\n## Protect your sensitive context\n\n*Alongside governance comes data protection, giving you fine-grained control over what AI can and can't see.*\n\n### GitLab Duo Context Exclusion for granular data protection\n\nIt's no surprise — you need granular control over what information AI agents can access. **GitLab Duo Context Exclusion** in 18.4 provides project-level settings that let teams exclude specific files or file paths from AI access. Capabilities include:\n\n* **File-specific exclusions** to help protect sensitive files such as password configurations, secrets, and proprietary algorithms.\n* **Path-based rules** to create exclusion patterns based on directory structures or file naming conventions.\n* **Flexible configuration** to apply exclusions at the project level while maintaining development workflow efficiency.\n* **Audit visibility** to track what content is excluded to support compliance with data governance policies.\n\nGitLab Duo Context Exclusion helps you protect sensitive data while you accelerate development with agentic AI.\n\n## Extend your AI capabilities with new MCP tools\n\n*Expanded MCP tools extend those capabilities even further, connecting your GitLab environment with a broader ecosystem of intelligent agents.*\n\n### New tools for GitLab MCP server\n\nExpanding on the initial MCP server introduced in [18.3](https://about.gitlab.com/blog/gitlab-18-3-expanding-ai-orchestration-in-software-engineering/), GitLab 18.4 adds more MCP tools — capabilities that define how MCP clients interact with GitLab. These new tools extend integration possibilities, enabling both first-party and third-party AI agents to take on richer tasks such as accessing project data, performing code operations, or searching across repositories, all while respecting existing security and permissions models. For a full list of MCP tools, including the new additions in 18.4, visit our [MCP server documentation](https://docs.gitlab.com/user/gitlab_duo/model_context_protocol/mcp_server/).\n\n## Experience the future of intelligent software development\n\nWith [GitLab Duo Agent Platform](https://about.gitlab.com/gitlab-duo-agent-platform/), engineers can begin to move from working on one issue at a time in single threaded fashion, to multi-threaded collaboration with asynchronous agents that act like teammates to get work done, faster. We are bringing to market this unique vision with our customer's preferences for independence and choice: run in your preferred cloud environments using the LLMs and AI tools that work best for you, within the security and compliance guardrails you set.\n\nAs an integral part of this innovation, GitLab 18.4 is more than a software upgrade — it's about making the day-to-day experience of developers smoother, smarter, and more secure. From reusable agents to business-aware pipeline fixes, every feature is designed to keep teams in flow while balancing speed, security, and control. For a deeper look at how these capabilities come together in practice, check out our walkthrough video.\n\n\n\u003Cdiv>\u003Ciframe src=\"https://player.vimeo.com/video/1120288083?badge=0&autopause=0&player_id=0&app_id=58479\" frameborder=\"0\" allow=\"autoplay; fullscreen; picture-in-picture; clipboard-write; encrypted-media; web-share\" referrerpolicy=\"strict-origin-when-cross-origin\" style=\"position:absolute;top:0;left:0;width:100%;height:100%;\" title=\"A day in the life with GitLab Duo Agent Platform\">\u003C/iframe>\u003C/div>\u003Cscript src=\"https://player.vimeo.com/api/player.js\">\u003C/script>\n\u003Cp>\u003C/p>\n\nGitLab Premium and Ultimate users can start using these capabilities today on [GitLab.com](https://GitLab.com) and self-managed environments, with availability for [GitLab Dedicated](https://about.gitlab.com/dedicated/) customers coming next month.\n\n> **Enable beta and experimental features in GitLab Duo Agent Platform today** and experience how full-context AI can transform the way your teams build software. New to GitLab? [Start your free trial](https://about.gitlab.com/free-trial/devsecops/) and see why the future of development is AI-powered, secure, and orchestrated through the world's most comprehensive DevSecOps platform.\n\n## Stay up to date with GitLab\n\nTo make sure you're getting the latest features, security updates, and performance improvements, we recommend keeping your GitLab instance up to date. The following resources can help you plan and complete your upgrade:\n\n* [Upgrade Path Tool](https://gitlab-com.gitlab.io/support/toolbox/upgrade-path/) – enter your current version and see the exact upgrade steps for your instance\n* [Upgrade documentation](https://docs.gitlab.com/update/upgrade_paths/) – detailed guides for each supported version, including requirements, step-by-step instructions, and best practices\n\nBy upgrading regularly, you'll ensure your team benefits from the newest GitLab capabilities and remains secure and supported.\n\nFor organizations that want a hands-off approach, consider [GitLab's Managed Maintenance service](https://content.gitlab.com/viewer/d1fe944dddb06394e6187f0028f010ad#1). With Managed Maintenance, your team stays focused on innovation while GitLab experts keep your Self-Managed instance reliably upgraded, secure, and ready to lead in DevSecOps. Ask your account manager for more information.\n\n\n*This blog post contains \"forward-looking statements\" within the meaning of Section 27A of the Securities Act of 1933, as amended, and Section 21E of the Securities Exchange Act of 1934. Although we believe that the expectations reflected in these statements are reasonable, they are subject to known and unknown risks, uncertainties, assumptions and other factors that may cause actual results or outcomes to differ materially. Further information on these risks and other factors is included under the caption \"Risk Factors\" in our filings with the SEC. We do not undertake any obligation to update or revise these statements after the date of this blog post, except as required by law.*","ai-ml",{"featured":13,"template":14,"slug":15},true,"BlogPost","gitlab-18-4-ai-native-development-with-automation-and-insight",{"title":5,"description":17,"authors":18,"heroImage":19,"date":20,"body":10,"category":11,"tags":21},"With GitLab 18.4, teams create custom agents, unlock Knowledge Graph context, and auto-fix pipelines so developers stay focused and in flow.",[9],"https://res.cloudinary.com/about-gitlab-com/image/upload/v1758541195/kig7sww6jyvxzmkmimbv.png","2025-09-23",[22,23,24,25],"AI/ML","product","features","DevSecOps platform","yml",null,{},"/en-us/blog/gitlab-18-4-ai-native-development-with-automation-and-insight","seo:\n  config:\n    noIndex: false\n  title: 'GitLab 18.4: AI-native development with automation and insight'\n  description: With GitLab 18.4, teams create custom agents, unlock Knowledge\n    Graph context, and auto-fix pipelines so developers stay focused and in\n    flow.\ncontent:\n  title: 'GitLab 18.4: AI-native development with automation and insight'\n  description: With GitLab 18.4, teams create custom agents, unlock Knowledge\n    Graph context, and auto-fix pipelines so developers stay focused and in\n    flow.\n  authors:\n    - Bill Staples\n  heroImage: https://res.cloudinary.com/about-gitlab-com/image/upload/v1758541195/kig7sww6jyvxzmkmimbv.png\n  date: 2025-09-23\n  body: >-\n    As a developer, you know modern development isn't just about writing code —\n    it's about managing change across the entire software development\n    lifecycle.\n\n\n    In [GitLab 18.3](https://about.gitlab.com/blog/gitlab-18-3-expanding-ai-orchestration-in-software-engineering/), we laid the groundwork for true human-AI collaboration. We introduced leading AI tools such as Claude Code, Codex CLI, Amazon Q CLI, and Gemini CLI as native integrations to GitLab, delivered our first preview of the GitLab Model Context Protocol ([MCP](https://about.gitlab.com/topics/ai/model-context-protocol/)) server in partnership with Cursor, and shipped two new flows, Issue to MR and Convert CI File for Jenkins Flows, to help teams tackle every day problems.\n\n\n    With [GitLab 18.4](https://docs.gitlab.com/releases/18/gitlab-18-4-released/) we are expanding your ability to build and share custom agents, collaborate more effectively through Agentic Chat, navigate codebases with the Knowledge Graph, and keep pipelines green with the Fix Failed Pipelines Flow, while also delivering greater security and governance over your AI usage.\n\n\n    \u003Cdiv>\u003Ciframe src=\"https://player.vimeo.com/video/1120293274?badge=0&autopause=0&player_id=0&app_id=58479\" frameborder=\"0\" allow=\"autoplay; fullscreen; picture-in-picture; clipboard-write; encrypted-media; web-share\" referrerpolicy=\"strict-origin-when-cross-origin\" style=\"position:absolute;top:0;left:0;width:100%;height:100%;\" title=\"18.4 Release video placeholder\">\u003C/iframe>\u003C/div>\u003Cscript src=\"https://player.vimeo.com/api/player.js\">\u003C/script>\n\n\n\n    > Have questions on the latest features in the GitLab 18.4 release? [Join us for The Developer Show](https://www.linkedin.com/events/q-a-code-exploringgitlab18-4and7373772262312906753/theater/) live on LinkedIn on Sept. 23 at 10:00 am PT, or on-demand shortly after!\n\n\n    ## Build your experience\n\n\n    *Start your day by pulling from the AI Catalog — a library of specialized agents that surface priorities, automate routine work, and keep you focused on building.*\n\n\n    ### AI Catalog as your library of specialized agents (Experimental)\n\n\n    With GitLab 18.4, we're introducing the GitLab Duo AI Catalog — a central library where teams can create, share, and collaborate with custom-built agents across their organization. Every team has ‘their way' of doing things. So creating a custom agent is just like training a fellow engineer on the ‘right way' to do things in your organization.\n\n\n    For example, a custom Product Planning agent can file bugs in the specific format, following your labeling standards, or a Technical Writer agent can draft concise documentation following your conventions, or a Security agent can make sure your security and compliance standards are met for every MR. Instead of functioning as disconnected tools, these agents become part of the natural stream of work inside GitLab — helping accelerate tasks without disrupting established processes.\n\n\n    **Note:** This capability is currently only available on GitLab.com as an Experiment. We plan to deliver this to our self-managed customers next month in the 18.5 release.\n\n\n    ## Stay in your flow\n\n\n    *GitLab Duo Agentic Chat makes collaboration with agents seamless.*\n\n\n    ### Smarter Agentic Chat to streamline collaboration with agents (Beta)\n\n\n    As the centerpiece of GitLab Duo Agent Platform (Beta), [Agentic Chat](https://docs.gitlab.com/user/gitlab_duo_chat/agentic_chat/) gives you a seamless way to collaborate with AI agents. The latest update to Agentic Chat with GitLab 18.4 improves the chat experience and expands how sessions are managed and surfaced.\n\n\n    * **Chat with custom agent**\n\n      Let's start with your newly-created custom agent. Once designed, you can immediately put that agent to work through Agentic Chat. For example, you could ask your new agent “give me a list of assignments” to get started with your priorities for the day. Additionally, you now have the ability to start fresh conversations with new agents and resume previous conversations with agents without losing context.\n\n    * [**User model selection**](https://docs.gitlab.com/user/gitlab_duo/model_selection/#select-a-model-to-use-in-gitlab-duo-agentic-chat)\n\n      With previous releases, you're able to select models at a namespace level, but in 18.4 you can now choose models at the user level for a given chat session. This empowers you to make the call on which LLM is right for the job, or experiment with different LLMs to see which delivers the best answer for your task.\n\n    * **Improved formatting and visual design**\n\n      We hope you love the new visual design for GitLab Duo Agentic Chat, including improved handling of tool call approvals to ensure your experience is more enjoyable.\n\n    * **Agent Sessions available through Agentic Chat**\n\n      Sessions are expanding to become a core part of the Agentic Chat experience. Any agent run or flow now appears in the Sessions overview available from Agentic Chat. Within each session, you'll see rich details like job logs, user information, and tool metadata — providing critical transparency into how agents are working on your behalf.\n\n\n    **Note:** Sessions in Agentic Chat is available on GitLab.com only, this enhancement is planned for self-managed customers next month in the 18.5 update.\n\n    ## Unlock your codebase\n\n\n    *With agents, context is king. With Knowledge Graph, you can give your agents more context so they can reason faster and give you better results.*\n\n\n    ### Introducing the GitLab Knowledge Graph (Beta)\n\n\n    The [GitLab Knowledge Graph](https://gitlab-org.gitlab.io/rust/knowledge-graph/) in 18.4 transforms how developers and agents understand and navigate complex codebases. The Knowledge Graph provides a connected map of your entire project, linking files, routes, and references across the software development lifecycle. By leveraging tools such as go-to-definition, codebase search, and reference tracking through in-chat queries, developers gain the ability to ask precise questions like “show me all route files” or “what else does this change impact?”\n\n    This deeper context helps teams move faster and with more confidence — whether it's onboarding new contributors, conducting deep research across a project, or exploring how a modification impacts dependent code. The more of your ecosystem that lives in GitLab, the more powerful the Knowledge Graph becomes, giving both humans and AI agents the foundation to build with accuracy, speed, and full project awareness. In future releases, we'll be stitching all of your GitLab data into the Knowledge Graph, including plans, MRs, security vulnerabilities, and more.\n\n    This release of the Knowledge Graph focuses on local code indexing, where the `gkg` CLI turns your codebase into a live, embeddable graph database for RAG. You can install it with a simple one-line script, parse local repositories, and connect via MCP to query your workspace.\n\n    Our vision for the Knowledge Graph project is twofold: building a vibrant community edition that developers can run locally today, which will serve as the foundation for a future, fully-integrated Knowledge Graph Service within GitLab.com and self-managed instances.\n\n    \u003Cdiv>\u003Ciframe src=\"https://player.vimeo.com/video/1121017374?badge=0&autopause=0&player_id=0&app_id=58479\" frameborder=\"0\" allow=\"autoplay; fullscreen; picture-in-picture; clipboard-write; encrypted-media; web-share\" referrerpolicy=\"strict-origin-when-cross-origin\" style=\"position:absolute;top:0;left:0;width:100%;height:100%;\" title=\"18.4 Knowledge Graph Demo\">\u003C/iframe>\u003C/div>\u003Cscript src=\"https://player.vimeo.com/api/player.js\">\u003C/script>\n\n\n    ## Automate your pipeline maintenance\n\n\n    *Fix pipeline failures faster and stay in the flow with the Fixed Failed Pipelines Flow.*\n\n\n    ### Fix Failed Pipelines Flow with business awareness\n\n\n    Keeping pipelines green is critical for your development velocity, but traditional approaches focus only on technical troubleshooting without considering the business impact. The **Fix Failed Pipelines Flow** addresses this challenge by combining technical analysis with strategic context. For example, it can automatically prioritize fixing a failed deployment pipeline for a customer-facing service ahead of a nightly test job, or flag build issues in a high-priority release branch differently than experimental feature branches.\n\n\n    * **Business-aware failure detection** monitors pipeline executions while understanding the importance of different workflows and deployment targets.\n\n    * **Contextual root cause analysis** analyzes failure logs alongside business requirements, recent changes, and cross-project dependencies to identify underlying causes.\n\n    * **Strategic fix prioritization** generates appropriate fixes while considering business impact, deadlines, and resource allocation priorities.\n\n    * **Workflow-integrated resolution** automatically creates merge requests with fixes that maintain proper review processes while providing business context for prioritization decisions.\n\n\n    This flow keeps pipelines green while maintaining strategic alignment, enabling automated fixes to support business objectives rather than just resolving technical issues in isolation.\n\n\n    ## Customize your AI environment\n\n\n    *Automation only works if you trust the models behind it. That's why 18.4 delivers governance features like model selection and GitLab-managed keys.*\n\n\n    ### GitLab Duo model selection to optimize feature performance\n\n\n    [Model selection](https://docs.gitlab.com/user/gitlab_duo/model_selection/) is now generally available, giving you direct control over which large language models ([LLMs](https://about.gitlab.com/blog/what-is-a-large-language-model-llm/)) power GitLab Duo. You and your team can select the models of your choice, apply them across the organization or tailor them per feature. You can set defaults to ensure consistency across namespaces and tools, with governance, compliance, and security requirements in mind.\n\n\n    For customers using GitLab Duo Self-Hosted, newly added support for GPT OSS and GPT-5 provides additional flexibility for AI-powered development workflows.\n\n\n    **Note:** GitLab Duo Self-Hosted is not available to GitLab.com customers, and GPT models are not supported on GitLab.com.\n\n\n    ## Protect your sensitive context\n\n\n    *Alongside governance comes data protection, giving you fine-grained control over what AI can and can't see.*\n\n\n    ### GitLab Duo Context Exclusion for granular data protection\n\n\n    It's no surprise — you need granular control over what information AI agents can access. **GitLab Duo Context Exclusion** in 18.4 provides project-level settings that let teams exclude specific files or file paths from AI access. Capabilities include:\n\n\n    * **File-specific exclusions** to help protect sensitive files such as password configurations, secrets, and proprietary algorithms.\n\n    * **Path-based rules** to create exclusion patterns based on directory structures or file naming conventions.\n\n    * **Flexible configuration** to apply exclusions at the project level while maintaining development workflow efficiency.\n\n    * **Audit visibility** to track what content is excluded to support compliance with data governance policies.\n\n\n    GitLab Duo Context Exclusion helps you protect sensitive data while you accelerate development with agentic AI.\n\n\n    ## Extend your AI capabilities with new MCP tools\n\n\n    *Expanded MCP tools extend those capabilities even further, connecting your GitLab environment with a broader ecosystem of intelligent agents.*\n\n\n    ### New tools for GitLab MCP server\n\n\n    Expanding on the initial MCP server introduced in [18.3](https://about.gitlab.com/blog/gitlab-18-3-expanding-ai-orchestration-in-software-engineering/), GitLab 18.4 adds more MCP tools — capabilities that define how MCP clients interact with GitLab. These new tools extend integration possibilities, enabling both first-party and third-party AI agents to take on richer tasks such as accessing project data, performing code operations, or searching across repositories, all while respecting existing security and permissions models. For a full list of MCP tools, including the new additions in 18.4, visit our [MCP server documentation](https://docs.gitlab.com/user/gitlab_duo/model_context_protocol/mcp_server/).\n\n\n    ## Experience the future of intelligent software development\n\n\n    With [GitLab Duo Agent Platform](https://about.gitlab.com/gitlab-duo-agent-platform/), engineers can begin to move from working on one issue at a time in single threaded fashion, to multi-threaded collaboration with asynchronous agents that act like teammates to get work done, faster. We are bringing to market this unique vision with our customer's preferences for independence and choice: run in your preferred cloud environments using the LLMs and AI tools that work best for you, within the security and compliance guardrails you set.\n\n\n    As an integral part of this innovation, GitLab 18.4 is more than a software upgrade — it's about making the day-to-day experience of developers smoother, smarter, and more secure. From reusable agents to business-aware pipeline fixes, every feature is designed to keep teams in flow while balancing speed, security, and control. For a deeper look at how these capabilities come together in practice, check out our walkthrough video.\n\n\n\n    \u003Cdiv>\u003Ciframe src=\"https://player.vimeo.com/video/1120288083?badge=0&autopause=0&player_id=0&app_id=58479\" frameborder=\"0\" allow=\"autoplay; fullscreen; picture-in-picture; clipboard-write; encrypted-media; web-share\" referrerpolicy=\"strict-origin-when-cross-origin\" style=\"position:absolute;top:0;left:0;width:100%;height:100%;\" title=\"A day in the life with GitLab Duo Agent Platform\">\u003C/iframe>\u003C/div>\u003Cscript src=\"https://player.vimeo.com/api/player.js\">\u003C/script>\n\n    \u003Cp>\u003C/p>\n\n\n    GitLab Premium and Ultimate users can start using these capabilities today on [GitLab.com](https://GitLab.com) and self-managed environments, with availability for [GitLab Dedicated](https://about.gitlab.com/dedicated/) customers coming next month.\n\n\n    > **Enable beta and experimental features in GitLab Duo Agent Platform today** and experience how full-context AI can transform the way your teams build software. New to GitLab? [Start your free trial](https://about.gitlab.com/free-trial/devsecops/) and see why the future of development is AI-powered, secure, and orchestrated through the world's most comprehensive DevSecOps platform.\n\n\n    ## Stay up to date with GitLab\n\n\n    To make sure you're getting the latest features, security updates, and performance improvements, we recommend keeping your GitLab instance up to date. The following resources can help you plan and complete your upgrade:\n\n\n    * [Upgrade Path Tool](https://gitlab-com.gitlab.io/support/toolbox/upgrade-path/) – enter your current version and see the exact upgrade steps for your instance\n\n    * [Upgrade documentation](https://docs.gitlab.com/update/upgrade_paths/) – detailed guides for each supported version, including requirements, step-by-step instructions, and best practices\n\n\n    By upgrading regularly, you'll ensure your team benefits from the newest GitLab capabilities and remains secure and supported.\n\n\n    For organizations that want a hands-off approach, consider [GitLab's Managed Maintenance service](https://content.gitlab.com/viewer/d1fe944dddb06394e6187f0028f010ad#1). With Managed Maintenance, your team stays focused on innovation while GitLab experts keep your Self-Managed instance reliably upgraded, secure, and ready to lead in DevSecOps. Ask your account manager for more information.\n\n\n\n    *This blog post contains \"forward-looking statements\" within the meaning of Section 27A of the Securities Act of 1933, as amended, and Section 21E of the Securities Exchange Act of 1934. Although we believe that the expectations reflected in these statements are reasonable, they are subject to known and unknown risks, uncertainties, assumptions and other factors that may cause actual results or outcomes to differ materially. Further information on these risks and other factors is included under the caption \"Risk Factors\" in our filings with the SEC. 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statement",{"items":692},[693,696,699],{"text":694,"config":695},"Terms",{"href":521,"dataGaName":522,"dataGaLocation":469},{"text":697,"config":698},"Cookies",{"dataGaName":531,"dataGaLocation":469,"id":532,"isOneTrustButton":13},{"text":700,"config":701},"Privacy",{"href":526,"dataGaName":527,"dataGaLocation":469},[703],{"id":704,"title":9,"body":27,"config":705,"content":707,"description":27,"extension":26,"meta":711,"navigation":13,"path":712,"seo":713,"stem":714,"__hash__":715},"blogAuthors/en-us/blog/authors/bill-staples.yml",{"template":706},"BlogAuthor",{"name":9,"config":708,"role":710},{"headshot":709},"https://res.cloudinary.com/about-gitlab-com/image/upload/v1750434080/glxv59lh9qftpdbsb4ph.png","CEO",{},"/en-us/blog/authors/bill-staples",{},"en-us/blog/authors/bill-staples","K-ulWVa7KOFAxgiGSmeiIjz3KeQyIkhm95lIRX_r6Zc",[717,729,742],{"content":718,"config":727},{"title":719,"description":720,"authors":721,"heroImage":723,"date":724,"body":725,"category":11,"tags":726},"GitLab and Anthropic: Governed AI for enterprise development","GitLab deepens its Anthropic Claude integration, bringing governed AI, access to new models, and cloud flexibility to enterprise software development.",[722],"Stuart Moncada","https://res.cloudinary.com/about-gitlab-com/image/upload/v1776457632/llddiylsgwuze0u1rjks.png","2026-04-28","For enterprise and public sector leaders, the tension is familiar: Software teams need to move faster with AI, while security, compliance, and regulatory expectations only get more stringent. GitLab deepens its Anthropic Claude integration so organizations get access to newly released Claude models inside GitLab’s intelligent orchestration platform where governance, compliance, and auditability already run.\n\nClaude powers capabilities across GitLab Duo Agent Platform as the default model out of the box, across a variety of use cases from code generation and review to agentic chat and vulnerability resolution. If you've used GitLab Duo, you've already experienced how Duo agents automate workflows across the entire software development lifecycle (SDLC).\n\nThis accelerates the integration of Claude’s capabilities into GitLab, broadens how enterprises can deploy them, and reinforces what makes GitLab fundamentally different as a platform for software development and engineering: governance, compliance, and auditability built into every AI interaction.\n\n> \"GitLab Duo has accelerated how our teams plan, build, and ship software. The combination of Anthropic's Claude and GitLab's platform means we're getting more capable AI without changing how we work or how it is governed.\"\n>\n> – Mans Booijink, Operations Manager, Cube\n\n## The real differentiator: Governed AI\n\nWith GitLab, governance controls and auditing are built into the SDLC. When Claude suggests a code change through the GitLab Duo Agent Platform, that suggestion flows through the same merge request process, the same approval rules, the same security scanning, and the same audit trail as every other change. AI doesn't get a shortcut around your controls. It operates within them.\n\nAs GitLab moves deeper into agentic software development, where AI autonomously handles well-defined tasks, the governance layer becomes more important. An AI agent that can open a merge request, help resolve a vulnerability, or refactor a service needs to be auditable, attributable, and subject to the same policy enforcement as a human developer. That requirement is an architectural decision GitLab made from the start, and one that grows more consequential as AI agents take on broader responsibilities.\n\n## Enterprise deployment flexibility\n\nThis also expands how organizations access the latest Claude models through GitLab. Claude is available within GitLab through Google Cloud's Vertex AI and Amazon Bedrock, which means enterprises can route AI workloads through the hyperscaler commitments and cloud governance frameworks they already have in place. No separate vendor contract. No new data residency questions. Your existing Google Cloud or AWS relationship is the on-ramp. \n\nGitLab is now also available in the [Claude Marketplace](https://claude.com/platform/marketplace), allowing customers to purchase GitLab Credits and apply them toward existing Anthropic spending commitments – consolidating AI spend and simplifying how teams discover and procure GitLab alongside their Anthropic investments.\n\n## Advancing an agentic future\n\nGitLab's vision for agentic software development, where AI handles defined tasks autonomously across planning, coding, testing, securing, and deploying, requires models with strong reasoning, reliability, and safety characteristics. It also requires a platform where those autonomous actions are fully governed.\n\nAgentic workflows demand models with strong reasoning, reliability, and safety characteristics, criteria that guide how GitLab selects and integrates AI model partners. And GitLab's governance framework helps ensure that as AI agents assume more advanced development work, enterprises maintain full visibility and control over what those agents do, when they do it, and how changes are tracked.\n\n## What this means for GitLab customers\n\nIf you're already using GitLab Duo Agent Platform, you'll get access to Claude models and deeper AI assistance across your software development lifecycle, all within the governance framework you already rely on.\n\nIf you're evaluating AI-powered software development platforms, you shouldn't have to choose between advanced AI capabilities and enterprise control. This strategic integration is built to deliver both.\n\n> Want to learn more about GitLab Duo Agent Platform? [Get a demo or start a free trial today](https://about.gitlab.com/gitlab-duo-agent-platform/).",[22,23,282],{"featured":13,"template":14,"slug":728},"gitlab-and-anthropic-governed-ai-for-enterprise-development",{"content":730,"config":740},{"title":731,"description":732,"authors":733,"heroImage":735,"date":736,"body":737,"category":11,"tags":738},"Give your AI agent direct, structured GitLab access with glab CLI","The GitLab CLI (glab) provides AI agents structured, reliable access to projects via the MCP, eliminating friction. This tutorial shows how you can speed up code review and issue triage.",[734],"Kai Armstrong","https://res.cloudinary.com/about-gitlab-com/image/upload/v1776347152/unw3mzatkd5xyfbzcnni.png","2026-04-27","\nWhen teams use GitLab Duo, Claude, Cursor, and other AI assistants, more of the development workflow runs through an AI agent acting on your behalf — reading issues, reviewing merge requests, running pipelines, and helping you ship faster. Most developers are already using the GitLab CLI (`glab`) from the terminal to interact with GitLab. Combining the two is a natural next step.\n\n\nThe problem is that without the right tools, AI agents are essentially guessing when it comes to your GitLab projects. They might hallucinate the details of an issue they've never seen, summarize a merge request based on stale training data rather than its actual state, or require you to manually copy context from a browser tab and paste it into a chat window just to get started. Every one of those workarounds is friction: it slows you down, introduces the possibility of error, and puts a hard ceiling on what your agent can actually do on your behalf. `glab` changes that by giving agents a direct, reliable interface to your projects.\n\n\nWith `glab`, your agent fetches what it needs directly from GitLab, acts on it, and reports back — so you spend less time relaying information and more time on the work that matters.\n\n\nIn this tutorial, you'll learn how to use `glab` to give AI agents structured, reliable access to your GitLab projects. You'll also discover how that unlocks a faster, more capable development workflow.\n\n\n## How to connect your AI agent to GitLab through MCP\n\n\nThe most direct way to supercharge your AI workflow is to give your AI agent native access to `glab` through Model Context Protocol ([MCP](https://about.gitlab.com/topics/ai/model-context-protocol/)).\n\n\n MCP is an open standard that lets AI tools discover and use external capabilities at runtime. Once connected, your AI assistant can read issues, comment on merge requests, check pipeline status, and write back to GitLab, all without copying anything from the UI or writing a single API call yourself.\n\n\n To get started, run:\n\n\n ```shell\n # Start the glab MCP server\n glab mcp serve\n ```\n\n\n Once your MCP client is configured, your AI can answer questions like *\"What's the status of my open MRs?\"* or *\"Are there any failing pipelines on main?\"* by querying GitLab directly, not scraping the web UI, not relying on stale training data. See the [full setup docs](https://docs.gitlab.com/cli/) for configuration steps for Claude Code, Cursor, and other editors.\n\n\n One detail worth knowing: `glab` automatically adds `--output json` when invoked through MCP, for any command that supports it. Your agent gets clean, structured data without you needing to think about output formats. And because `glab` uses the official MCP SDK, it stays compatible as the\n protocol evolves.\n\n\n We've also been deliberate about *which* commands are exposed through MCP. Commands that require interactive terminal input are intentionally\n excluded, so your agent never gets stuck waiting for input that will never come. What's exposed is what actually works reliably in an agent context.\n\n\n ## Let your AI participate in code review\n\n\n Most developers have a backlog of MRs waiting for review. It's one of the most time-consuming parts of the job and one of the best places to put\n AI to work. With `glab`, your agent doesn't just observe your review queue, it can work through it with you.\n\n\n ### See exactly what still needs addressing\n\n\n Start with this:\n\n\n ```shell\n glab mr view 2677 --comments --unresolved --output json\n ```\n\n\n This input returns the full MR: metadata, description, and every\n unresolved discussion, as a single structured JSON payload. Hand that to\n your AI and it has everything it needs: which threads are open, what the\n reviewer asked for, and in what context. No tab-switching, no copy-pasting\n individual comments.\n\n\n \n ```json\n {\n   \"id\": 2677,\n   \"title\": \"feat: add OAuth2 support\",\n   \"state\": \"opened\",\n   \"author\": { \"username\": \"jdwick\" },\n   \"labels\": [\"backend\", \"needs-review\"],\n   \"blocking_discussions_resolved\": false,\n   \"discussions\": [\n     {\n       \"id\": \"3107030349\",\n       \"resolved\": false,\n       \"notes\": [\n         {\n           \"author\": { \"username\": \"dmurphy\" },\n           \"body\": \"This error handling will swallow panics — consider wrapping with recover()\",\n           \"created_at\": \"2026-03-14T09:23:11.000Z\"\n         }\n       ]\n     },\n     {\n       \"id\": \"3107030412\",\n       \"resolved\": false,\n       \"notes\": [\n         {\n           \"author\": { \"username\": \"sreeves\" },\n           \"body\": \"Token refresh logic needs a test for the expired token case\",\n           \"created_at\": \"2026-03-14T10:05:44.000Z\"\n         }\n       ]\n     }\n   ]\n }\n ```\n\n\n Instead of reading through every thread yourself, you ask your agent  *\"what do I still need to fix in MR 2677?\"* and get back a prioritized summary with suggested changes. This all happens from a single command.\n\n\n ### Close the loop programmatically\n\n\n Once your AI has helped you address the feedback, it can resolve\n discussions:\n\n\n ```shell\n # List all discussions — structured, ready for the agent to process\n glab mr note list 456 --output json\n\n # Resolve a discussion once the feedback is addressed\n glab mr note resolve 456 3107030349\n\n # Reopen if something needs another look\n glab mr note reopen 456 3107030349\n ```\n\n\n\n ```json\n [\n   {\n     \"id\": 3107030349,\n     \"body\": \"This error handling will swallow panics — consider wrapping with recover()\",\n     \"author\": { \"username\": \"dmurphy\" },\n     \"resolved\": false,\n     \"resolvable\": true\n   },\n   {\n     \"id\": 3107030412,\n     \"body\": \"Token refresh logic needs a test for the expired token case\",\n     \"author\": { \"username\": \"sreeves\" },\n     \"resolved\": false,\n     \"resolvable\": true\n   }\n ]\n ```\n\n\n\n Note IDs are visible directly in the GitLab UI and API, no extra lookup needed. Your agent can work through the full list, verify each fix, and\n resolve as it goes.\n\n\n ## Talk to your AI about your code more effectively\n\n\n Even if you're not running an MCP server, there's a simpler shift that makes a huge difference: using `glab` to feed your AI better information.\n\n\n Think about the last time you asked an AI assistant to help triage issues or debug a failing pipeline. You probably copied some text from the GitLab UI and pasted it into the chat. Here's what your agent is actually\n working with when you do that:\n\n\n ```text\n open issues: 12 • milestone: 17.10 • label: bug, needs-triage ...\n ```\n\n\n Compare that to what it gets with `glab`:\n\n\n \n ```json\n [\n   {\n     \"iid\": 902,\n     \"title\": \"Pipeline fails on merge to main\",\n     \"labels\": [\"bug\", \"needs-triage\"],\n     \"milestone\": { \"title\": \"17.10\" },\n     \"assignees\": []\n   },\n   ...\n ]\n ```\n\n\n Structured, typed, complete; no ambiguity, no parsing guesswork. That's the difference between an agent that can act and one that has to ask\n follow-up questions.\n\n\n If you're using the MCP server, you get this automatically: `glab` adds `--output json` for any command that supports it. If you're working directly\n from the terminal, just add the flag yourself:\n\n\n ```shell\n # Pull open issues for triage\n glab issue list --label \"needs-triage\" --output json\n\n # Check pipeline status\n glab ci status --output json\n\n # Get full MR details\n glab mr view 456 --output json\n ```\n\n\n We've significantly expanded JSON output support in recent releases. It now covers CI status, milestones, labels, releases, schedules, cluster agents, work items, MR approvers, repo contributors, and more. If `glab` can\n retrieve it, your AI can consume it cleanly.\n\n\n ### A real workflow\n\n\n ```shell\n $ glab issue list --label \"needs-triage\" --milestone \"17.10\"\n --output json\n ```\n\n\n ```text\n Agent: I found 2 unassigned bugs in the 17.10 milestone that need triage:\n 1. #902 — Pipeline fails on merge to main (opened 5 days ago)\n 2. #903 — Auth token not refreshing on expiry (opened 4 days ago)\n Both are unassigned. Want me to draft triage notes and suggest assignees based on recent commit history?\n ```\n\n\n ## Your agent is never limited to built-in commands\n\n\n `glab`'s first-class commands cover the most common workflows, but your agent is never limited to them. Through `glab api`, it has authenticated access to the full GitLab REST and GraphQL API surface, using the same session, with no extra credentials or configuration required.\n\n\n This is a meaningful differentiator. Most CLI tools stop at what their commands expose. With `glab`, if GitLab's API supports it, your agent can do it. It's always working from a trusted, authenticated context.\n\n\n A practical example: fetching just the list of changed files in an MR before deciding which diffs to pull in full:\n\n\n ```shell\n # Get changed file paths — lightweight, no diff content yet\n glab api \"/projects/$CI_PROJECT_ID/merge_requests/$CI_MERGE_REQUEST_IID/diffs?per_page=100\" \\\n | jq '.[].new_path'\n\n# Then fetch only the specific file your agent needs\nglab api \"/projects/$CI_PROJECT_ID/merge_requests/$CI_MERGE_REQUEST_IID/diffs?per_page=100\" \\\n| jq '.[] | select(.new_path == \"path/to/file.go\")'\n ```\n\n\n ```text\n \"internal/auth/token.go\"\n \"internal/auth/token_test.go\"\n \"internal/oauth/refresh.go\"\n ```\n\n\n For anything the REST API doesn't cover (epics, certain work item queries, complex cross-project data),  `glab api graphql` gives you the full\n GraphQL interface:\n\n\n ```shell\n   glab api graphql -f query='\n {\n   project(fullPath: \"gitlab-org/gitlab\") {\n     mergeRequest(iid: \"12345\") {\n       title\n       reviewers { nodes { username } }\n     }\n   }\n }'\n ```\n\n ```json\n{\n   \"data\": {\n     \"project\": {\n       \"mergeRequest\": {\n         \"title\": \"feat: add OAuth2 support\",\n         \"reviewers\": {\n           \"nodes\": [\n             { \"username\": \"dmurphy\" },\n             { \"username\": \"sreeves\" }\n           ]\n         }\n       }\n     }\n   }\n }\n\n ```\n\n\n Your agent has a single, authenticated entry point to everything GitLab exposes without the token juggling, separate API clients, or configuration\n overhead.\n\n\n ## What's coming and your feedback\n\n\n Two improvements we're actively working on will make `glab` even more useful for agent workflows:\n\n\n **Agent-aware help text.** Today, `--help` output is written for humansvat a terminal. We're updating it to surface the non-interactive alternative\n for every interactive command, flag which commands support `--output json`, and generally make help a useful resource for agents discovering\n capabilities at runtime — not just humans.\n\n\n **Better machine-readable errors.** When something goes wrong today, agents get the same human-readable error messages as terminal users. We're\n changing that so errors in JSON mode return structured output, giving your agent the information it needs to handle failures gracefully, retry intelligently, or surface the right context back to you.\n\n\n Both of these are in active development. If you're already using `glab` with an AI tool, you're exactly the audience we want feedback from.\n\n\n * **What friction are you hitting?** Commands that don't behave well in agent contexts, error messages that aren't actionable, gaps in JSON output\n coverage. We want to know.\n\n * **What workflows have you unlocked?** Real usage patterns help us prioritize what to build next.\n\n\n Join the discussion in [our feedback issue](https://gitlab.com/gitlab-org/cli/-/issues/8177) — that's where we're shaping the roadmap for agent-friendliness, and where your input will have the most direct impact. If you've found a specific gap, [open an issue](https://gitlab.com/gitlab-org/cli/-/issues/new). If you've got a fix in mind, contributions are welcome. Visit [CONTRIBUTING.md](https://gitlab.com/gitlab-org/cli/-/blob/main/CONTRIBUTING.md) to get started.\n\n\n The GitLab CLI has always been about giving developers more control over their workflow. As AI becomes a bigger part of how we all work, that means making `glab` the best possible interface between your AI tools and your GitLab projects. We're just getting started and we'd love to build the next part with you.\n",[22,23,739],"tutorial",{"featured":13,"template":14,"slug":741},"give-your-ai-agent-direct-structured-gitlab-access-with-glab-cli",{"content":743,"config":751},{"title":744,"description":745,"authors":746,"heroImage":735,"date":748,"body":749,"category":11,"tags":750},"GitHub Copilot's new policy for AI training is a governance wake-up call","Learn what GitHub's Copilot policy change means for regulated industries, and why GitLab's commitment to customer data privacy matters.",[747],"Allie Holland","2026-04-20","GitHub recently [announced](https://github.blog/news-insights/company-news/updates-to-github-copilot-interaction-data-usage-policy/) a significant change to how it handles data from Copilot users. Starting April 24, 2026, interaction data from Copilot Free, Pro, and Pro+ users, including inputs, outputs, code snippets, and associated context, will be used to train AI models by default, unless users actively opt out. Copilot Business and Enterprise customers are exempt under existing contract terms.\n\nFor organizations in regulated industries, including finance, healthcare, defense, and public sector, the policy shift raises questions that go beyond individual developer preferences. It forces a harder look at a question that engineering and security leaders should be asking every AI vendor in their stack: Do you train on our code? \n\nGitLab's answer is no. GitLab does not train AI models on customer code at any tier, and AI vendors are contractually prohibited from using customer inputs or outputs for their own purposes. The [GitLab AI Transparency Center](https://about.gitlab.com/ai-transparency-center/) makes that commitment auditable: a single location documenting which models power which features, how data is handled, subprocessor relationships, and data retention periods. The GitLab AI Transparency Center also lists the compliance status of each feature, including confirmation that GitLab's current AI features do not qualify as high-risk systems under the EU AI Act. It's a standard GitLab CEO Bill Staples has consistently [reiterated](https://www.linkedin.com/posts/williamstaples_gitlab-1810-agentic-ai-now-open-to-even-activity-7443280763715985408-aHxf?utm_source=share&utm_medium=member_desktop&rcm=ACoAABsu7EUBcb_a1-JHKS9RC0B5rf8Ye-5XM60) and one reflected in GitLab's mission and [Trust Center](https://trust.gitlab.com/).\n\n## What the policy change actually means\n\nGitHub's announcement also specifies that the data may be shared with GitHub affiliates, including Microsoft, for AI development purposes.\n\nA policy change of this nature forces organizations to re-examine their AI governance posture, audit their Copilot license tiers, and confirm that the right controls are configured across their teams.\n\n## Why AI governance matters in regulated environments\n\nSource code is often among an organization's most sensitive intellectual property. It may contain references to internal systems, reflect proprietary business logic, or touch data flows governed by strict retention and access policies. When that code passes through an AI assistant, questions about training data usage, model vendor relationships, and data residency become compliance concerns.\n\nThe exposure is particularly acute for financial services firms that have invested in proprietary algorithms, fraud detection logic, credit risk models, underwriting rules, trading strategies. When AI tooling processes that code and uses it to train models serving competitors, vendor data practices become an IP concern.\n\nFinancial institutions operating under [the Federal Reserve's Supervisory Guidance on Model Risk Management (SR 11-7) and the](https://www.federalreserve.gov/supervisionreg/srletters/sr1107.htm) [Digital Operational Resilience Act (DORA)](https://eur-lex.europa.eu/eli/reg/2022/2554/oj/eng) are required to maintain documented, auditable oversight of third-party technology providers, including understanding how those providers handle data. Third-party AI tools used in development workflows increasingly fall within the scope of model risk oversight, and material changes to vendor data practices require updated documentation. \n\nIn the public sector, [the National Institute of Standards and Technology Special Publication 800-53 (NIST 800-53)](https://csrc.nist.gov/publications/detail/sp/800-53/rev-5/final) and the [Federal Information Security Modernization Act (FISMA)](https://www.cisa.gov/topics/cyber-threats-and-advisories/federal-information-security-modernization-act) establish that sensitive or classified code must never leave a controlled boundary. For U.S. Department of Defense and intelligence community environments in particular, a vendor's default data posture is an operational concern. In healthcare, [the Health Insurance Portability and Accountability Act (HIPAA)](https://www.hhs.gov/hipaa/index.html) governs how patient-adjacent data is handled by third parties, and development environments that touch clinical systems increasingly fall within that scope.\n\nAcross all of these contexts, the common thread is the same: A vendor policy that changes data usage defaults, requires individual opt-out, and offers different protections depending on account tier introduces exactly the kind of uncontrolled variable that compliance teams cannot afford.\n\n## What regulated industries actually need from AI vendors\n\nRegulated organizations have largely moved past debating whether to adopt AI in development workflows. The focus now is on doing so in a way they can defend to regulators, boards, and customers. That shift has surfaced a consistent set of requirements regardless of sector.\n\n**Contractual certainty.** Regulated firms need to know, with specificity, what happens to their data. A clear, documented, unconditional commitment is what's required, not something that varies by plan or requires action before a deadline.\n\n**Auditability.** Model risk management frameworks require organizations to understand and validate the AI systems they deploy, including the training data behind those models and the third parties involved in their development. Vendors who cannot answer these questions create documentation risk for the organizations relying on them.\n\n**Separation from vendor incentives.** When an AI vendor trains models on customer usage data, code and workflows become inputs to a system that also serves competitors. For institutions with proprietary trading logic, underwriting models, or fraud detection systems, that's a genuine IP exposure.\n\n## GitLab's position on AI data governance\n\nGitLab does not use customer code to train AI models. This commitment applies at every tier, and AI vendors are contractually prohibited from using inputs or outputs associated with GitLab customers for their own purposes.\n\nThis is a deliberate architectural and policy choice, not a feature of a particular pricing tier. As GitLab's [post on enterprise independence](https://about.gitlab.com/blog/why-enterprise-independence-matters-more-than-ever-in-devsecops/) notes, data governance has become \"an increasingly critical factor in enterprise technology decisions, driven by a complex web of national and regional data protection laws and growing concern about control over sensitive intellectual property.\"\n\nGitLab is also cloud-neutral and model-neutral while supporting self-hosted deployments, not commercially tied to any single cloud provider or large language model (LLM). That i[ndependence matters](https://about.gitlab.com/blog/why-enterprise-independence-matters-more-than-ever-in-devsecops/) for regulated organizations evaluating vendor concentration risk. The [AI Continuity Plan](https://handbook.gitlab.com/handbook/product/ai/continuity-plan/) documents how vendor changes are managed, including material changes to how AI vendors treat customer data, a direct response to the governance requirements under frameworks like [DORA](https://handbook.gitlab.com/handbook/legal/dora/). \n\n## The governance gap AI teams need to close\n\nGitHub's policy update is a reminder that for organizations in regulated industries, understanding exactly how an AI tool handles data is a prerequisite for using it at all. That means asking vendors for clear, documented answers: Is our data used for model training? Who are your AI model subprocessors? What happens if a vendor changes its data practices? Can we deploy in a way that keeps all AI processing within our own infrastructure? What indemnification do you offer for AI-generated output?\n\nVendors who can answer those questions clearly, and document those answers in an auditable form, are vendors you can build on. **Those who cannot will create compliance debt every time they ship a policy update.** And when a vendor can change its data practices with 30 days notice, that's not a partnership built for regulated industries. That's a liability.\n\n> Learn more about GitLab's approach to AI governance at the [GitLab AI Transparency Center](https://about.gitlab.com/ai-transparency-center/).",[22,23],{"featured":33,"template":14,"slug":752},"github-copilots-new-policy-for-ai-training-is-a-governance-wake-up-call",{"promotions":754},[755,768,779,791],{"id":756,"categories":757,"header":758,"text":759,"button":760,"image":765},"ai-modernization",[11],"Is AI achieving its promise at scale?","Quiz will take 5 minutes or less",{"text":761,"config":762},"Get your AI maturity score",{"href":763,"dataGaName":764,"dataGaLocation":244},"/assessments/ai-modernization-assessment/","modernization assessment",{"config":766},{"src":767},"https://res.cloudinary.com/about-gitlab-com/image/upload/v1772138786/qix0m7kwnd8x2fh1zq49.png",{"id":769,"categories":770,"header":771,"text":759,"button":772,"image":776},"devops-modernization",[23,570],"Are you just managing tools or shipping innovation?",{"text":773,"config":774},"Get your DevOps maturity score",{"href":775,"dataGaName":764,"dataGaLocation":244},"/assessments/devops-modernization-assessment/",{"config":777},{"src":778},"https://res.cloudinary.com/about-gitlab-com/image/upload/v1772138785/eg818fmakweyuznttgid.png",{"id":780,"categories":781,"header":783,"text":759,"button":784,"image":788},"security-modernization",[782],"security","Are you trading speed for security?",{"text":785,"config":786},"Get your security maturity score",{"href":787,"dataGaName":764,"dataGaLocation":244},"/assessments/security-modernization-assessment/",{"config":789},{"src":790},"https://res.cloudinary.com/about-gitlab-com/image/upload/v1772138786/p4pbqd9nnjejg5ds6mdk.png",{"id":792,"paths":793,"header":796,"text":797,"button":798,"image":803},"github-azure-migration",[794,795],"migration-from-azure-devops-to-gitlab","integrating-azure-devops-scm-and-gitlab","Is your team ready for GitHub's Azure move?","GitHub is already rebuilding around Azure. Find out what it means for you.",{"text":799,"config":800},"See how GitLab compares to GitHub",{"href":801,"dataGaName":802,"dataGaLocation":244},"/compare/gitlab-vs-github/github-azure-migration/","github azure migration",{"config":804},{"src":778},{"header":806,"blurb":807,"button":808,"secondaryButton":813},"Start building faster today","See what your team can do with the intelligent orchestration platform for DevSecOps.\n",{"text":809,"config":810},"Get your free trial",{"href":811,"dataGaName":51,"dataGaLocation":812},"https://gitlab.com/-/trial_registrations/new?glm_content=default-saas-trial&glm_source=about.gitlab.com/","feature",{"text":507,"config":814},{"href":55,"dataGaName":56,"dataGaLocation":812},1777493592396]