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If your repositories are hosted on GitLab.com or on a GitLab Enterprise Server instance with internet access, this is the recommended setup. The integration connects directly to your QA Wolf environments.
If your GitLab instance does not allow outbound HTTPS connections (for example, an air-gapped GitLab Enterprise installation), use the QA Wolf CI SDK instead.
Make sure you have:
  • Admin or Maintainer access to the GitLab project
  • Access to your QA Wolf workspace
  • At least one QA Wolf environment already configured
  • A QA Wolf API key
1
Open the Workspace name dropdown in QA Wolf and click Workspace Settings.
2
Click Integrations, then click Enable next to GitLab. This opens GitLab, where you’ll be prompted to sign in if you have not already done so. Follow the prompts to connect your GitLab account or group.
You’ll be asked to provide a Group Access Token with the Maintainer role and API scope.
The Maintainer role is required because Developer tokens cannot create pipeline checks on protected branches.
Once connected, QA Wolf can set commit statuses and link test runs to GitLab commits.
1
Open your GitLab project.
2
Go to Settings → CI/CD → Variables.
3
Click Add variable.
4
Name the variable QA_WOLF_API_KEY.
5
Paste your QA Wolf API key and save.
You can also define additional variables, such as a deployment URL, if your pipeline uses them.

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To find your QA Wolf API key:

1
Open the Workspace name dropdown in QA Wolf and click Workspace Settings.
2
Choose Integrations and then click the to copy the API Key to your clipboard.
QA Wolf provides a public API endpoint that your GitLab pipeline can call upon successful deployment.Add a job to your .gitlab-ci.yml that runs after your deploy step completes successfully.
stages:
  - build
  - deploy
  - notify

deploy:
  stage: deploy
  script:
    - ./deploy.sh
  environment:
    name: staging

notify_qawolf:
  stage: notify
  script:
    - |
      curl -X POST "https://app.qawolf.com/api/webhooks/deploy_success" \
        -H "Authorization: Bearer $QA_WOLF_API_KEY" \
        -H "Content-Type: application/json" \
        -d "{
          \"branch\": \"$CI_COMMIT_REF_NAME\",
          \"deployment_type\": \"staging\",
          \"deployment_url\": \"$QA_WOLF_DEPLOY_URL\",
          \"sha\": \"$CI_COMMIT_SHA\",
          \"hosting_service\": \"GitLab\"
        }"
  when: on_success
  needs: ["deploy"]
This job tells QA Wolf that a new deployment is ready for testing.
1
Run your GitLab CI/CD pipeline to trigger a deployment.
2
Wait for the pipeline to complete successfully.
3
Open QA Wolf and confirm a new run appears under the expected environment.
Last modified on February 9, 2026