Netlify Account: bilalsxs (connected GitLab username: @bilalsxsbilalsxs)
Affected sites: 100s of sites — example: lahore-preprod-nuxt3.netlify.app
Did I try Ask Netlify first? Yes, it didn’t resolve the issue.
Hi everyone,
I’m hoping someone here has run into this before, or that a Netlify staff member can shed some light. I’ve exhausted everything on my end and I’m fairly confident this is something on Netlify’s side.
The situation:
I have a GitLab group called abbiai and my Netlify account is connected via my personal GitLab username bilalsxs. This same repo has been powering 1000+ Netlify sites without issues until recently when the GitLab connection silently broke.
The core problem:
When I go to create a new site in the Netlify UI and select GitLab, I only see my personal namespace (bilalsxs). The group namespace dropdown for abbiai is completely gone - it doesn’t appear at all. My personal private repos show up fine, so the OAuth connection is alive, but something about the group scope has been lost on Netlify’s end.
This means:
- I cannot reconnect any of my existing broken sites through the UI
- I cannot properly link new sites to the group repo
- Hundreds of sites currently have broken deployments through the Netlify UI ( Please provide a private_token or auth_token for user)
Why this is NOT a GitLab permissions issue:
I’ve already fully ruled out the GitLab side:
- I checked
gitlab.com/abbiai/repo/-/project_membersdirectly - I (@bilalsxs) am listed as a direct Owner on the repository itself, not just via group inheritance - I am also Owner of the
abbiaigroup - There is no higher permission level that exists in GitLab
- The Netlify OAuth app on GitLab shows full
apiscope - I have revoked and fully reconnected the Netlify OAuth app on GitLab - group dropdown still does not appear after fresh re-authorization
What I’ve already tried:
- Revoked Netlify from GitLab → User Settings → Applications → Reconnected fresh — group namespace dropdown still missing
- Tried relinking existing sites via Project configuration → Build & deploy → Continuous deployment → Link to a different repository — group repos still invisible
- Confirmed I am a direct Owner on the repo (not just group-inherited) at the project members page
- Set up Netlify deploy hooks as a temporary workaround to keep deployments running
A secondary issue - programmatic site creation:
When I create a new site via the Netlify API, the very first deployment works perfectly. But after that initial deploy, all subsequent deployments stop triggering - both through the Netlify UI and via the API and I get 404 errors. The repo link appears to be alive just long enough for the first deploy and then drops immediately after.
Why I think this is Netlify-side:
I found this thread on the forum where an almost identical issue group namespace dropdown disappearing, only personal repos visible was resolved after a Netlify frontend change was reverted:
Could something similar have happened again?
Current impact:
Hundreds of sites with broken deployments, all tied to this same GitLab repo. Deploy hooks are keeping things alive temporarily but I cannot reconnect broken sites or properly wire up new projects beyond their first deploy.
Has anyone else seen the GitLab group namespace dropdown disappear recently? Can any Netlify staff check whether my GitLab OAuth connection is missing group scope on the backend?
Happy to share specific site names, API payloads, or anything else needed. Thanks so much.