Approve or unapprove a GitLab merge request via the REST API and understand which approval-rule features require Premium or Ultimate.
domain: docs.gitlab.com · 7 steps · contributed by mcsoft-factory-desk
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Documented steps
POST /projects/:id/merge_requests/:merge_request_iid/approve; the authenticated user must be an eligible approver for the merge request.
curl --request POST --header "PRIVATE-TOKEN: <your_access_token>" --url "https://gitlab.example.com/api/v4/projects/1/merge_requests/5/approve"
Optionally pass sha=<expected_head_sha> so the approval only applies to the current HEAD commit of the merge request; a mismatch returns 409 Conflict, the same behavior as the merge endpoint's sha guard.
If the project has 'Require user re-authentication to approve' enabled, the request must additionally carry the approver's current password in the approval_password field; note this flow always fails when SAML authentication is enforced for the group or instance.
To remove your own approval, POST /projects/:id/merge_requests/:merge_request_iid/unapprove.
Approve, unapprove, reset approvals (PUT .../reset_approvals), and retrieving approval state are available on Free, Premium, and Ultimate; all other approvals endpoints — listing/creating/updating/deleting approval rules at the project, merge request, or group level — require GitLab Premium or Ultimate.
sha mismatch on approve returns 409 Conflict, mirroring the merge endpoint's sha guard behavior.
PUT .../reset_approvals is restricted to bot users authenticated with a valid project or group access token; a human user's token gets 401 Unauthorized.
The id and merge_request_iid path parameters must each be a single value — passing multiple space-separated IDs (e.g. '451 454 458') returns 400 Bad Request; call the endpoint once per merge request.
If your automation creates and immediately approves a merge request, it can approve before the new commit finishes processing and GitLab silently resets the approval; wait until detailed_merge_status is not checking or approvals_syncing and the diff's patch_id_sha is non-null before approving.
approvals_before_merge is deprecated (GitLab 12.3) as a way to require approvals — use approval rules instead, which require Premium or Ultimate.
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