[{"data":1,"prerenderedAt":807},["ShallowReactive",2],{"/en-us/blog/build-a-new-website-in-a-few-easy-steps-with-gitlab-pages":3,"navigation-en-us":37,"banner-en-us":447,"footer-en-us":457,"blog-post-authors-en-us-Alex Fracazo":698,"blog-related-posts-en-us-build-a-new-website-in-a-few-easy-steps-with-gitlab-pages":712,"blog-promotions-en-us":744,"next-steps-en-us":797},{"id":4,"title":5,"authorSlugs":6,"body":8,"categorySlug":9,"config":10,"content":14,"description":8,"extension":25,"isFeatured":12,"meta":26,"navigation":27,"path":28,"publishedDate":20,"seo":29,"stem":33,"tagSlugs":34,"__hash__":36},"blogPosts/en-us/blog/build-a-new-website-in-a-few-easy-steps-with-gitlab-pages.yml","Build A New Website In A Few Easy Steps With Gitlab Pages",[7],"alex-fracazo",null,"product",{"slug":11,"featured":12,"template":13},"build-a-new-website-in-a-few-easy-steps-with-gitlab-pages",false,"BlogPost",{"title":15,"description":16,"authors":17,"heroImage":19,"date":20,"body":21,"category":9,"tags":22},"Build a new website in a few easy steps with GitLab Pages ","This tutorial shows you how to create and host your personal website using GitLab Pages with a ready-to-use template that you can customize in minutes.",[18],"Alex Fracazo","https://res.cloudinary.com/about-gitlab-com/image/upload/v1750097716/Blog/Hero%20Images/Blog/Hero%20Images/blog-image-template-1800x945%20%281%29_7c3TDgNgct9xQbmTJSw0de_1750097716096.png","2025-03-03","A personal website is more than just a utility for digital creators and professionals in tech. It's a representation of your brand. But creating one from scratch can be time-consuming and expensive.\n\nWith [GitLab Pages](https://docs.gitlab.com/user/project/pages/), you can host your website with built-in features, including SSL certificates and a GitLab-provided domain. All of this is available on GitLab's free tier, making it an efficient solution for hosting your professional presence.\n\nWe're going to take you on a fun journey to craft a stunning personal website using GitLab Pages! We’ve got a super simple, versatile template that you can easily jazz up to reflect your unique style. So grab your favorite snack, get comfy, and let’s turn your online presence into something truly fabulous!\n\n## Prerequisites\n\nYou will need the following prerequisites before getting started:\n\n* A GitLab account (the [free tier](https://about.gitlab.com/pricing/) is sufficient)  * Basic familiarity with HTML/CSS  * Content and images you want to add to your website (optional)\n\nOnce you’re set up with a GitLab account and have your content handy, you can move on to the next steps.\n\n## Step 1: Create a new project\n\n1. Sign on to your GitLab account and create a project.\n\n![GitLab Pages tutorial - welcome screen](https://res.cloudinary.com/about-gitlab-com/image/upload/v1750097724/Blog/Content%20Images/Blog/Content%20Images/Capture-2025-02-27-183716_aHR0cHM6_1750097724662.png)\n\n2. Click **Create blank project**.\n\n![GitLab Pages tutorial - Create new project screen](https://res.cloudinary.com/about-gitlab-com/image/upload/v1750097725/Blog/Content%20Images/Blog/Content%20Images/Capture-2025-02-27-183814_aHR0cHM6_1750097724663.png)\n\n3. Fill in your project details:\n    * Name your project `yourusername.gitlab.io`. Replace `yourusername` with your GitLab username. **Tip:** The project name determines your website’s URL. If you name your project `yourusername.gitlab.io`, your website will be available at `https://yourusername.gitlab.io` with no additional path. However, if you use any other project name, your site will be available at `https://yourusername.gitlab.io/project-name`.\n    * Make the project public.\n4. Click **Create project**.\n\n![GitLab Pages tutorial - Create blank project screen](https://res.cloudinary.com/about-gitlab-com/image/upload/v1750097725/Blog/Content%20Images/Blog/Content%20Images/image5_aHR0cHM6_1750097724666.png)\n\n![GitLab Pages tutorial - customized get started page](https://res.cloudinary.com/about-gitlab-com/image/upload/v1750097725/Blog/Content%20Images/Blog/Content%20Images/image2_aHR0cHM6_1750097724668.png)\n\n## Step 2: Add the template files\n\nStart by creating two new files in your repository:\n\n![GitLab Pages tutorial - Add new files to personal page](https://res.cloudinary.com/about-gitlab-com/image/upload/v1750097725/Blog/Content%20Images/Blog/Content%20Images/image13_aHR0cHM6_1750097724669.png)\n\n1. First, create `index.html`:\n    * In your project, click the **+** button and select **New file**.\n    * Name the file `index.html`.\n![GitLab Pages tutorial - new file page](https://res.cloudinary.com/about-gitlab-com/image/upload/v1750097725/Blog/Content%20Images/Blog/Content%20Images/image14_aHR0cHM6_1750097724671.png)\n    * Add your HTML content.\n        * Use the example HTML provided below. (Pro tip: Users can ask GitLab Duo Chat to generate HTML for enhanced functionality.)\n\n```html\n\u003C!DOCTYPE html>\n\u003Chtml>\n\u003Chead>\n    \u003Cmeta charset=\"utf-8\"/>\n    \u003Ctitle>[Your Name] - [Your Title]\u003C/title>\n    \u003Cmeta name=\"description\" content=\"[Your Name] is a [Your Title].\"/>\n    \u003Cmeta name=\"author\" content=\"[Your Name]\"/>\n    \u003Cmeta property=\"og:title\" content=\"[Your Name]\" />\n    \u003Cmeta property=\"og:description\" content=\"[Your Title]\" />\n    \u003Cmeta property=\"og:image\" content=\"og.png\" />\n    \u003Cmeta name=\"viewport\" content=\"width=device-width,initial-scale=1\"/>\n    \u003Clink href=\"https://unpkg.com/basscss@8.0.2/css/basscss.min.css\" rel=\"stylesheet\">\n    \u003Clink href=\"style.css\" rel=\"stylesheet\">\n    \u003Clink rel=\"shortcut icon\" type=\"image/png\" href=\"favicon.png\"/>\n\u003C/head>\n\u003Cbody>\n\u003Cdiv class=\"content\" id=\"content\">\n  \u003Cdiv class=\"p2 sm-p4 mt2 sm-mt4 mb2 sm-mb4\">    \u003Cdiv class=\"fade mt3\">\n    \u003Ca target=\"_new\" href=\"[Your Linkedin URL]\">\n      \u003Cimg class=\"photo\" src=\"profile.png\" width=\"64\" height=\"64\">\n    \u003C/a>\n  \u003C/div>\n  \u003Ch2 class=\"mb0 mt4 fade\">\n    Hello, I'm [Your Name]     \u003Cspan class=\"smallcaps\">(\u003C/span>\n    \u003Ca target=\"_new\" href=\"[Your Linkedin URL]\">@[Your Handle]\u003C/a>\n    \u003Cspan class=\"smallcaps\">)\u003C/span>\n  \u003C/h2>\n  \u003Ch2 class=\"mt0 mb4 fade gray\">\n    I'm a [Your Title]\n  \u003C/h2>\n  \u003Cp class=\"mb4 fade\">\n    I'm a [Your Role] at [Your Company], [Brief company description].\n  \u003C/p>\n  \u003Cdiv class=\"fade\">\n    \u003Cp class=\"fade mb4\">\n      Your personal statement about what you do and what you're interested in. Add your contact preferences here.\n    \u003C/p>\n  \u003C/div>\n  \u003Cp class=\"fade mb4\">\n    \u003Cspan class=\"gray\">—\u003C/span>     [Your Name]     \u003Cspan class=\"smallcaps>(\u003C/span>\n    \u003Ca target=\"_new\" href=\"[Your Linkedin URL]\">@[Your Handle]\u003C/a>\n    \u003Cspan class=\"smallcaps\">)\u003C/span>\n  \u003C/p>\n  \u003C/div>\n\u003C/div>\n\u003C/body>\n\u003C/html> ```\n\n* Add a commit message (e.g., \"Added index.html\").\n  * Click **Commit changes**.\n\n2. Create `style.css` (follow same steps above).\n\n```text\nbody {\n  margin: 0;\n  padding: 0;\n  background: #000;\n  color: #f4f4f4;\n  font-family: \"Graphik Web\", system-ui, -apple-system, BlinkMacSystemFont, \"Helvetica Neue\", \"Helvetica\", \"Segoe UI\", Roboto, Ubuntu, sans-serif;\n  font-weight: 400;\n  font-smooth: antialiased;\n  -webkit-font-smoothing: antialiased;\n  -moz-osx-font-smoothing: grayscale;\n}\n\na {\n  color: #ff310a;\n  text-decoration: none;\n}\n\na:hover {\n  color: #CFEF54\n}\n\n.content {\n  max-width: 40rem;\n  margin: 0 auto;\n}\n\nimg.photo {\n  border-radius: 50%;\n}\n\np {\n  font-size: 1.5rem;\n  line-height: 1.4;\n  margin: 0;\n  letter-spacing: -0.05rem;\n}\n\nh2 {\n  font-weight: 400;\n  line-height: 1.3;\n  letter-spacing: -0.05rem;\n}\n\n.smallcaps {\n  font-variant: small-caps;\n  color:#333;\n}\n\n.gray{\n  color: #999;\n}\n\n.preloader {\n  display: flex;\n  justify-content: center;\n  align-items: center;\n  height: 100vh;\n  height: -moz-available;\n  height: -webkit-fill-available;\n  height: fill-available;\n  width: 100%;\n  background: #000;\n  position: fixed;\n  top: 0;\n  left: 0;\n  z-index: 9999;\n  transition: opacity 0.3s linear;\n  transform: translate3d(0, 0, 0);\n}\n\nbody.loaded .preloader {\n  opacity: 0;\n}\n\n.fade {\n  animation: fadeIn 1s ease-in-out both;\n}\n\n.fade:nth-child(2) {\n\tanimation-delay: 1s;\n}\n\n.fade:nth-child(3) {\n\tanimation-delay: 2s;\n}\n\n.fade:nth-child(4) {\n\tanimation-delay: 3s;\n}\n\n.fade:nth-child(5) {\n\tanimation-delay: 4s;\n}\n\n.fade:nth-child(6) {\n\tanimation-delay: 5s;\n}\n\n.fade:nth-child(7) {\n\tanimation-delay: 6s;\n}\n\n.fade:nth-child(8) {\n\tanimation-delay: 7s;\n}\n\n.fade:nth-child(9) {\n\tanimation-delay: 8s;\n}\n\n.fade:nth-child(10) {\n\tanimation-delay: 9s;\n}\n\n.fade:nth-child(11) {\n\tanimation-delay: 10s;\n}\n\n.fade:nth-child(12) {\n\tanimation-delay: 11s;\n}\n\n.fade:nth-child(13) {\n\tanimation-delay: 12s;\n}\n\n@keyframes fadeIn {\n\tfrom {\n\t\topacity: 0;\n\t\ttransform: translate3d(0, 0%, 0);\n\t}\n\tto {\n\t\topacity: 1;\n\t\ttransform: translate3d(0, 0, 0);\n\t}\n}\n```\n\n## Step 3: Configure GitLab CI file\n\nThere are two ways to create the GitLab CI configuration file that tells GitLab how to build and deploy your site:\n\n![GitLab Pages tutorial - optimize your workflow with CI/CD pipelines screen](https://res.cloudinary.com/about-gitlab-com/image/upload/v1750097725/Blog/Content%20Images/Blog/Content%20Images/image3_aHR0cHM6_1750097724672.png)\n\n**Option 1: Use Pipeline Editor (recommended)**\n\n1. Go to your project's **Build > Pipeline Editor**.\n\n![GitLab Pages tutorial - pipeline editor/main branch](https://res.cloudinary.com/about-gitlab-com/image/upload/v1750097725/Blog/Content%20Images/Blog/Content%20Images/image12_aHR0cHM6_1750097724673.png)\n\n2. The `.gitlab-ci.yml` file will be automatically created. 3. Copy and paste the following configuration:\n```text\npages:\n  stage: deploy\n  script:\n    - mkdir .public\n    - cp -r * .public\n    - mv .public public\n  artifacts:\n    paths:\n      - public\n  only:\n    - main\n```\n\n![GitLab Pages Tutorial - New file in window](https://res.cloudinary.com/about-gitlab-com/image/upload/v1750097725/Blog/Content%20Images/Blog/Content%20Images/image4_aHR0cHM6_1750097724674.png)\n\n**Option 2: Manual creation**\n\nIf you prefer to create the file manually: 1. Create a new file named `.gitlab-ci.yml`. 2. Add the following configuration:\n\n```text\npages:\n  stage: deploy\n  script:\n    - mkdir .public\n    - cp -r * .public\n    - mv .public public\n  artifacts:\n    paths:\n      - public\n  only:\n    - main\n```\n\nThe key to getting your site running is the GitLab CI configuration file. This file tells GitLab how to build and deploy your site.\n\nLet's break down what each part does:\n\n**The script part**\n\n```text\nscript:\n  - mkdir .public\n  - cp -r * .public\n  - mv .public public\n```\n\nThis creates a folder called `public` and copies all your website files into it. GitLab Pages uses this folder to serve your website by default, though you can [customize the publishing folder](https://docs.gitlab.com/user/project/pages/introduction/#customize-the-default-folder) if needed.\n\n**The only part**\n\n```text\nonly:\n  - main\n\n```\n\nThis tells GitLab to only update your website when changes are made to the main branch. This helps prevent accidental updates from experimental changes.\n\n## Step 4: Watch the magic happen\n1. Commit all your changes.\n2. Go to **Build > Pipelines** to watch your deployment.\n3. Wait for the pipeline to complete successfully (indicated by a green checkmark).\n\n![GitLab Pages tutorial - pipeline running for new page](https://res.cloudinary.com/about-gitlab-com/image/upload/v1750097725/Blog/Content%20Images/Blog/Content%20Images/image6_aHR0cHM6_1750097724676.png)\n\n![GitLab Pages tutorial - pipeline passed for new page](https://res.cloudinary.com/about-gitlab-com/image/upload/v1750097725/Blog/Content%20Images/Blog/Content%20Images/image1_aHR0cHM6_1750097724677.png)\n\n## Step 5: Access your website\n\nOnce the pipeline completes successfully, your website will be available at: **https://[yourusername].gitlab.io/** .\n\nYou can find an overview of your deployed website and additional settings in your project's **Deploy > Pages** section. Here you'll find useful information. including:\n* Your website's access URLs   * Domain settings    * By default GitLab enables **Unique domain**. Make sure to disable it if you want to use the GitLab-provided domain. Learn more with the [unique domain documentation](https://docs.gitlab.com/ee/user/project/pages#unique-domains).  * HTTPS certificates status   * Recent deployments   * Additional configuration options\n* Custom domains\n\nThis section is particularly helpful when setting up custom domains or troubleshooting deployment issues.\n\n**Customize your site**\n\n![GitLab Pages tutorial - customize site](https://res.cloudinary.com/about-gitlab-com/image/upload/v1750097725/Blog/Content%20Images/Blog/Content%20Images/image8_aHR0cHM6_1750097724678.png)\n\n1. Replace all “Your ...” placeholders in `index.html` with your information.\n\n![GitLab Pages tutorial - upload file to customize page](https://res.cloudinary.com/about-gitlab-com/image/upload/v1750097725/Blog/Content%20Images/Blog/Content%20Images/image11_aHR0cHM6_1750097724679.png)\n\n2. Add your images:\n    - profile.png - your profile photo (64x64px)\n    - favicon.png - your site favicon (32x32px)\n    - Og.png - OpenGraph image for social media preview (1200x630px)\n\n**See it in action**\n\nIf you're familiar with GitLab, feel free to [fork my repository](https://gitlab.com/fracazo/fracazo.gitlab.io) to get started quickly.\nHere is the final result:\n[https://fracazo.gitlab.io/](https://fracazo.gitlab.io/)\n\n**Common issues and solutions**\n- By default, GitLab enables \"Unique domain\" for Pages projects. To use the simpler GitLab-provided domain (like `username.gitlab.io`), go to **Deploy > Pages** and disable the \"Use unique domain\" option. While unique domains offer some technical advantages, like better asset path handling, you might prefer the cleaner URL structure for a personal website.\n- If your pipeline fails, check that you're using `main` instead of `master` in your `.gitlab-ci.yml` file.\n- Ensure your group and project is public for GitLab Pages to work.\n- If any jobs fail in your pipeline, you can check the job log for detailed error messages to help with troubleshooting.\n\nWith GitLab Pages and this template, you can have a professional/personal website up and running in minutes. The template is clean, responsive, and easy to customize. As you grow professionally, you can easily update your site directly through GitLab.\nYou can automate the deployment process by leveraging GitLab's CI/CD capabilities and focusing on creating great content.\n\nThe best part? All of this is available on GitLab's free tier, making it an excellent option for free hosting of your personal projects, documentation sites, or even small business websites. For more advanced features and configurations, check out our [Pages documentation](https://docs.gitlab.com/ee/user/project/pages/).\n\n## What’s next for GitLab Pages?\nWe're constantly working to make GitLab Pages even better for creators and developers. Here are some exciting improvements coming soon:\n### Simplified domain management We have some exciting updates coming to GitLab Pages that will make managing your domains even easier and more fun! You can look forward to a streamlined dashboard that brings all your domain settings together in one friendly space, making everything easily accessible.\nYou’ll stay informed with real-time updates on your DNS and SSL certificate statuses, helping you keep your domains secure and running smoothly.\n### Custom domain setup\nSetting up custom domains will be a breeze with our easy-to-follow process, guiding you every step of the way. Plus, you'll be able to set up your custom domains to automatically redirect visitors from your old website address to your new one – perfect for when you want all your traffic to go to one main website. Learn more about [custom domains](https://docs.gitlab.com/ee/user/project/pages/custom_domains_ssl_tls_certification/index.html#set-up-a-custom-domain).\n\n> Get started with GitLab Pages today with [GitLab's free tier](https://about.gitlab.com/pricing/)!\n## Learn more\n- [GitLab Pages features review apps and multiple website deployment](https://about.gitlab.com/blog/gitlab-pages-features-review-apps-and-multiple-website-deployment/)\n- [GitLab Pages: Multiple website deployment documentation](https://docs.gitlab.com/user/project/pages/#parallel-deployments)\n- [GitLab Pages examples](https://gitlab.com/pages)",[23,24],"tutorial","DevSecOps 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18.11: Budget guardrails for GitLab Credits","Learn how new spending caps and per-user credit limits give organizations the budget guardrails to scale GitLab Duo Agent Platform.",[718],"Bryan Rothwell","https://res.cloudinary.com/about-gitlab-com/image/upload/v1776259080/cakqnwo5ecp255lo8lzo.png","2026-04-16","Teams using GitLab Duo Agent Platform with on-demand GitLab Credits are shipping faster, catching bugs earlier, and automating tasks that used to take entire sprints. But as adoption grows, so does oversight from finance, procurement, and platform teams to prove that AI spending is bounded, predictable, and controllable.\n\nOne of the greatest barriers to broader AI adoption isn't skepticism about the technology. It's uncertainty about managing spend. Without budget caps, a busy month could produce unexpected expenses. Without per-user limits, a handful of power users could burn through the team's credits before the month is over. And without either, engineering leaders who want to expand their use of agentic AI for software development have to jump through more hoops for budget approval.\n\nSince its [general availability](https://about.gitlab.com/blog/gitlab-duo-agent-platform-is-generally-available/), GitLab Duo Agent Platform has provided usage governance and visibility. With GitLab 18.11, we're introducing usage controls for [GitLab Credits](https://about.gitlab.com/blog/introducing-gitlab-credits/): spending caps and budget guardrails that give your organization even more control and transparency over how credits are consumed.\n\n## Managing GitLab Credits\n\nGitLab 18.11 adds three layers of control over GitLab Credits consumption: a subscription-level spending cap, per-user credit limits, and visibility into cap status and enforcement.\n\n### Subscription-level spending cap\n\nBilling account managers can now set a hard monthly ceiling for on-demand GitLab Credits consumption for their entire subscription.\n\nHere's how it works:\n\n* **Set a cap** in the `Customers Portal` under your subscription's GitLab Credits settings.  \n* **Enforce spend limits automatically.**  When on-demand usage reaches the cap, DAP access is paused for all users on that subscription until the next monthly period begins.  \n* **Make adjustments as you go.** Raise or disable the cap mid-month to restore access.\n\nThe cap resets each monthly period and your configured limit carries forward unless you change it. Because usage data is synchronized periodically rather than in real time, a small amount of additional usage may occur after the cap is reached before enforcement takes effect. See the [GitLab Credits documentation](https://docs.gitlab.com/subscriptions/gitlab_credits/) for details.\n\n### User-level spending caps\n\nNot every user consumes credits at the same rate, and that's expected. But when one or two power users account for a disproportionate share of the pool, the rest of the team can lose access before the month is over.\n\nPer-user credit caps prevent any single user from consuming more than their fair share:\n\n* **Flat per-user cap.** Set a uniform credit limit that applies equally to every user on the subscription through the GitLab GraphQL API. Unlike the subscription-level cap, the per-user cap applies to a user's total consumption across all credit sources.  \n* **Custom per-user overrides.** For organizations that need differentiated limits, you can set individual credit caps for specific users through the GraphQL API. For example, you could give your staff engineers a higher allocation while applying a standard limit to the broader team.  \n* **Individual enforcement.** When a user reaches their cap, they retain full access to GitLab. Only their Duo Agent Platform credit usage is paused until the next billing cycle. Everyone else keeps working uninterrupted until they hit their own limit or the subscription-level cap is reached, whichever comes first.\n\n### Visibility and notifications\n\nWhen a subscription-level cap is reached, GitLab sends an email notification to billing account managers so they can take action: raise the cap, wait for the next period, or redistribute credits.\n\nWithin GitLab, group owners (GitLab.com) and instance administrators (Self-Managed) can view which users have been blocked due to reaching their per-user cap and restore access by adjusting the cap through the GraphQL API. \n\n## How budget guardrails help organizations scale AI usage\n\nGuardrails are essential as organizations ramp up their AI adoption. Here's why:\n\n### Predictable AI budgets\n\nUsage controls for GitLab Duo Agent Platform turn AI into a bounded, predictable budget item using on-demand GitLab Credits. That makes it easier to deploy agents across the software development lifecycle and get sign-off from finance, justify renewals, and plan quarterly spend.\n\n### Governance and chargeback\n\nLarge organizations often need to align AI consumption with internal budgets, cost centers, or departmental policies. Per-user caps give platform teams a straightforward mechanism to allocate credits fairly and track consumption at the individual level. The API import options make it practical to manage caps at enterprise scale. Combined with per-user usage data from the GitLab Credits dashboard, organizations can track consumption patterns to inform their own internal chargeback or budget allocation processes.\n\n### Confidence to scale\n\nMany customers start GitLab Duo Agent Platform with a small pilot group. Usage controls remove risks associated with expanding that pilot across the organization. You can roll out Duo Agent Platform to hundreds or thousands of developers knowing there's a hard ceiling protecting your budget. If usage grows faster than expected, you'll hit the cap, not an unexpected invoice.\n\n## Addressing the seat-based and visibility conundrum\n\nMany AI coding tools take a seat-based approach to cost management. You buy a fixed number of seats at a flat per-user price, and that's your budget. It's simple, but rigid. You pay the same whether a developer uses the tool ten times a day or never touches it. And as vendors introduce premium models and usage-based overages on top of seat pricing, the cost predictability that seat-based licensing promised starts to erode.\n\n\nGitLab takes a different approach. Usage-based pricing with hard caps and a single governance dashboard. You get the flexibility of paying for what your teams actually use, with the budget predictability of enforced spending limits.\n\n## Real-world usage controls\n\n**One example is a mid-size SaaS customer that wants to protect their monthly budget.** A 200-person engineering organization sets a subscription-level cap equal to their expected on-demand usage. Their VP of Engineering can confidently tell finance that GitLab Duo Agent Platform spend will never exceed the approved amount, even as they onboard new teams. If they approach the cap mid-month, the billing account manager gets a notification and can decide whether to raise the limit or wait for the next period.\n\n**At GitLab, we also work with large enterprises that want to keep usage fair across teams.** A global financial services company with 2,000 developers uses per-user caps to ensure equitable access. Staff engineers working on complex refactoring projects get a higher individual allocation via API, while most developers receive a standard flat cap. No single user can exhaust the pool, and the platform team uses the per-user usage data in the GitLab Credits dashboard to track consumption patterns and inform quarterly budget planning.\n\n## Getting started\n\nUsage controls are available for both GitLab.com and Self-Managed customers running GitLab 18.11. Different controls are configured in different places depending on the scope and your role.\n\n**Subscription-level cap**\n\nBilling account managers set the subscription-level on-demand cap in the Customers Portal:\n\n1. Sign in to the `Customers Portal`.  \n2. On your subscription card, navigate to **GitLab Credits** settings.  \n3. Enable the monthly on-demand credits cap and enter your desired limit.\n\n**Flat per-user cap**\n\nThe flat per-user cap can be set through the GitLab GraphQL API by namespace owners (GitLab.com) or instance administrators (Self-Managed). Check the [GitLab Credits documentation](https://docs.gitlab.com/subscriptions/gitlab_credits/) for the latest on available configuration surfaces.\n\n**Custom per-user overrides**\n\nFor differentiated limits, namespace owners (GitLab.com) and instance administrators (Self-Managed) can set individual caps programmatically. This is useful for automation and infrastructure-as-code workflows.\n\n**Monitor usage and cap status**\n\n* **Customers Portal:** View detailed usage and cap status.  \n* **GitLab.com:** Group owners can view blocked users under **Settings > GitLab Credits**.  \n* **Self-Managed:** Instance administrators can view cap status and blocked users under **Admin > GitLab Credits**.\n\n## GitLab Duo Agent Platform is ready to scale\n\nUsage controls are available now in GitLab 18.11. If you've been waiting for the right guardrails before expanding GitLab Duo Agent Platform across your organization, this is your moment. Set your caps, roll out Duo Agent Platform to more teams, and start shipping faster!\n\n> [Learn more about GitLab Credits and usage controls](https://docs.gitlab.com/subscriptions/gitlab_credits/).",[9,723,724],"AI/ML","news",{"featured":12,"template":13,"slug":726},"gitlab-18-11-budget-guardrails-for-gitlab-credits",{"content":728,"config":731},{"title":729,"heroImage":719,"description":730,"date":720,"category":9},"GitLab 18.11 release","This release includes Agentic SAST Vulnerability Resolution, Data Analyst Foundational Agent, CI Expert Agent, and more.",{"featured":12,"template":13,"externalUrl":732},"https://docs.gitlab.com/releases/18/gitlab-18-11-released/",{"content":734,"config":742},{"title":735,"description":736,"authors":737,"heroImage":719,"date":720,"body":739,"category":9,"tags":740},"GitLab 18.11: CI Expert and Data Analyst AI agents target development gaps","Set up CI and query your software development lifecycle data with two new GitLab Duo Agent Platform foundational agents available in GitLab 18.11.",[738],"Corinne Dent","AI-generated code moves faster than the systems around it can keep up with. More code means more merge requests queued, more pipelines to configure, more questions about delivery that nobody has time to answer — and most of the tooling teams rely on wasn't built for this pace.\n\nIn GitLab 18.11, two new foundational agents for Duo Agent Platform address specific gaps in the development lifecycle that AI has largely left untouched:\n* CI Expert Agent (now in beta) focuses on the gap between writing code and getting it into a running pipeline\n* Data Analyst Agent (now generally available) focuses on the gap between shipping code and being able to answer basic questions about how that delivery is actually going.\n\n\nThese are problem areas that couldn't be solved by a general-purpose assistant. A tool running outside GitLab can generate a YAML file or answer a question, but it has no awareness of how your pipelines have historically performed, where failures cluster, or what your actual MR cycle times look like. That context lives in GitLab. These agents do too.\n## Fast CI setup with CI Expert Agent\n\nAI has made it easier than ever to write code. Getting that code into a running pipeline is still something most teams do days, or weeks, later — if at all. The blank-page problem isn't in the editor anymore. The blank page is now in `.gitlab-ci.yml`.\n\nDevelopers who have never configured CI don't know what language detection looks like in YAML, what their test commands should be, or how to validate the result before pushing. Teams either copy a config from a previous project that may not fit, stitch together examples from documentation, or wait for the one person who's done it before. If that person isn't available, CI becomes the thing you'll \"get to later.\" Later becomes never.\n\nWhen CI never happens, the impact shows up everywhere else. Changes ship without a reliable safety net, regressions surface in production instead of in pipelines, and work piles up in bigger, riskier batches because no one wants to be the person who “breaks the build.” Over time, teams normalize working in the dark, often relying on undocumented institutional knowledge and ad-hoc testing, instead of having a fast, predictable feedback loop baked into every change.\n\nCI Expert Agent, now available in beta, removes that friction. It inspects your repository, identifies your language and framework, and proposes a working build and test pipeline tailored to what's actually there — then explains every decision in plain language. The target: a running pipeline in minutes, with no YAML written by hand.\n\nWhat CI Expert Agent does:\n\n* Repo-aware pipeline generation detects language, framework, and test setup \n* Generates valid, runnable build and test configurations   \n* Guided first-pipeline flow with plain-language explanation of each step in Agentic Chat  \n* Native GitLab CI semantics with no config translation required\n\nBecause it runs inside GitLab and sees real pipeline behavior over time, each improvement can build on how teams actually work, not just on static examples.\n\u003Ciframe src=\"https://player.vimeo.com/video/1183458036?badge=0&amp;autopause=0&amp;player_id=0&amp;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=\"CI/CD Expert Agent\">\u003C/iframe>\u003Cscript src=\"https://player.vimeo.com/api/player.js\">\u003C/script>\n\u003Cbr>\u003C/br>\n\nCI Expert Agent is available on GitLab.com, Self-Managed, Dedicated; Free, Premium, Ultimate Editions with Duo Agent Platform enabled.\n\n## Query GitLab data in plain language with Data Analyst Agent\n\nAI has sped up how teams ship. Answering basic questions about how that work is going has gotten harder, not easier.\n\nHow long are MRs sitting in review? Which pipelines are slowing teams down? Are deployment targets actually being hit? These questions used to be answerable by glancing at a dashboard. Now, with more code, more teams, and more complexity, the data exists — it's in GitLab — but accessing it still means waiting on an analytics team, filing a dashboard request, or learning GLQL.\n\nData Analyst Agent targets that gap. Ask a natural-language question and get an instant visualization in Agentic Chat. No query language, no dashboard request, no waiting for the answers to be assembled by someone else.\n\nFor example, the agent can answer questions about the following topics for these roles:\n\n* Engineering managers: MR cycle time, throughput by project, where reviews get stuck  \n* Developers: Contribution patterns, flaky tests blocking their MRs, pipeline speed trends  \n* DevOps and platform engineers: Pipeline success/failure rates, runner utilization, deployment frequency  \n* Engineering leadership: Cross-portfolio deployment frequency, project health metrics, lead time comparisons\n\nNow generally available in 18.11, the agent covers MRs, issues, projects, pipelines, and jobs — full software development lifecycle coverage, expanded from the beta scope. Because Data Analyst Agent queries what's already in GitLab, the context is always current, and there's no pipeline to maintain or third-party tool to keep synchronized. Generated GitLab Query Language queries can be copied and used anywhere GitLab Flavored Markdown is supported, with direct export to work items and dashboards on the roadmap.\n\n\u003Ciframe src=\"https://player.vimeo.com/video/1183094817?badge=0&amp;autopause=0&amp;player_id=0&amp;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=\"Data Analyst agent demo\">\u003C/iframe>\u003Cscript src=\"https://player.vimeo.com/api/player.js\">\u003C/script>\n\u003Cbr>\u003C/br>\n\nData Analyst Agent is available on GitLab.com, Self-Managed, Dedicated; Free, Premium and Ultimate Edition with Duo Agent Platform enabled.\n\n## One platform, connected context\n\nBoth agents run inside GitLab, with access to the code, pipelines, issues, and merge requests already there. That's what separates platform-native AI from a disconnected assistant: the context is always current, and it only gets more useful over time. CI Expert Agent and Data Analyst Agent represent two concrete steps toward a platform where AI doesn't just help you write code faster; it helps you understand, ship, and maintain what gets built.\n\n> [Start a free trial of GitLab Duo Agent Platform](https://about.gitlab.com/gitlab-duo/) to experience these foundational AI agents.",[723,741,9],"features",{"featured":27,"template":13,"slug":743},"ci-expert-and-data-analyst-ai-agents-target-development-gaps",{"promotions":745},[746,760,771,783],{"id":747,"categories":748,"header":750,"text":751,"button":752,"image":757},"ai-modernization",[749],"ai-ml","Is AI achieving its promise at scale?","Quiz will take 5 minutes or less",{"text":753,"config":754},"Get your AI maturity score",{"href":755,"dataGaName":756,"dataGaLocation":241},"/assessments/ai-modernization-assessment/","modernization assessment",{"config":758},{"src":759},"https://res.cloudinary.com/about-gitlab-com/image/upload/v1772138786/qix0m7kwnd8x2fh1zq49.png",{"id":761,"categories":762,"header":763,"text":751,"button":764,"image":768},"devops-modernization",[9,566],"Are you just managing tools or shipping innovation?",{"text":765,"config":766},"Get your DevOps maturity score",{"href":767,"dataGaName":756,"dataGaLocation":241},"/assessments/devops-modernization-assessment/",{"config":769},{"src":770},"https://res.cloudinary.com/about-gitlab-com/image/upload/v1772138785/eg818fmakweyuznttgid.png",{"id":772,"categories":773,"header":775,"text":751,"button":776,"image":780},"security-modernization",[774],"security","Are you trading speed for security?",{"text":777,"config":778},"Get your security maturity score",{"href":779,"dataGaName":756,"dataGaLocation":241},"/assessments/security-modernization-assessment/",{"config":781},{"src":782},"https://res.cloudinary.com/about-gitlab-com/image/upload/v1772138786/p4pbqd9nnjejg5ds6mdk.png",{"id":784,"paths":785,"header":788,"text":789,"button":790,"image":795},"github-azure-migration",[786,787],"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":791,"config":792},"See how GitLab compares to GitHub",{"href":793,"dataGaName":794,"dataGaLocation":241},"/compare/gitlab-vs-github/github-azure-migration/","github azure migration",{"config":796},{"src":770},{"header":798,"blurb":799,"button":800,"secondaryButton":805},"Start building faster today","See what your team can do with the intelligent orchestration platform for DevSecOps.\n",{"text":801,"config":802},"Get your free trial",{"href":803,"dataGaName":48,"dataGaLocation":804},"https://gitlab.com/-/trial_registrations/new?glm_content=default-saas-trial&glm_source=about.gitlab.com/","feature",{"text":503,"config":806},{"href":52,"dataGaName":53,"dataGaLocation":804},1776444474204]